Yes, I thought the second episode was much better than the first one. Mind you, I personally feel more detail could have been put in it.
But I guess there's always books.
The sad story of Michael McConville's mother being abducted by the IRA under absolutely false claims of Jean McConville being an informer. She was NOT and this has long been established including by the Police Ombudsman's office.
Michael McConville was undoubtedly right in saying that what the IRA did to his mother was pure sectarianism. She was a Protestant who'd married a Catholic man.
The episode "Do the paramilitaries lie awake at night?" didn't tell us who the members of the IRA were who abducted her. The Price sisters, Delours and Marian, and Pat McClure. It's believed that Marian was the one who fired the fatal shot.
Michael's daughter, Bronagh, I was familiar with from another documentary with Patrick Kielty (husband of Kat Deely). Although Bronagh herself prefers a united Ireland which is opposite to me, we have some common ground in other aspects. So, I always have time for the McConvilles.
Anyway, the book on Jean's murder is attached. IIRC, the author is American.
As for your question about politicians, separation of people and power, none of it will make any sense if you don't factor in the terrorist groups themselves. Some politicians were either murdered or attempted to be murdered by terrorist groups. Sometimes a terrorist group would murder a politician who came from "their side of the tracks" - or try to. I've spoken previously about the IRA attacking the SDLP members who were from the same side of the tracks. Likewise, some Loyalist terrorists did attack some Unionist politicians.
So, the dynamic is essentially one of coercive control, especially during the Troubles era.
On top of that, in certain areas people self-segregated themselves to the point where some streets became almost exclusively Republican/Nationalist and Unionist/Loyalist. A well known example would be the Falls and Shankill roads. Both streets were mixed areas before 1970 and afterwards people were either burnt out of their homes or they left fearing attacks on their families. Lesser known examples were Andersontown and Rathcoole - again, these were mixed previously. I had a great-uncle who lived in Rathcoole with his English wife and kids until the Loyalists put them out of the area.
But if you went outside of Belfast and Stroke City, you would find a very different set of experiences. You could have Catholics and Protestants living on the same street with no real problems. So, very different to the Bogside and West Bank areas in Derry City or the Falls and Shankill roads in Belfast.
Stroke City = Londonderry aka Derry City aka Maiden City.
It depended on where you went, basically. So the answer to your question is its complicated. It can't all be put down to the politicians as there were other factors involved, especially the terrorist groups.
If I have time, I will post an excellent assessment of the situation regarding paramilitary control over local communities. It was so pervasive that Republican and Loyalist terrorists alike could actually control housing allocations amongst other things.