As the finale of The Gathering begins, Charlie (Ryan Quarmby) calls Bazi (Luca Kamleh-Chapman) to say the deal is off now that Kelly knows about their relationship. Howie meets Jules (Richard Coyle) to tell him that the shirt didn’t contain any helpful evidence. He asks Jules if he was aware that the incident was being filmed. Jules isn’t sure why Kelly would do something that might incriminate her father. He suspects Paul told Kelly it wasn’t his fault. Howie tells him Kelly said Charlie recorded the incident. Bazi is not happy since he told the handlers he would have the money. He asks Charlie to help him find Kelly since she should be there. Natalie (Vinette Robinson) calls Jess because she thought they could order food and stay in.

She watches an interview with Debbie who mentions Gym Relief which helps low-income gymnasts. When pressed, Debbie says people should look out for Kelly. Meanwhile, kids hang out and party during the gathering. Adam (Sonny Walker) takes a pill. Jules goes home to look for his son. He grabs his computer to see if he can find the video. Jules learns from his wife that Charlie went to the beach without Natasha. Kelly (Eva Morgan) approaches Bazi to ask if London didn’t work out for him. They sit on the beach together and talk about the things Bazi does. Bazi insists they don’t mean anything and she’s not in love with Charlie. Kelly complains that he ghosted her. Bazi tells her about Nour and the people he found to bring her over for a price. He explains why he didn’t tell her previously.

Bazi insists Charlie can help him get his sister back. He asks Kelly not to mess this up for him, but Kelly argues she needs her dad. Natalie confronts Debbie (Jodie McNee) to say they need to have a conversation. In private, Natalie tells her about the timeline of messages from the parents’ WhatsApp group. It alleges everything from pressure cooker tactics to psychological bullying, body-shaming, and negligence. The club has a high rate of injury and a gymnast filed a complaint against Debbie at her old club. Natalie warns Debbie she could destroy her. She says Jessica will return to training tomorrow and she’ll take Kelly’s place at the Championships next month. Kelly takes a pill at the party. Jules remains at home and watches television.

His daughter joins him and they talk about the place they used to go to when Charlie was doing his academy training. Jules says they should go to The Crocky Trail again. His daughter tells him that the password is his mom’s middle name and the year he was born. Jules watches the video on Charlie’s computer. Then, he gets a message from a boy asking about his penis. Jules finds Charlie’s gay dating profile. Adam hangs out with Kelly. Dawn visits Ella’s house and speaks to her mom, Vanessa (Phillipa Peak). Dawn says Ella at least had the guts to come and see her. She says Ella admitted to brow-beating them into giving her a line. Vanessa claims Lou doesn’t even know what his kids are up to. She warns Dawn that the stuff her son is spending Ella is not okay. Dawn is surprised to learn she’s talking about Josh. Meanwhile, Josh shoots fireworks with friends.

When he sees Jessica, he tells her they’ve all seen her in her pink panties and know what she said to Adam. Dawn goes home to look for Josh only to find he isn’t home. She calls Louis to ask if he can come over because they need to talk about Joshua. Kelly watches as Jessica accuses Adam of showing people the video. Adam asks when she saw his brother. Kelly begins freaking out so Josh tries to help her. Jessica gets upset when she hears others talking about her. Jess confronts Josh and remembers him being on top of her when she was drugged. She accuses him of spiking her drink. Jess calls him pathetic and suggests he’s still a virgin. She hears Kelly. During a struggle, Josh ends up throwing Jess to the ground and knocking her out. Kelly asks what he’s done. She ends up running from Josh. He ends up pushing her from behind and knocks her into the water.

Josh holds her head under. Natalie gets a notification about Jessica’s whereabouts. Charlie and Bazi watch a news report about the incident at the beach party on Hilbre Island in the Dee Estuary. Natalie picks up Jessica. Adam learns that Kelly remains in critical condition. Jules approaches Charlie and Bazi. When Bazi leaves, Charlie speaks to his dad about their relationship. Jules claims it’s all the crap he’s being fed, but Charlie is adamant that he likes boys. Jules questions why Charlie never once mentioned the video footage. Charlie admits he did it because Jules deserved it. Lou and Dawn watch the video of Jess pleading with Josh to stop. He returns home moments later. Natalie tells Jessica that he will be punished. Jess admits he has stuff on her because he stole them from Adam’s phone. Natalie learns they sent each other videos. She asks why she would do that.

Jessica says it’s the same reason her mom visits strange men in motel rooms. She wanted to. Paul (Warren Brown) finds Adam at the hospital and tells him Kelly is going to be okay. Paul explains Kelly was attacked although she doesn’t remember by whom. Adam apologizes and says he should’ve been looking out for her. Adam checks on Kelly seconds later. She wanted to tell him that it was Josh before she gives her statement to police. Kelly believes he tried something with Jess and spiked her at Lou’s party. Adam blames the lads he hangs out with. Kelly says he needs help. Adam goes home where he finds Louis (Rob Jarvis) destroying Josh’s devices. Then, he confronts Josh and tells him they took Kelly’s spleen. Josh asks how he can be with someone like Jessica who does those things. All he wanted was a nice girl and someone who won’t talk to him like he’s a piece of crap.

Josh blames Dawn for not letting him go to one party. Adam wants to take him to the police station. Lou enters and says he’s dealing with it. Dawn enters and warns Adam that he and Ky are out if he says anything. Bazi calls the hospital to try to get information about Kelly. After the call, he learns someone dropped off a package for him. When he’s alone, he opens it and finds Jules’s watch inside. Adam goes to the police station to speak to someone about the attack. He’s there with his brother. Bazi meets the handlers and gives them something before they see away. He turns around and sees Nour behind him. At home, Kelly and Paul talk about her recovery time. She jokes about Tate getting messages from a girl. Diane (Deborah Bouchard) visits to speak to Paul. She admits it’s not good. Paul sits down and tells Kelly he hasn’t been honest with her.

He tells her about the video. Paul confesses he went after Jules first. Kelly worries that her dad is going to go down. Paul urges her to be strong. Kelly promises to take care of Tate. Charlie’s sister approaches him to say goodbye. Jessica attends the championships. She stops in the middle of the routine, lets her hair down, and walks out of the building. Later, Adam tells Kelly that it’s going to be okay and Paul will be out before she knows it.

 

The Gathering Review

The finale of The Gathering felt like a mixed bag with some strong moments and others that left a bad taste. On one hand, the finale wrapped everything up and didn’t really leave any doors open. It was satisfying enough in that regard. Viewers who’ve been able to legitimately connect to the characters and their stories will likely enjoy what was delivered here.

There were probably enough doors open to justify another series if the viewership numbers are strong enough. Then, there will be viewers like me who just can’t look past the story’s many issues and inconsistencies. I’d like to believe there aren’t this many bad parents in such a small area or that they’re all this stupid. Even a bad parent would have enough common sense to know their behavior is bad.

Dawn’s conversation with Vanessa was just too stupid to believe. She was portrayed as a somewhat decent parent previously, but she couldn’t really think she could defend Lou’s actions by claiming Ella “brow-beat” him into giving her drugs. It was also silly that Kelly just happened to flee from Josh towards the rocks and water. It’s not like she had an entire beach in either direction giving her a better escape route.

Making Josh the culprit really felt like a copout in the long run as well. It’s so common for series like this to build up an extravagant story with so many possible bad guys. Then, the bad guy is someone completely out of left field just to ensure none of the main characters are harmed. Finally, it’d be nice to just leave Paul in prison for a while. The guy was beyond pathetic at the hospital when Adam said he should’ve been looking out for Kelly.

The writers must’ve forgotten that Paul is the father here. In the end, none of the characters are easy to sympathize with and there were too many stories going on simultaneously to get emotionally invested in any of them. If the show did anything well, it did a tremendous job of deflecting responsibility and even trying to push Josh as a victim in the whole ordeal. The cast was strong for the most part and each element of the story could’ve worked great on its own.

Those stories just needed time to develop and mature instead of flipping a switch and moving on to something else like Syrian refugees or prostitution. Focusing more on one of these ideas would’ve made a more thought-provoking experience and a more realistic one at that. Jamming everything together just left me feeling that this wasn’t possible. The finale scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Gathering are available on Reel Mockery here.

Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.