As this episode begins, Mike Taylor (Rick Warden) complains to Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) about the alien prank which he calls bullying and racism. She thought he would’ve realized it was a joke. Mike says it was a formality and he doesn’t read every paper put in front of him. He says her glib response is a disappointment coming from someone like her. He says it is like putting your hand up a colleague’s skirt, but Catherine doesn’t think the joke is on par with sexual harassment. Mike receives a call about a body they’ve found that might be the misper. When she asks if it is Joanna, Mike tells her to go secure the scene until the SIO turns up.

As Catherine leaves, she gets a call from Richard (Derek Riddell) who tells her about Tommy escaping and Ryan (Rhys Connah) being there. Catherine learns about the fight in the foyer that distracted everyone so Tommy could escape. Ryan notices Matija (Jack Bandeira) and Ivan (Oliver Huntingdon) nearby. Ivan tells Matija that they should take the money now. Ivan looks over and notices that Ryan is taking pictures of him. Catherine talks to Clare (Siobhan Finneran) and tells her to stay away from Neil’s since Tommy knows that address. She learns about Ryan before saying Tommy knows where she works. Catherine is worried that Tommy (James Norton) will try to use Clare and Neil to get to Ryan.

The call ends when Catherine arrives at the scene. Mike calls to tell her to get back as soon as she hands the scene over. Since it is organized, they should have eyes on Darius. Although Mike thinks she needs protection, Catherine says she isn’t scared of him. Rob Hepworth (Mark Stanley) arrives at the scene and immediately denies killing his wife. Catherine throws the police tape at Gorkem (Mete Dursun) so they can secure the scene. She complains about Gorkem filing the complaint against her and Shah. Andy Shepherd (Vincent Franklin) arrives and tells Catherine that Mary Whitaker is over the manhunt. He wants her to go over there now to tell them about Tommy.

Before she leaves, she tells Andy about Joanna and her daughters. Tommy is picked up by Darius (Alec Secareanu) who tells him there is a change of plans because there was a mix-up in Elland. He’ll drop him off somewhere else and he’ll have everything he needs there. Tommy tells him that the escape was hilarious before claiming Darius is a genius. They got passports for Tommy and Ryan and they’ll go via Dover. Darius promises that they’ll sort him out with everything he needs. Darius says he’ll drop him off and pick him up on Monday. If he doesn’t have the boy by then, they’ll have to go without him. He hopes Tommy isn’t worried about the business with the policewoman.

Catherine sits with DC Mitchell and shows him the picture of Matija. If it is who she thinks it is, she believes it has something to do with the Knezevics. Catherine gives him the registration number for the Honda they were driving. Mitchell wonders how long it’d take to get a train from Leeds to Halifax since they might be able to catch the suspects. When Matija picks up Ivan, he tells him they’re not going to get that money. Ivan has other ideas though. Tommy is told to knock on the door and Surroje will let him in. Darius assures him he’ll be in Marbella with Ryan a week from now. He doesn’t think the business with a policewoman is a good idea. Tommy says getting even with her is just as important as getting to Marbella.

Darius asks what the plan is and how they’re going to get even with her. Tommy says he’ll find her, follow her, and bide his time, but it’d help if he had a gun. When Darius says no to the gun, Tommy reminds him that he did everything he said he would with the Chris Oxley stuff. Darius relents and tells him he should do what he has to do although he is advising him not to. Once he says no guns, Tommy asks for cash. He is told the man inside will give him cash since Darius doesn’t carry any on him. Tommy goes inside with Surroje once he arrives in his vehicle. He is given beer and tobacco. Tommy goes up to the room where he is going to be sleeping. He comes back down to ask Surroje to get him a telephone.

Surroje eventually says he’ll get him a phone tomorrow. He also learns that there is Wi-Fi. Clare says she is going to collect Neil and they’re going to go to Nev’s house. Catherine learns that Nevison (George Costigan) said they can stay there for as long as they want to. She says she’ll tell Richard to take Ryan up there. Ryan tells Richard he doesn’t think he should go. Richard isn’t going to miss the opportunity to question Darius. Richard tells Ros (Kelly Harrison) about Ryan being there and asks her not to drink too much. When she learns he is going out, she accuses him of making her a target. Richard ensures her that Tommy knows nothing about the house and he wouldn’t leave Ryan there if it was unsafe.

Ryan is told to stay with Ros. Faisal (Amit Shah) passes through a police checkpoint on his way home. Once he goes inside, his wife and kids say they believe the man in the Audi has murdered Joanna and the kids. When they see a black van, they believe it could be a hearse. The girls think Faisal should tell the police about this morning and the crash. His wife argues that he should tell the police if Rob was aggressive since it might be relevant. Faisal doesn’t want to get involved in anything like that. He begins freaking out and remembering what he did to Joanna. Richard tells Catherine where he left Ryan and where he is going. She is convinced that Darius was involved in Tommy’s escape.

Catherine tells him about the CCTV footage of Tommy fleeing on a bike. She says Darius could know that he is Ryan’s granddad and he could use him to get to Ryan even if he gave them a fake name. Richard refuses to listen to Catherine because he wants to speak to Darius. Catherine asks Mike about Joanna’s case, but he doesn’t know anything. Mike warns her not to go back home. Richard goes inside to meet with Darius. He learns that Darius left a message saying he isn’t going to make it so they should reschedule. When he calls Catherine to tell her, she says he should pray Ryan is still where he left him. On his way back, he calls Ros to get her to give Ryan the phone only to find that he is already gone.

Richard and Catherine meet with Ros to complain although she reminds them she isn’t a babysitter. Catherine uses her radio to tell others to be on the lookout for Ryan. Ann (Charlie Murphy) and Daniel (Karl Davies) watch a news report about Tommy’s escape. They hear a knock at the door. Once Ryan comes inside, Daniel calls Catherine to tell her where he is. Ryan wants to stay because no one else wants him. Ann wonders why he thinks he’d be welcome there if he is choosing to go visit Tommy. Ann tells him that Tommy is a psychopath who is incapable of relationships. She goes on to say what he did to Ryan’s mom was no nicer than what he did to her.

He raped her, violated her, and traumatized her. He made her feel so wrong in herself that ending her life became a desirable option. Ryan says Tommy said he loved her so he thinks it might be more complicated than Ann thinks. Ann reveals that he forced her to have sex with him when all she wanted to do was go home. He impregnated her to humiliate her, belittle her, to degrade her, and to terrify her. Ann tells Ryan that he wasn’t wanted. She asks if he has any idea what Catherine did for him. She was the only one decent enough to take him on despite what Tommy did to her daughter. Ann believes Tommy is using him and Ryan is letting him.

She insists Tommy doesn’t care about him because he isn’t capable of it. Ryan says fine and he’ll go sleep in a ditch. Once he leaves with Daniel, Ryan confesses he isn’t surprised everyone hated him. Daniel explains it was a situation that no one knew how to deal with. He was only 19 and his dad went weird. His mom was off her head and said some really crappy things to him. When it came to Ryan, she kept saying it wasn’t his fault. Daniel is sorry he wasn’t able to be better and bigger for his mom at the time. Ryan says he only went to visit Tommy because he wanted to make up his own mind about him.

He didn’t tell anyone since he knew this would kick-off, but he wanted to work out what he thought about him without other people’s opinions. When Daniel asks what he has concluded, Ryan says he feels sad for him that he was born like that. Once Catherine arrives, Daniel tells them to call if there is anything he can do. Catherine complains about Ryan going AWOL when everyone is worried, but he says Richard shouldn’t have left him with Ros. Ryan tells her he loves her although he won’t say what brought that on. When they get to Nev’s, Ryan learns that his games console is there. Catherine tells Clare that they haven’t caught him yet. In private, Clare tells her that Nev was talking about flying them to Majorca.

Catherine tells her she is the last person she’d go on holiday with. She says they have nothing in common and Clare bores her. Catherine continues complaining about Clare and Neil. She is going back to work because she doesn’t want to be out there. Rob talks to his mother about the police questioning him. Jane (Judy Holt) says she isn’t going to ask whether he did it. Rob insists he didn’t before he checks on the girls. Meanwhile, the detectives talk about Rob’s statement and how he said he last saw Joanna alive on Monday morning. The kids said he took Joanna a cup of tea and asked them not to disturb her because she wasn’t ready to get up yet.

There was no activity on her phone. The last time she used her phone was on Saturday. She had the cheapest possible phone and wasn’t the type of person to check her Twitter feed first thing in the morning. Andy says it looks like blunt-force trauma to the head although they’re waiting for the report. SOCO has found evidence of blood all over the house. Andy wants to know who was giving her diazepam before they jump to conclusions about the husband doing it. Faisal continues thinking about the murder before his wife checks on him. Tommy plays video games and sends a message to Ryan who suggests voice chatting.

Tommy reveals he memorized his gamer tag when he told him ages ago. Ryan tells him what the news has been saying about him and his escape. Tommy is surprised Ryan wasn’t impressed by his escape. When Ryan admits he is worried about him, Tommy says he doesn’t need to. Tommy tells him what it was like to escape before Ryan asks what they’re going to do. Tommy has some ideas. He won’t tell Ryan where he is. He says the future is what matters. Tommy would like for them to spend some time together. Ryan worries they’ll shoot him if he is armed and dangerous.

Tommy says he isn’t armed and he is only dangerous when he has to be. He learns that Ryan isn’t allowed out and isn’t at home either. Ryan says they think he is going to abduct him. Tommy wonders why they’d think that when they’re mates. Tommy says he has a chance to get abroad and Ryan could come with him. Ryan says he can’t since he has his GCSEs in May. Tommy knows a fella who can set them up in Marbella with a house, car, money, and job. He asks Ryan to think about whether he wants to come with him, but they have to be ready to go on Monday.

Tommy is happy to hear that he’ll think about it. He tells Ryan he loves him and he is all he has. They agree to talk again tomorrow.

 

Happy Valley Review

The final season of Happy Valley is coming to an end and setting up a big showdown between Tommy Lee Royce and Catherine Cawood. There are other stories to be covered in the finale so it is a good thing it will be slightly longer than previous episodes. It is unique this episode didn’t give a clearer picture of what to expect from the finale though. Most shows are already on the cliff’s edge at this stage. Instead, the finale will have to move quickly to give viewers a fitting ending.

There were many great scenes in this episode with one of the best being Ryan telling Catherine he loved her. It is still a bit difficult to be emotionally connected to everything going on because there is so much to take in and so many characters to juggle. I’ve somewhat lost interest in the Hepworth storyline because I expected more earlier in the season, but it has been put on the backburner now.

There is still intrigue there to find out what happens and the same can be said about Ivan and Matija even if there is no emotional impact from the outcome. The secrecy surrounding Tommy’s actions should’ve been dealt with by now considering Ryan still doesn’t know everything that happened. It was odd for Catherine to show such vehement animosity toward Clare who had nothing to do with the escape.

That can also be said about Ann who lashed out at Ryan, but that may be an attempt to give the impression that Ryan will seriously consider Tommy’s offer. It is slightly disappointing that this episode didn’t create a lot of anticipation for the finale and just left a lot of doors open. The finale needs to be exceptional to make this return to Happy Valley worthwhile. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10.

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