Hollington Drive Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – The show begins with Helen Bardwell (Rachael Stirling) and Theresa (Anna Maxwell Martin) at the hospital for David Bardwell (Peter McDonald). Theresa didn’t know David was so unhappy. She asks Helen if she knew, but she refuses to answer. They are informed, David’s condition is stable. Helen doesn’t want Theresa to go into his room with her. Theresa and Eddie (Ken Nwosu) go out for fresh air.

David sent Eddie a text to alert him of what he had done. He shows the text “Tell Everyone I’m Sorry” to Theresa. He doesn’t understand why David chose him for the text and no Helen. She asks if David told him something. David knew Helen was having an extramarital affair. He doesn’t know with who.

Theresa goes into David’s hospital room. Helen is at his bedside. He will need to stay in the hospital for observation. Helen angrily says they never brought the blanket she asked for because the room is cold. She apologizes, admitting to sounding like their mum. She refuses to accept the blame for David’s suicide attempt. Theresa agrees to pick up a few essentials for David.

Theresa calls Fraser (Rhashan Stone) to tell him David is okay. She pulls off to the side of the road and asks what she can do to get him to stay. He suggests she go get David’s things.  She breaks down and weeps.

At Helen’s house, Theresa begins to gather David’s pajamas when she discovers the hand-carved hands from Gareth Boyd (Jonas Armstrong). Helen calls to tell her David’s clean clothes are in the laundry room, not the master bedroom. She hears a strange noise while gathering David’s belongings from the laundry room. Eva Bardwell (Amelie Bea Smith) appears in the living room. Theresa assures her it is not her fault, and her father is proud of her for telling the truth. She didn’t tell the truth, which is why this happened. Ben was trying to help her. Alex Boyd (Hughie Hamer) was horrible to her. Helen told her to stand up to Alex. They told Alex to kill himself. Ben does not hate her. Theresa promises to keep Alex’s mum, Jean from seeing their nasty messages to Alex.

Theresa arrives at the hospital just in time for David to wake up. He refuses water and asks if Eva is okay. Helen left with the car keys. He thinks Helen went to be with him because she is always with him. Helen asks if Helen was with him the night before the Saturday barbecue. He doesn’t home but she wasn’t home. Helen asks Theresa to stay with David while she goes out to eat. Theresa chases after her to ask if she was with Gareth when Alex was killed. She accuses Helen of lying about everything. Helen anxiously claims to have done it to protect Eva. She stares at the road as Theresa breaks down. She says, “I’m sorry” and veers the car toward a pile of wood. The car flips several times before it comes to rest in a field. Distraught Helen gets out of the car while Theresa stirs awake. She sees Alex’s happy face badge lying on the floorboard of the car.

(Flashback) Jean Boyd (Jodie McNee) asks her husband, Gareth (Jonas Armstrong) if he repaired the back door. He has a flashback of Alex eating cookies and his bear-hugging him. She promises to take him to the movies after work. He asks to take the camera out. She agrees but only if he takes his cellphone. Gareth says it is pizza time when Jean left for work.

In a flashback, Helen is watching Eddie move into Fraser’s and suggests they go over. David says Theresa cannot survive for a few hours on her own. She looks for Eva’s gym bag, with a shirt covered in red paint. Eva is reading when she enters her bedroom. She asks if Alex put the paint in her gym bag. She thought Alex stopped bullying her and promises to take care of it. She leaves to see a friend. He threatens to leave if she doesn’t stop seeing Gareth. She says he needs to get off the couch and can’t remember the last time they had sex. He gave up his job, so she could move there to fix Theresa.

(Flashback) Helen visits Gareth to have sex. She thinks Alex knows about them, which is why he bullies Eva. He suggests they just don’t like each other and don’t want their relationship to end. She doesn’t want it to end but is worried it will explode. She refuses to let him show her out. Gareth checks in on Alex while he sleeps.

(Flashback) She arrives home to discover her keys are at Gareth’s house. She enters through the backdoor and accidentally knocks something over. She retrieves her keys and exits out the backdoor. Alex is recording her. He is making a movie about her and hid dad, Gareth. She asks him to put the cellphone down and she will explain. He refuses and runs away. He threatens to send it to everyone, including Eva. While wrestling the phone away from him, his head hits the side of the house. She anxiously lays his unconscious body on the ground and deletes the images on his phone. She dumps his body in the woods.

At the crash site, Helen explains what happened on the night Alex went missing. She just wanted him to let go of the cellphone. Theresa drills her for being with Gareth and throwing Alex away. She made Alex and Eva feel responsible for Alex’s death. Theresa says she has always used her as an excuse for her mistakes. Sirens can be heard in the background. Helen can’t tell the police what happened. Eva doesn’t deserve to grow up without her mum. She pleads with Theresa to help her. Theresa hopes to never look at her again. Helen threatens to tell the police everything as Theresa turns and walks away.

Gareth is listening to DS Parks’ press conference about Helen’s arrest. He angrily slams and kicks things around in his shed. David and Eva hug. Fraser hugs Eddie as he prepares to leave while David and Eva watch.

Theresa runs into Jean at Alex’s gravesite. She gives Jean Alex’s smiley face badge. Theresa and Fraser pack up her belongings. She holds Alex on her lap, “You’re still my baby.” They say goodbye to Eva and David before driving away. Helen is with a guard at the prison. Ben opens a greeting card from his new dad, Fraser.

 

Fraser is grilling out at their new home. Georgina (Tia May Watts) and Ben are playing with water guns. Helen is in a wood rowboat. A prison guard locks Helen in her cell. Theresa floats in the rowboat as the episode comes to an end.

 

Hollington Drive Review

The finale was nothing like I was hoping. In fact, I describe it as predictable and dull. While the acting is superb, the subplot was nothing special.

It is questionable why the writers chose for Theresa to turn her back on Helen who had supported her emotionally for what seems like years. David and the children earned my empathy. As for Theresa, the outcome may have been too good for her.

They should have thrown us a bone, as to what happened to Gareth and Jean. It is likely they remained together since they had stuck it out so far. The finale deserves a 5.5.

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