As the finale of Joan begins, Joan (Sophie Turner) receives a suitcase and begins packing stuff for herself and Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long). She calls about the visit to the school tomorrow. Joan is told the children will be outside when she gets there. She calls Albie to say she needs the passport. When Boisie (Frank Dillane) returns, Joan tells him Albie was confirming the meeting with Paul. Bernard (Alex Blake) says hello to Joan at work. He asks if they’re still on for the stock take tomorrow at lunchtime. Val (Laura Aikman) arrives at Boisie’s shop to tell him that Albie (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr) and Joan have been meeting up. Joan meets Albie who gives her the passport. Joan says she’s stressed with everything going on. Later, Paul (Andrew Tiernan) and the others gather.
They talk about the plan to ensure they’re ready. Albie shows them there to drive after the job. Boisie and Joan will stay in a caravan until drawn before heading to Newhaven. Boisie doesn’t know about Kelly. Joan insists she knows what she’s doing and she can handle Bernard. Tom (Jack Greenlees) watches Joan as she goes to work at Bernard’s shop. While Joan is away, Boisie finds the small suitcase and opens it. Joan returns and Boisie tells her the job is off. He says it’s about Kelly and what’s best for her. She claims he’s just doing what’s best for himself. Boisie suspects she’s up to something with Albie although Joan denies it. Joan alleges he’d rather she lose Kelly than allow her into their lives. Boisie reminds her that he was going to risk coming back to get Kelly as a wanted man.
Joan doesn’t want to wait because she’s worried Kelly will forget her. Joan argues she just wants to be happy. She wants what they never had and she believes this is their chance to get it. Boisie leaves. Joan finds him at his antiques shop later. Boisie says he learned not to need anything at all as a kid. He always wanted to feel safe. They express their love for each other. In the morning, Boisie tells Joan he doesn’t feel right about this. Joan insists it’s going to be okay. She goes to the shop where she encounters Bernard Jones outside. Joan works and waits for the plan to begin. Joan receives a call that was supposedly urgent. Bernard wouldn’t let them speak to her because they’re not allowed personal calls. He wonders if they should close up and push on with it.
She convinces Kirsty and Bernard to leave momentarily. While they’re away, Joan cuts the wire to the panic button. Before long, Boisie enters the shop and asks about a ring. He tells Joan that Paul has decided he doesn’t trust her so he’s pulled out. Boisie thinks they should stand down, but Joan argues Albie should find someone new. Joan says Boisie can take care of Bernard and she’ll work with the new guy. Bernard interrupts and tries to sell Boisie something. A bit later, Joan and the others get moving. Kirsty (Ella Dunlop) arrives later and begins searching for her purse. Joan tries to get rid of her. Once Kirsty finds it and leaves, Joan tells Bernard they should go straight to the face. Albie says they have three minutes. He offers her one of the pieces and says it’ll be a present from him.
He puts one on her finger and starts removing his pants. Boisie tells Gary (Nick Blood) about the plan. He learns that Gary already knows Joan because he is Kelly’s dad. They rush in and take over. Joan gives the keys to Gary. She opens the safe and begins putting stuff in a bag. Joan gets upset when Gary begins breaking the glasses. She tells him the gun isn’t even loaded. He shows her otherwise. Albie gets ready to leave after hearing the chaos. Boisie and Gary get into it. Bernard learns that Joan is in charge. He picks up the gun and points it at Joan before shooting it into the air. Boisie runs over and takes a bullet for Joan. She begins tending to his wound while Gary leaves with the bag. Albie leaves with Gary. Joan tries to get away with Boisie. She takes him outside where he dies. Then, Joan hears police sirens in the distance. Joan cries alone in her car.
She puts the handgun in one of the suitcases and tries to clean the blood off of her hands and face. Joan heads to the school to see if she can get Kelly. Walter the head teacher (Robert Hands) greets her. Joan goes outside with Walter and looks at the children. She tells Kelly to meet her by the gate and she’ll explain everything to her. Before long, she’s driving away with her daughter. Joan stops at a payphone to call Val. Val says she got a note from Albie saying he’s going abroad. Joan wants Val to tell Albie she’s looking for him. Joan goes to the caravan. She tells Kelly that they’re going to stay there until tomorrow. Kelly asks about Boisie. Joan admits he’s not coming. She asks her daughter to do whatever she asks. Joan hangs out with her daughter. Kelly draws a picture of Joan and her other mother, Sue. When Kelly goes inside, he finds the handgun and starts playing with it.
She yells for her mother. Joan runs inside and takes it from her. Joan tells her she needs to keep her safe so she wants Kelly to stay with Sue now. She takes her daughter back to Sue’s house. Tom finds her later. Joan is arrested. Four years later, Joan has gotten a tattoo to cover up the scars on her back. Albie approaches her and asks how she got out so soon. Albie gives her a bag of money. Joan claims she’s going back to work. She won’t do any more cons. She’s going to build herself a bloody empire. She is done with men and wouldn’t work with Albie since he left them in an alley. Joan tells him to watch his back as he walks away.
Joan Review
The finale of Joan took an already bad show and made the whole thing much, much worse. It’s really a shame because the actual core story could’ve been so interesting. Unfortunately, the script was dreadful and completely unbelievable. It doesn’t help that this isn’t the 80s and viewers aren’t stupid.
The television series doesn’t do the story justice because so much of it has been changed for whatever purpose. We know for a fact that Boisie wasn’t killed in a robbery gone wrong. We also know that Joan didn’t go down for that robbery.
In all likelihood, Joan wasn’t actually involved in armed robberies. Instead, Joan spent some time remanded in HM Prison Holloway after stealing a car. When she met Ronald Thomas Hannington or Benny Boisie, he was 17. In 1980, Joan was 24 and she was arrested again for having a stolen chequebook.
At this point, she was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Benny Boisie also wasn’t killed in a shooting. He was supposedly killed in an explosion when he was trying to burn down a house for insurance money. That forced her to reassess her life and she stepped away from a life of crime.
Hannington would primarily swallow jewelry and replace them with fakes. These changes definitely didn’t make the story more interesting. There also probably wasn’t an Albie who Joan would be eager to kill in the end. Joan’s story is an interesting one, but that story certainly isn’t told here.
Joan’s childhood didn’t seem to matter to the writers even though that’s what drove her to become what she was. The finale really showed how outlandish this show thing turned out to be. For starters, Boisie told Joan he had a bad feeling about the robbery. Hello blatant foreshadowing. Kirsty just had to come back for her purse. Gary had to be their replacement for Paul.
Kelly had to find the gun. Basically, the whole finale was a stupid mess that didn’t do the story an ounce of justice. It never even felt like Joan was serious about getting her daughter back. And of course, Joan’s last words were about as corny as could be. God forbid this gets renewed for a second series because the quality certainly doesn’t justify it.
The finale scores a 3.5 out of 10. Recaps of Joan can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
