As the finale of Payback begins, Lexie Noble (Morven Christie) tells her kids to get in the bath to get them away from Cal Morris (Peter Mullan). Once the kids leave, Lexie tells Cal she found the antiques dealer and went to speak to them. He wouldn’t tell her anything although she knew he was the one. DC Jibran Khan (Prasanna Puwanarajah) listens in as Lexie begins telling Cal about Gregor Beaumont. Cal wants Lexie to ask him the next time she decides to go rogue. He has some business he wants her to look at so Aaron will pick her up tomorrow. When Aaron (Jack Greenlees) picks her up, he introduces her to Manda Willis (Julia Brown). DC Khan tries to get in touch with Gregor who doesn’t answer.

Malky Roberts (Steven Mackintosh) tells Lexie they’re doing a site visit because the treasurer for the community group doesn’t know what they’re doing. Dimitri needs Lexie to go through their books. Malky asks Aaron about the containers. In private, Manda tells Lexie that she is sorry about Jared. Once they arrive, they’re welcomed to the Eris Arms. Bianca Morris (Lindsey Campbell) asks her dad, Cal, if he is going to be knocking this place down. He explains that he doesn’t own the whole island and is only a silent partner. Archie Brown introduces himself to Malky Roberts. Cal takes Aaron and the others out to show them their land. Connie (Julie Graham) pleads with Cal to tell them what they’re doing there. Cal explains that the gale is worth a fortune thanks to wind turbines.

Connie is upset because she thought they were going to live there. Bianca is busy talking to someone on the phone about getting an extension. When Connie comes inside, Bianca tells her they’re calling in the loan. She didn’t say anything because she thought they owned the land outright. Bianca admits she needs help. Lexie speaks to Manda in the bathroom while taking a timeout. Manda reveals she is thinking about going blonde again. Lexie moves in so she can get a closer look at her earrings. Lexie suspects they were a gift from Jared, but Manda says Aaron gave them to her. Lexie asks if she was sleeping with her husband. Manda doesn’t want to talk about it because she is worried Aaron will hear. DC Khan listens as Lexie makes it home and tells Doris Szabo (Eileen Duffy) she has been to the Isle of Eris.

Doris informs her that Rowena and the woman from Foundation called. DI Royce also called because Jared’s body is ready to be released. At home, Cal and Connie argue. Connie says she doesn’t care about the money anymore and only cares about Bianca. She claims Cal gave her all these responsibilities only to leave her to struggle. Connie argues that Cal needs to bail her out now that they’re calling in the loan. She needs a quarter of a million or they’ll be heading into receivership before the end of the year. Cal insists it isn’t that simple because the money has to be clean. Lexie speaks to Rowena on the phone until she sees Manda nearby. Once they sit down, Lexie asks if Aaron heard them and whether that’s why he hit her. Manda claims he was stressed about work and she was winding him up.

She goes on to insist there wasn’t anything with Jared. Cal had asked him to help her with the books for the boutique. Jared saw the way Aaron could be sometimes. He told her he didn’t want her to be in a relationship where she felt scared. When she lost one of the earrings, she knew Aaron would be upset. Jared helped her replace them. About a month ago, Aaron lost it over nothing and smashed a table in her flat. Manda didn’t know what to do so Jared got her a hotel where she’d be safe. Jared told her she shouldn’t go back to Aaron. When she spoke to Aaron in the morning, he sounded very upset about what he’d done. Lexie asks if Aaron knew Jared took her to a hotel. Manda doesn’t want to believe Aaron would be capable of that.

Lexie goes to DI Jean Royce (Andi Osho) to say she thinks Aaron got Jared killed. She tells them everything she just found out. Lexie learns that the boy who likely killed Jared has been found dead. She immediately becomes concerned that Aaron will get away with it. Once Lexie returns to Aaron, she tells him that the guy is going to look into the shipping container although there have been a lot of accidents. Aaron gets upset when he learns it doesn’t look good. He warns her that she can’t a word about this to anyone. Cal and Malky talk about Bianca’s situation. Billy is ready to meet tonight. Cal asks Lexie to transfer 250,000 from his accounts to MCG in a way that will not be traceable. When asked about the containers, Aaron says there’s been a delay due to bad weather. Lexie speaks to Dimitri on the phone. He wants to make sure the payments to the Morris Constance Group are to be made through CVB Investments which is the company used to purchase the Isle of Eris.

He argues that they shouldn’t use an existing shell corporation. Lexie says that’s what he should do if that’s what Cal Morris wants. Later, Lexie contacts Marie, Guthrie, to tell him he has the wrong container number. She meets DCI Adam Guthrie (Derek Riddell) to discuss it in person. DCI Guthrie asks her not to tell Aaron until he can get a team down to the docks. He says she’ll have protection in the next 24 hours. Cal meets one of the young boys who knows who he is. The boy says his friend was just doing what he was told to do. He had never seen the guy since his friend just talked to him on the phone. The boy claims not to have heard him either. DC Khan shows Guthrie an invoice for a helicopter round trip to the Isle of Eris and a picture of Cal getting off the plane.

Guthrie worries he’ll have to rely on Aaron flipping on his uncle. DC Khan reminds him they’ll need proof of foreknowledge of criminal activity if he wants to start a money laundering investigation. To get that, he would have to go through Cal. Lexie is thrilled when Guthrie comes through for her, but there is one last thing he wants her to do. They need Cal on tape admitting he knows what’s in the container before they seize it. A tiny magnetic bug will be placed in her jacket. Without it, Aaron might be a year inside and Cal will remain free. Lexie reluctantly agrees to wear the bug. Guthrie tells her to call Cal and ask for a meeting. Once he admits he knows the contents, she should call Aaron and tell him she found the container. She must tell him he needs to get down there straight away or they’re going to move it.

Then, she will need to text them “delivered” or they will not move on the container. Lexie calls Cal and sets up a meeting with him. Jibran is concerned after hearing the call. Jibran tells Guthrie that something is blocking the signal so they should’ve done this differently. Once Lexie arrives, she finds Cal’s man beating up Gregor Beaumont. Cal says he is about to tell them what Jared did with the money. Gregor tells them that Jared bought nine exclusive pieces of jewelry for three million each. Jared told him he was going to give each piece to a different charity. Cal tells Lexie that she is going to find every item Jared stole from him. Cal asks Malky to go upstairs and get as much information as possible. Lexie begins telling Cal about the shipping container. She suspects he told her not to tell Cal because the contents belong to him.

Cal says she assumed right. Lexie walks away. Jibran tells Guthrie that is enough. Guthrie insists Lexie will get everything she asked for now. Lexie calls Aaron to tell him about the shipping container. Cal asks Connie what he should do now. Connie believes he needs to make sure Lexie is telling the truth. If she was, Aaron took what was Cal’s and lied to his face. Lexie prepares to send the message to Guthrie. Connie asks Cal if he can afford to let that go. Lexie deletes the message. Malky meets PC Sarah Naylor (Rori Hawthorn) learns that the woman in the CCTV footage with Jared was Manda Willis. Malky calls Cal to tell him. Billy remembers Aaron using a kid to run errands for him a few years back. It was Michael Tab Moray. Malky suspects Aaron had Jared killed. Cal is sitting next to Aaron. Aaron asks Cal how it went with Connor. Cal says it was helpful.

Billy follows Aaron to the docks while Lexie writes a speech in a notebook. She finally sends the delivered message. Guthrie tells the team to get into position and wait for Aaron to open the door. They wait until the morning so Guthrie suspects Aaron found a way to get inside without being seen. Guthrie gives them the order to move in. Lexie and the kids attend the funeral for Jared. Aaron is found dead in the shipping container. Cal is arrested moments later. Jibran learns that the Morris Constance Group just declared a new investor which is some Dutch company. Cal is interviewed by Guthrie and DC Khan. Guthrie informs him they want to talk about CVB Investments in particular. He is reminded that the legitimate business is run by his daughter Bianca.

Guthrie confirms it is being investigated for money laundering offenses as well. Jean Royce wants to speak to Guthrie about the murder of Jared Noble and Aaron Morris. Lexie learns that Jared set up a trust in Angela’s name so they paid for her home. He also set up several other charitable trusts in the kids’ names. There is also a parcel on the table for her. DC Hardy tells Jibran that the compliance officer for an auction house is trying to reach him about some jewelry. The buyer donated everything to charity except for one necklace that was shipped to the States. Lexie opens the parcel and finds a necklace with a note from Jared. Jibran looks at the address. He visits Lexie later that night. He picks up the bear the daughter dropped. While returning it, he notices she is wearing an expensive necklace. Jibran throws away the address.

 

Payback Review

The finale of Payback was okay since it closed the door on everything and provided a satisfying ending. However, it felt a bit too easy for everything to fall into place that conveniently for Lexie. If there was one hiccup, it’d probably be easier to wipe that under the rug. Unfortunately, there were multiple instances where things worked out too easy for Lexie or didn’t seem plausible. Aaron going into the container at the perfect time and the necklace arriving immediately after the funeral are two of those issues.

It is understandable why the writers went in this direction and allowed Lexie to dish out her own justice on Aaron. However, when that was coupled with Jared not being in an affair, it really made the whole thing corny. Despite the finale falling flat, the series wasn’t all that bad. There were some good spots with the performances being great throughout.

In particular, Morven Christie and Peter Mullan were very good. The supporting cast did a good job as well for the most part. It is just a shame that a series with this cast never achieved more when it clearly could have. The finale scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Payback are available on Reel Mockery here.

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