As this episode of Sherwood begins, Daphne Sparrow (Lorraine Ashbourne) retrieves a handgun. Mickey (Philip Jackson) comes out and asks her why she has it. Daphne mentions the Bransons. She doesn’t want to take any chances. Mickey takes the gun and fires it. Ian St Clair (David Morrissey) checks in on Lisa Waters (Ria Zmitrowicz) at the hospital. He asks for a couple of officers on rotation at the Royal Kings Hospital. Ian explains there’s been a suspected attempted murder of a politician. Harry Summers (Michael Balogun) and Ian discuss the possible attack. Ian says Lisa is his friend. He admits he doesn’t know what good he’s doing back there. Ian tells Harry about the threats Lisa had been receiving before the attack.

He suspects there will be a media storm and it’ll be just like last time. Roy Branson (Stephen Dillane) meets Jarrod (James Burrows). Jarrod warns him that the killings of the Bottomleys aren’t going down well on the streets. People are getting tooled up and getting ready. Roy says people are seeing an opportunity to muscle in and he isn’t happy about it. He wants Jarrod to find out who is moving in on his patch and put them down. Then, they can split the profits 50-50. He also wants to know who killed Kyre. Roy asks if he can help with the Sparrows. Jarrod argues the Sparrows have always shown him respect and he’s never had a problem with them. Roy screams that they grassed. He says the age of honor is dead. Dale (Josh Rowlands) visits Jordan (Tyrese Eaton-Dyce) to get more product. Inside, Stephie (Bethany Asher) tells Jordan that Lisa has been hurt.

She wants to call Ryan. Jordan reminds her that Ryan (Oliver Huntingdon) has to call them and that’s just the way it is. Scott Rowley (Adam Hugill) checks with Ryan who can’t get in touch with anyone either. Ryan says it takes time. He insists they can trust them. Scott wants to speak to them. Franklin Warner (Robert Lindsay) and Samuel Warner (Robert Emms) talk about Lisa. Franklin wonders where the file she had on him went. Samuel says he should’ve told him about working for the government. Franklin admits they had a helping hand every now and again. Samuel asks what he’s inheriting and what he knows about any of this. The Chief Constable (Jennifer Hennessy) speaks to the media about the attack on Lisa. Harry is asked to brief the media on the details of the investigation. He notices Ian standing in the back and asks for a second.

He gets upset and rushes out of the room. Ian checks on him. Harry admits he’s not okay. The Chief Constable complains about Harry walking out of the briefing. Ian asks Jen to give them a minute. In private, Harry tells Ian how he wakes in the middle of the night with terrors. He admits he passed out at the safe house with the Bottomleys. Harry questions how the killers managed to find the house. He goes on to say this is too important to get wrong. Ian goes back and conducts the briefing. He’s asked about bringing in help during the Ashfield killings. The reporter asks Ian if they’ve lost control. Jen insists they’re in control. Ian says they’re not going back to that. He talks about the changes they’ve made but admits the fear is back now. Ian says they’re beyond the code of not grassing. He asks for anyone with information to come forward and help.

In private, Jen complains that they’re not on the same page. Ian admits they’re not in control at this time. Jen calls his actions reckless, stupid, and selfish. Ian is adamant he won’t BS people anymore. Rory Sparrow (Perry Fitzpatrick) shows Mickey the van he’s bought. He thinks they can use it for business travel. They argue about not running things across the family. Rory complains about them working with the police. Rory is told to stay put because it’s not safe at the moment. Ian looks through the stuff found and finds the note Lisa wrote about things growing there. He also finds the information about Thatcher’s spy. He asks Marcus Clarke (Jorden Myrie) to pull up the CCTV footage from the city hall. They see someone walking by and suspect it could be Franklin. Ian tells Harry he’s going to make copies of some papers.

He doesn’t want to bring Franklin in until he’s spoken to his source. Rory meets Samuel to talk about the solar panels. Samuel tells him the other partners receive about a grand per acreage of rent. Rory believes that’s the bare minimum. He wants in on the PPA. Rory says that’s the price he’ll sell the energy to the utility company. Samuel asks if his family would agree. Rory believes he can get them to see the light. Rory tells him about the fleet he’s building for corporate travel. Samuel tries to find out what he’s playing at. Rory wants to be in both since he believes Samuel is doing the same. Rory argues this will help him get out of the other stuff. Ian visits Daphne to ask her about Franklin. She asks him to stop tormenting her. Daphne admits Franklin was around although he was something different. He had money and got things done.

She hasn’t had contact with Franklin for decades. The police can’t identify two sets of prints on the documents. Daphne is the only Sparrow whose prints aren’t on file. She believes they’d have them under the name Jane Jones when she was a Met officer. Daphne insists she didn’t send this stuff. She doesn’t want to talk about it until she talks to someone else first. Ian wonders if he should bring Franklin in for questioning. Daphne reminds him he said all of this would be over. Ryan gives Scott the phone. He says they’ll confirm his money is safe. Ryan agrees to watch while Scott calls them. Scott can’t get in touch with anyone. He’s busted by the guards who say it’s the second strike. He’s ready to go after Ryan. A prison guard tells Ryan that Scott will get charged and a couple of years will be added to his sentence.

For now, he’ll be transferred to another wing. The guard tells him intel pays if he wants to make this an official arrangement. Lisa’s toxicology report shows that she has liquid spice in her system. Harry suggests it was in her vape pen. He argues they should bring Warner in for questioning. They’re also working to find out which gangs are dealing with spice. Jordan speaks to Stephie about Ryan and everything. He says he misses his brother who got banged up too. Jordan asks her to do as she’s told. Daphne visits Rachel Crossley (Christine Bottomley) who learns her statement wasn’t enough. Rachel admits she got the urge to spend more time with her. Daphne thinks she should tell her about her dad. She mentions the name Franklin Warner. Daphne admits it’s a long story. She struggled to keep Rachel because she was a living, breathing reminder of Franklin.

Franklin arrives at the police station with multiple solicitors. He’s allowed to bring one into the interview room with Harry and Ian. They ask Franklin about his meeting with Lisa. Franklin says they tried to speak to her, but she was busy doing something else. They waited a while and left. Ian asks him whether Lisa told him he knew. Franklin laughs at the idea he could get away with something like this. Rachel tells Daphne that Roy had her blood on his fingers and it got on the cigarette. Daphne calls Ian to tell him about the cigarette. The police try to find it. They find something during the search. Ann (Monica Dolan) and Roy are brought into the station so they can be arrested for the murders of Dennis and Pam. Mickey tells Daphne they can breathe now. Daphne credits Rachel for remembering the cigarette. She tells him she had a different name when she first arrived.

Daphne was the name given to her by her bosses. She tells him how she felt when she was with him and how the feelings were real. Mickey knew she had a whole past because he had that. He goes on to say he wanted to be someone else too. Mickey reminds her he told her he’d step up for the baby. He insists he’s always known. She says she’s the police. Mickey thinks they should leave it there now and go back to planning their trip. In the morning, Jordan learns that Stephie has gone out. She’s sleeping at the hospital. Ronan (Bill Jones) and Rory speak to Daphne about the day. Ian meets Rachel who says she was hoping the arrest would finish it. He says he’ll have to make a statement. Rachel thought she had enough with the cigarette. She’ll need to say that she saw Ann too.

Harry calls to tell Ian that Roy is saying he acted alone. She’s already been released and they dropped the protection officers. Ian calls Daphne to let her know. Then, he tells Rachel that they need to go. Daphne tries to call Mickey who doesn’t have his phone. Ann picks it up and hears Daphne say she’s been released. Ann loads a gun. Daphne rushes home. Ann ends up shooting Mickey who collapses. Ann sits down and asks what he’s thinking about. Mickey curses her and says just him. Ann read that being shot in the stomach is the worst. Daphne makes it home where she finds Mickey shot. Police cars arrive outside moments later. Rachel arrives and comforts Daphne.

 

Sherwood Review

This episode of Sherwood was okay although it doesn’t create a lot of excitement for the series finale. At the very least, things happened that will impact the series going forward. The police continue being as incompetent as ever. Harry is finally starting to question how the killers knew where the Bottomleys were being hidden.

However, that went nowhere after a brief mention of it. The show is desperately trying to intertwine those murders with the mine, Lisa, and the Warners. Unfortunately, that aspect of the story is the weakest and feels like they’re just trying to make this something that it’s not.

Of course, it’ll all be conveniently tied together just like the cigarette that Rachel just happened to remember and the police found in an instant. If the police were competent or written competently, they would’ve found all the evidence Roy and Ann left at the crime scene to begin with. It’s questionable whether any evidence would remain after all this time.

The gaping plot holes really leave a sense of dissatisfaction and prevent this from being emotionally effective in any way. I’ll say it again. The series is watchable, but it requires the viewer to completely close off their brain. Otherwise, they’ll find the whole thing incredibly pretentious and silly.

The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Sherwood can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent voice at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.