As the finale of Sherwood begins, Rachel Crossley (Christine Bottomley) and the others sit around thinking about Mickey’s death. Ronan (Bill Jones) blames himself for starting all of this. Rory (Perry Fitzpatrick) tells Ronan he only cares about what they do for their dad. He believes they lost themselves somewhere along the way. Chief Constable Jen (Jennifer Hennessy) speaks to Ian and Harry Summers (Michael Balogun) about having Ann in custody and letting her go. Ian St Clair (David Morrissey) says they need to focus everything on Ann Branson (Monica Dolan). Harry and Ian question Roy (Stephen Dillane) who admits he’s not shocked. Roy asks if they’ve caught anyone for Kyre’s murder yet. Ian insists they’ll have Ann if she makes one mistake.

Roy keeps asking who killed Kyre. Stephie (Bethany Asher) wakes up at the hospital while Jordan prepares to get the books to the clubbie. Jordan wonders where Stephie would’ve gone. He doesn’t think she would grass on them. Harry and Ian try to learn more about Kyre from Roy. Harry claims Kyre was going to be a police informant. Roy doubts Kyre was about to turn. He admits Chloe was about to though. Kyre told them after she died. Marcus Clarke (Jorden Myrie) watches Harry walk by. Marcus approaches him to see if there has been a breakthrough. Harry says he has a tip about a potential sighting of Ann Branson. He doesn’t know Roy could’ve known some of those things. Harry thinks they should go together. Rory tells the family they should’ve dealt with the Bransons their way.

He says Mickey just went along with Daphne because he loved her. Rory believes Mickey would want blood for blood. He suspects someone around there knows where Ann Branson is. Daphne thinks Mickey was saying, “don’t”. She wonders if it meant they shouldn’t destroy their lives for him. Rory says they all know what’s right. When they’re alone, Daphne admits to Rachel she wants him to find Ann. Ian calls Harry who is busy driving Marcus somewhere. Then, Ian calls Daphne to check in. She tells him not to call until they have Ann. Daphne wants the cops gone. She hopes someone gets to Ann first. After hanging up the phone, Daphne checks the gun. Harry takes Marcus out into Sherwood Forest before strangling him. Harry lets him go and says he’s been testing things out for years.

He knows that Marcus has been leaking information. Marcus says everyone is right about Harry being screwed up. Harry yells for his phone. He ends up taking Marcus’s phone. Marcus tells him he doesn’t know the first thing about him. Harry shows him the message and says everyone will know he’s a liar. Jordan speaks to Rory who is going to take some money. Jordan tries to stop him from taking the money, but Rory brushes past him anyway. Marcus is brought back to the station in handcuffs. In an interview room, Marcus tells them he’s good at his job. He reveals the Bransons paid for his degree at the university. He talks about the Warners who were dodging laws and taxes. Marcus says the police are always chasing the little guys. Ian says it might help him if he tells them what he knows about Ann. Sandy (Aisling Loftus) sees Stephie at the hospital.

Stephie says she thought they were looking after her. They think she doesn’t see the things they’re doing. Jordan’s house is raided and he’s taken into custody. Ian finds a boy upstairs who has taken something. He has seen the boy at Marco’s gym. A news report says that police do not intend to pursue charges against Franklin Warren (Robert Lindsay) in Lisa’s poisoning. Franklin speaks to the media outside and calls the situation corruption. He says things can grow there and they can grow things. He’s told the council members are two-to-one against him now people. Franklin suggests they will not be saved. Lisa (Ria Zmitrowicz) wakes up in the hospital. Sandy is glad to see her away. Harry tells Ian that Stephie told them she and Jordan were at Lisa’s on the day she collapsed. Ian complains about the boy not being taken to the hospital.

The officer, PC Brown, says they pumped him out and he was fit to be detained. Ian wants to take the boy away, but Jen refuses to let him do that. Ian argues with Jen that they’re meant to intervene. He says he can’t do this before leaving. Samuel (Robert Emms) reminds Franklin he was advised not to say anything to the police. He argues that things have to chance. Samuel called the board together yesterday. He wants to be part of the change. Franklin believes the world is changing for the worse. Samuel argues Franklin believes the most convenient thing to get what he wants. Franklin wants to go to the office to make some calls. Samuel tells him it’s over. He asks the driver to drop Franklin off at the house and take him on to the office.

Harry says the boy’s name is Jordan Magashi and he claims he just wanted to hurt Lisa. Jordan blames her for what happened. He had a brother serving a life sentence in HMP Nottingham. Harry tells Lisa and Sandy that Jordan’s brother benefitted from the prison programs until the funding cuts happened. Harry admits it seems opportunistic. They’re still looking into the death threats because Jordan denied sending them. Harry calls Ian to say Lisa should be okay. Julie Jackson (Lesley Manville) finds Ian who begins crying. They go inside Ian’s flat. Julie says it’s horrifying to hear about Mickey and Lisa. She knows it’s sometimes about being there instead of fixing things. Ian confesses he’s not doing too well. Julie believes Ian can encourage people to help themselves. Julie knows they have to live.

Daphne receives a message from Julie. Ian visits Ryan (Oliver Huntingdon) and tells him about Jordan. Ian says they found dozens of books in the donation center. They know the drugs are on page 50. Ryan says he’s doing all this for Stephie. Ian reveals they’re going to transfer him. He tries to get information about Ann Branson. Ian asks Ryan to think about how he got here and talk about it. Ian admits he hates the Bransons. Ryan says they’re bullies. Ryan suggests he snapped that night because someone had to stand up to them. Ian asks how they break the hold that the Bransons have on people. Ryan says people want what they’re selling because there is nothing else. Ian tells him he just wants to talk for now. Rory and Ronan go to the boxing gym where they Marco three grand for Ann Branson.

Marco refuses to help them. Daphne visits Julie who invites her in. Rachel remains in the vehicle outside. Daphne asks for help. Julie confesses it doesn’t get any easier. She tells Daphne how it feels. Jarrod (James Burrows) catches up with Rory and Ronan outside the gym. Everyone agrees that the Bransons have gone too far and this needs to end. Jarrod says Ann has been waiting for her passport. He asks for Rory’s phone. Jarrod puts something in the phone and asks Rory to give Ann the passport. In the car, Ronan tells Rory they should tell Daphne or the phone where Ann is. Rory tells Ronan to get out. Ronan tries to take the phone. Rory takes him and tells him to get out because he’s too good. Ronan gets out and calls Daphne. Seconds later, Daphne gets in touch with Rory who asks her to leave this with him.

Once Daphne finds out where Ann is, she realizes she’s closer. She grabs the gun and begins driving there. Rachel pleads with her not to do this. She begins messaging Ian. Once Daphne arrives, she gets out with the gun to confront Ann. Daphne ends up shooting her and asking who told her. Daphne tells her to just do it. Ann tells her to walk over to the water so she won’t have to move her corpse. While Ann speaks to her, Rachel picks up the gun. Rachel confronts Ann with the gun. This gives time for Daphne to fight Ann. Before long, Ann is knocked to the ground and Daphne is holding the gun on her. Daphne doesn’t shoot her though. She tells Ann to run. If she killed her, she would’ve betrayed when Mickey wanted. Daphne warns her that everyone has abandoned her and they’re coming for her.

Rory arrives. Ann charges Daphne and ends up in the water. Rachel and Daphne let her drown. Rory joins them before the police arrive. Ian finds out that Ann is in the water. The Sparrows just walk away. Ryan speaks to Stephie. He tells her that he has to go further away. He says he loves her. Lisa speaks to the council and says things can grow here. She talks about there being an agenda. Stephie buries the rest of the money. Jordan is moved into a cell. Harry goes to a group meeting. Lisa says they have to start believing in themselves a lot more. Ian visits Julie. Ronan picks up Daphne when she’s released from the hospital.

 

Sherwood Review

This was a pretty lackluster finale to end an otherwise weak series of Sherwood. It’s getting to the point where the series doesn’t know what it wants to be. On one hand, it wants to be this deep, sophisticated series partially based on true stories. On the other hand, the writing is dumb and the true stories are changed beyond recognition.

The finale would be a satisfying end to the series as a whole because it’s not getting any better from this point forward. Alternatively, the series could drop the preachy approach and just go wild with the crime. As for the finale itself, it was really weak because so many stories went nowhere and were left unresolved.

Franklin, Samuel, Lisa, and Sandy turned out to be nothing burgers. Kyre’s murder was never resolved. The drug operation was conveniently shut down for some cockamamie reason. The showdown between Ann and Daphne was pretty anticlimactic. Ann had the upper hand only to leave the gun for anyone to take. Marcus’s actions were sugarcoated when Harry finally pulled a rabbit out of his arse.

The whole boxing gym was pointless as was the mine proposal. Stephie just conveniently traveled back to the woods to bury the money. This was a dissatisfactory way to end the series because so little was achieved and what was achieved just felt so flat. The finale scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Sherwood can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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