As the third episode of The Control Room begins, Gabe (Iain De Caestecker) and Sam (Joanna Vanderham) hide in the room as the police arrive outside. He orders Tah (Jatinder Singh Randhawa) to go out there and tell them he was fine. Tah doesn’t want to do it so Gabe threatens to send them to his room too. After Breck (Sharon Rooney) knocks on the door, Gabe tells Tah that Sam’s van has been impounded and they need to get it back before they find out what is inside. Sam claims it is money although it isn’t theirs. Gabe reminds Tah that he knows about him creating fake IDs. After Tah’s phone rings, he is forced to confront Breck and Lennie (Natali McCleary). He tells them that Gabe lets him use his PlayStation and he was here earlier. Tah says he didn’t notice anything unusual about Gabe’s behavior. Breck instructs Tah to tell Gabe to call her before the police leave.

Tah creates fake paperwork for Gabe so he can get the van from the impound. He goes to the station and tells the receptionist about the van before giving him the required paperwork. Gabe begins panicking so he nearly leaves the station but gets stopped on his way out. The receptionist gives him papers as he leaves. He finally gets the van and returns to pick up Sam. As they cruise down the road, they dance to the music on the radio. He gets a call from Leigh who says everyone has been calling him including the police. She says she knows everything about the woman who called so he should come in right now. Gabe suspects his father spoke to Leigh (Taj Atwal). He believes he can talk to Leigh and get her to stay silent since she isn’t Anthony. Sam says they’ve been walking around this city for years. She wonders how close they came to seeing each other.

She confesses that she just wants to rewind everything and go back before this, but Gabe says he doesn’t. They kiss and Gabe says it is going to be okay before he gets out of the van. When he goes inside, he receives an envelope that contains a thank you card. It says to Gabriel from Gabriel. Anthony (Daniel Portman) tells him that he isn’t due for an hour, but Gabe isn’t there for work. He joins Leigh in his office. She comforts him and says he doesn’t have to worry anymore. Police have searched every inch of that development and checked all footage but found nothing. The police asked them to go back and look at calls made around that time. They found out that she rang from three different numbers and hung up every time until she got to speak to Gabe. Leigh and the police think someone is playing with him and wonder if anyone was actually killed.

Gabe storms out and rushes back to the van which is now empty. He opens the back of the van only to find it empty. He goes to Sam’s apartment and tries to convince someone to let him inside. He sees her but she continues walking. He manages to get in when another girl walks her. He chases Sam up to her flat and busts through the door before she can close it. Gabe is stunned when he sees pictures of Sam and Anthony together on the walls. She claims she had to help him. She saw Gabe when she was dropping Anthony off at work a few weeks ago and told him what happened when they were kids. Sam admits they made up the story about the body so Gabe would think he’d done something bad. Then, they could convince him to do something for Anthony. He asks what was in the package. Sam says every accident, every emergency, and every call he takes has value.

People will pay for that information like the dodgy lawyer he met at the museum. They can use the names, addresses, and who saw what. There are some scary guys behind it. She follows him out to continue asking about the money while he claims he put it in the locker. Sam worries people are going to get hurt if they don’t hand it over. It isn’t just her since Gabe has been shagging his boss. She accuses Gabriel of wanting it to be true so he could sweep in and save her. She says he needs saving. Gabe says it sounds like she and her boyfriend need saving now. He is reminded that he is in this as much as they are. As he returns to work, he rudely tells Jat (Taqi Nazeer) to move.

Ross (Conor McLeod) tells him that there is a call he should hear. The caller says there is going to be a stabbing if he doesn’t hand over what is his. He tells Gabriel he is a dead man. When Anthony comes back, Gabe immediately jumps him until the others pull him off. They hear sirens in the distance before Breck and Lennie arrive outside. They’re surprised when the detectives come in and arrest Danni (Rona Morison) on suspicion of participating in the activities of an organized criminal group. Breck asks Gabe if Leigh spoke to him about his mystery caller before saying it’d help if he would start answering his phone. He stumbles to the locker room where he receives a message from Tahir about a guy being there and refusing to leave until he sees him. Leigh joins him to say things have been going on here for a long time including Danni selling their information.

Leigh called the police when she found out that she was accessing all the call logs. Gabe complains that she hid it after saying no more secrets. She fires back by reminding him that he was with someone. Leigh actually thought they were something, but she realizes he isn’t relationship material. She doesn’t want to be his mother. When he checks his locker, he finds his bag in there. Leigh explains he put his bag in Anthony’s locker so she put it back in his. She tells him she isn’t sorting his crap out anymore before leaving. Gabe checks the bag and finds the money. Gabe goes back to his flat where he finds Ian (Stuart Bowman) waiting for him. Ian wants to take him to the police because they need to know about Samantha. He asks Gabe if he has been a part of the stuff going on in his control room since the beginning and whether her boyfriend got him involved.

He says Eilidh (Charlene Boyd) and Robbo (Daniel Cahill) came around this morning because Robbo wanted to apologize. They’ve known for months after Samantha told them. We see a flashback of a young Gabe (Harvey Calderwood) walking through the trees after the fire. In the present, he finds himself at a roadblock so he gets out and walks. He runs until he meets with Robbo and says he isn’t leaving until he knows everything he does. Eilidh tells Robbo to let him in before confirming she saw Sam about a month ago. She goes on to say Sam claimed Haz, Anthony Harrison, had been approached by some guy who asked him about the control room. Since Haz had gotten himself in debt, he got involved in the scam. He ended up having to do what he was told and started getting desperate. It wasn’t a good relationship.

When Eilidh saw her with Gabe last night, she was so glad Sam had gotten away with him and that Gabe was there for her like before. She asks if he even started that fire since she thinks Sam did it. As Gabe leaves, he remembers telling a young Sam (Farrah Thomas) they’ll think it was him because he tried to burn down his old school when his mom first got sick. Sam admits she burned down their home since Robbo ruined it. She didn’t mean for his dad to die. In the present, Sam calls Gabe who says he knows everything about Anthony. She says Anthony is in the kitchen calling someone and she is in the bedroom. Sam claims she tried to leave Anthony but had nowhere to go. Anthony begins calling him. Gabe learns that Anthony got Danni involved because she needed money for a house deposit.

After that, she wanted out so Anthony needed Gabe. He thought he could control him. Gabe answers Anthony’s call to tell him that he doesn’t get to tell him what to do any more before hanging up. Sam tells Gabe he is in a mess because of her. She hears someone else in the flat and says she needs to go since she shouldn’t even be talking to him. She claims she is better off without her. Gabe tries to get her to meet him. He has the money and they can use it to get away. Sam believes it would be best to give them the money. Gabe is threatened by the man with Anthony. He is nearly hit by a car, but it stops in time.

Gabe asks Sam if what they were doing in the last week was real only for her to say no. They were just an escape for each other. He wants to make it real. He says they could live the life they should’ve lived. He claims they can go back to when it was just him and her. They hug during a flashback before Gabe reveals his mom used to say that she’d hold a good thought for you. It was the last thing she said to him. In the present, Gabe argues they didn’t go because of them. It wasn’t their fault that their moms left, but Sam says his mom loved him. He asks her to come because he thinks it is time for both of them. Gabe gets upset when the call ends abruptly. In the past, Ian blames Gabe for starting the fire and says he’ll never see that girl again. Gabe sends her a message saying “home sweet home” so she’ll come to the meeting spot. She meets him later and brings the others with her.

Once they retrieve the money, Sean (Garry Sweeney) tells Gabe that he is coming with them too. When Gabe refuses to get into the back of the van, Sean pulls a gun on him. Sam promises he won’t say anything although Gabe doesn’t think it matters now. Anthony explains someone has to take it and Danni is going to say Gabe approached her. Gabe tells them they’re there when people are scared, hurt, and desperate. Sam pushes Sean as the gun goes off and they begin running away. Anthony and Sean chase Gabe through the trees. While hiding from them among the trees, Gabe calls emergency services to get help. He taps the phone to communicate with them. Anthony charges toward him but only finds the cellphone. He yells that nobody is coming for him as Gabe continues moving through the trees. Gabe runs into Sam while Anthony begins yelling for Sean.

Anthony yells to Sam telling her that he can smell her and that he loves her. He says she’ll be okay because they only want Gabe. Anthony screams in anger. They turn off their flashlights and kneel down between the trees. Gabe and Sam try to crawl to safety until they find themselves cornered. Anthony asks Sean if he is going to do them both. Sean asks if he has a problem with that, but Anthony shakes his head. A red dot appears on Sean’s head as the police begin yelling at them. Sam reveals she called the detective. She claims it is time for both of them. Sean and Anthony are arrested. Once they know they’re safe, Sam and Gabe hug. He reminds her he told her he’d always sort it. She notices that the lights are on. In a flashback, young Gabe hides the note he received just before Ian arrives.

When his dad sits down, he runs away. In the present, Gabe knocks on the door and his father answers. Gabe walks inside before hugging Ian.

 

The Control Room Review

The finale of The Control Room did a good job of pulling everything together and closing all doors. This was a show that you really had to watch every episode before judging it because each scenario changes in an instant numerous times. The performances of the main characters were solid enough to feel legitimately tense at times.

The series was farfetched at times, but this was pretty much a given after the first few minutes. However, it seemed slightly more realistic after finishing all the episodes and everything made a little more sense. The cinematography, lighting, and soundtrack were good. In particular, the soundtrack was effective for setting the mood and really getting the blood pumping during those tense scenes.

There were a few cheesy twists that helped deliver a happy ending even though the bad outcomes were more likely. Besides having too many flashbacks, the pacing was good enough to keep the story flowing from one scene to the next. I didn’t mind the series and the flaws didn’t irritate me too much. The story was unique enough, the acting was good, and the series had heart.

At just three hours, it is hard not to binge the series just to see how it plays out and how all the pieces fit together. The finale scores a 6 or 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Control Room can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support us at this link.