As this episode of The Light In The Hall begins, Cat (Alexandra Roach) visits Eilis (Delyth Wyn) while pretending to be her niece. She thinks Cat is Shelley. Cat snaps a picture of a young Shelley (Mari Ann Bull). Then, she tries to find out whether Joe had a girlfriend. Joe (Iwan Rheon) enters and finds Cat showing his mom a picture of Ela. He tells Cat that Eilis can’t help her because she can barely remember her own name. As she leaves, Joe tells her she can’t force him to give her what she wants. When Cat asks him to let go of her arm, Eilis tells him not to hurt her.

A flashback shows a young Joe (Dylan Jones) asking Shelley to stop and not to do something. Once Cat is released, Eilis tells Joe not to hurt her again. Dai (Morgan Hopkins) is there to pick up Sharon (Joanna Scanlan) when she is released with an adult caution. She is supposed to stay away from the hostel and Joe. Dai gets a call learning he missed a delivery. When Sharon gets home, she finds Greta (Annes Elwy) leaving with Gafyn (Aneirin Hughes). Sharon tries to talk to her, but Greta doesn’t want to right now. She accuses Gafyn of loving this although he denies it.

He says Greta should be having the time of her life, but she was on the phone with him last night crying his eyes out. Gafyn urges her to put the past behind her and put Greta first now. He removes the tape from the light switch and tells Sharon that Ela isn’t coming back. She puts the tape back once he is gone. Sali (Catherine Ayers) tells Gafyn that he could’ve let her know Greta was coming. He gets angry and drives away. Cat visits Caryl (Sian Reese-Williams) at the café because there is something she wants to ask. Sali checks on Greta and says they should have a little chat.

She knows someone who runs a bridal boutique in Swansea and she has offered them a 25% discount on a wedding dress. Although Greta says she already has a dress, Sali thinks she deserves a new one. Greta agrees to think about it. When Sali finds Ela’s diary, Greta snatches it back. Sali leaves to get to work. Cat tells Caryl what Sharon said about Ela leaving home to see her that day. Caryl denies that and Cat agrees since they hadn’t seen her for about three weeks. Caryl saw her in town about a week before she went missing. She felt sorry for her because she never really got over her dad’s death.

Caryl never said anything about it because she was afraid Cat would start on her. Cat hopes she wasn’t that bad. Caryl says it doesn’t matter now anyway because they were kids. When she met Ela, Caryl thought she had met someone since she had a ring on her necklace. She kept touching it like she wanted Caryl to clock it. Nina Vaughan (Lisa Palfrey) visits Sharon and explains she is the local councilor. She believes Joe is too close to Llanemlyn so she wants to get him moved elsewhere. Sharon tells her to knock herself out. Although Nina claims she wants to help, Sharon thinks she is just trying to add spice to her campaign.

Greta walks down to the stream and looks at Ela’s diary. Nina goes to the auction to hand out flyers and ask for votes. She sees Wyn (Ifan Huw Dafydd) in the distance. Joe asks a counselor how he knows he won’t harm anyone again. He is given advice for dealing with situations when he feels a woman might not be safe with him. He receives information about local projects that are looking for volunteers. Cat goes to Sali to ask her to do something with her hair. Sali tells her how it was hard for Gafyn to be accused and his wife not to defend him. If that was Sali, she would’ve stood by him 100%.

Cat learns about Sharon being arrested last night and released this morning with a caution. She asks if Gafyn ever talks about how things were at home. Cat really wants to find out what was going on for Ella. Sali thinks Sharon should’ve married Dai instead of Gafyn. Cat gives Sali her card in case she remembers anything else before leaving. Once she leaves, she texts Joe and admits she shouldn’t have gone by his mom’s place. She offers to explain. Then, she visits Dai to say Joe is talking to her. Cat urges him to talk to Sharon and tells her she wants what she wants.

After Dai takes her card, she gets a call from Joe who admits she shouldn’t have acted that way this morning. He asks her to stay away from him and his family. Dai brings Sharon a kitten and tells her she has been sacked again. He thinks he can convince the boss otherwise in a day or so. Dai says Greta is hotheaded, but he thinks she’ll come back. He thinks she should speak to Cat since they’re both looking for the same answers. Sharon gets mad when he says Cat has done more than her since she had a proper conversation with Joe. Shelley (Rhian Blythe) comes back to town. Sharon calls Cat later.

Sharon wants to see what she has to say so she agrees to meet her at the Stag in half an hour. When they meet, Cat tells Sharon what Joe said about having memories of Ela being in the caravan. There was some type of chaotic fight before Joe killed her. Cat thinks there are pieces missing such as why Ela was at the caravan and the connection between her and Joe. She wants to build a picture of what was going on in Ela’s life. Cat asks if the connection could’ve been romantic. Sharon thinks she wants someone else to be the killer. She argues that people like Cat and Nina are the same.

When Sharon leaves, Cat researches Nina and learns about her campaign to move Joe. Cat approaches her and tells her about her article. Nina would love to do an interview, but she has to be somewhere right now. She says Carwen (Tonya Smith) can put something in her diary. When Nina leaves, Cat sees if Carwen will tell her who is trying to get Joe moved. Carwen thinks it is a personal project. Sharon takes a bunch of money out of her savings before calling Ian to ask him to get the truth no matter what it takes. When Nina goes home, she learns that Izzy (Hannah Daniel) and Alana (Hannah Dando) are having a baby.

Nina tells them she has been busy with the election. Once Cat goes back, she finds Steve (Ben Bailey Smith) and a broken windshield waiting for her. Ian (Aled Pugh) gives money to a man at the pub. Joe learns someone outside wants to speak to him about work. The man tells him they heard he was handy and the boss wants a word. The man isn’t forthcoming with details. As they walk together, Joe is knocked out. Cat files a report about the windshield before telling Steve it could’ve been anyone. Sali tries to get Gafyn and Greta to have a good time with her, but they have other ideas. Gafyn asks her if she can just leave Greta alone for five minutes.

Greta visits Rhys (Aled Bidder) who learns she is hiding from Sali. She confesses she thought about throwing away Ela’s diary, but she couldn’t do it. She wants to postpone the wedding to prevent it from being tainted by Ela or her mom acting crazy. Rhys gets mad and returns to work. Nina tells Izzy she wanted to warn her about Joe being released. She urges Izzy to leave it to her. Cat talks to Steve about Joe’s sister. He offers to stick around to help with the research for a few days. Cat admits she likes the sex, but she doesn’t want anything serious. Ian’s men interrogate Joe who says he doesn’t know where Ela is.

They beat him up while Joe remembers being belittled when he was younger. Cat tells Steve how she might’ve been terrible to Ela back then. She questions if he thinks she is a bully. Steve says she knows what she wants and likes being in control. Joe gets up and tries to leave. Izzy tells Alana about her mom’s weird news. After Sharon tries to call Ian, Joe comes over and attempts to come inside while saying they have to end this now. She calls the police and claims Joe is going to kill her.

 

The Light In The Hall Review

The third episode of The Light In The Hall added new characters to the picture while Sharon took desperate measures to get answers from Joe. The pace is slightly slow to the point that the series could’ve been shortened by an episode or two. Unfortunately, some of the characters are not likable including those who should be the most sympathetic.

Sali is a good addition since she is stuck in the middle. However, Iwan Rheon’s Joe continues to steal the spotlight. While there isn’t much new in The Light in the Hall, the Joe character is intriguing enough to justify a quick binge. It would’ve been even easier to justify if the show was only three or four episodes because it drags on for too long in its current form.

The moodiness of the show is good so it is easy to see what the story wanted to convey at any given point. Certain scenes are silly and could’ve been left on the cutting room floor. The Joe character makes the show watchable although it is pretty clear what his involvement in the murder likely was. The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Light In The Hall are available in Reel Mockery here.

Considering supporting our work by following this link. Advertising opportunities are available on Reel Mockery here.