As the finale of The Tower begins, DCI Jim Fedden (Stuart McQuarrie) tells DS Sarah Collins (Gemma Whelan) well done for finding Tina’s body. It was rolled up in carpet. Sarah doubts they’ll get any forensics from the body since it has been in the ground for so long. They still need evidence that Adrian Stephenson was abusing Tania so they’re going to speak to her best friend. DC Steve Bradshaw (Jimmy Akingbola) interviews PC Colin Ryle (Jack Shalloo). Colin insists Matthew doesn’t hate the police although he hates Lizzie Adama. During a break, Steve tries to get in touch with Lizzie. He finds out that CCTV shows Matthew watching Lizzie at the station.

Lizzie (Tahirah Sharif) is shown with DI Kieran Shaw (Emmett Scanlan) who is still sleeping. Sarah and DC Elaine Lucas (Ella Smith) visit Katherine Herringham (Rosalie Craig) to speak to her about Adrian Stephenson. They tell Katherine about the discovery of Tania’s body. Katherine reveals that Adrian convinced Tania to play naked so she would feel the music more. She agrees to speak to them more tomorrow. When they leave, Sarah and Elaine talk about arresting the creep now. Matthew Brannon (Charley Palmer Rothwell) keeps an eye on the car tracker although he tells Skye (Faith Delaney) it is a message from Fred. Sarah visits Adrian Stephenson (Tristan Sturrock) with Elaine and DC Lee Coutts (Bobby Lockwood).

When they tell him about the body, Adrian says thank God they’ve found her at last. Elaine arrests him on suspicion of murdering Tania Mills. Steve calls Sarah to say he thinks Matthew put a tracker on Lizzie’s car. Plus, Colin says Matthew blames Lizzie for everything. Sarah agrees to head over there to see if she can get in touch with Lizzie. As Lizzie gets closer to home, Matthew tells Skye to stay in the kitchen. Sarah calls Lizzie to tell her that Matthew may know where she lives. Lizzie sees Skye through the window so she tries to rush inside. Sarah urges her to walk away, but Lizzie wants to go inside anyway. Lizzie attempts to help Skye get out of her house.

Before she can escape through the window, Matthew barges in with Candy in his hands. Sarah hears it on the phone as Matthew stabs Candy and begins blaming his daughter. He agrees to let Lizzie come in although he warns her not to phone anyone or play games with him. Lizzie goes inside the house before telling Sarah that the door is unlocked. She sticks a pair of scissors in her pocket and walks inside. After Matthew takes her keys, Lizzie tries to keep Skye calm. Matthew grabs Lizzie as Skye screams for him not to hurt her. He puts a knife to Lizzie’s back and accuses her of doing this. Lizzie attacks him before trying to flee up the stairs. Sarah makes it to the house and rushes inside.

Lizzie is stabbed at least once. Sarah manages to stop Matthew from stabbing her again. Once he is subdued, Sarah calls for medical assistance. Sarah checks on Skye. Kieran arrives and learns from PC Arif Johar (Michael Karim) that she has been stabbed. Kieran asks if Arif has called Cathy Teel for Skye. She arrives seconds later. Skye runs over to Cathy (Tamzin Outhwaite). Kieran tells Sarah that she saved Lizzie and Skye, but Sarah thinks Lizzie did that. He agrees to keep an eye on Cathy and Skye since Sarah has to leave. Lizzie is rushed to the hospital. During the interview, Adrian admits to organizing the memorial at Morville Park. He also got a key to the car park from the groundskeeper because he wanted to spend time there on his own.

Adrian agrees he had no interest for the community at the time, but he thinks he has made up for it since. He denies sexually abusing Tania. When Sarah mentions that he used to make her play naked, his solicitor says that is hearsay from a dead person. Adrian denies everything before saying it is his turn to ask questions. He believes they’re basing these vile accusations on nothing. When asked about the morning of the 6th of September, Adrian says he spent it with his ex-wife Abigail. They watch Diana’s funeral on television so he could not have met, spoken to, or killed Tania Mills. He asks if they want Abigail’s address. Elaine checks on Sarah outside. Sarah admits she had a blow to the head since Matthew punched her.

Sarah believes Adrian is lying so they should go speak to her ex-wife. Kieran checks in with Lizzie’s parents at the hospital. Abigail tells Sarah and Elaine that she watched Diana’s funeral with Adrian. She admits that the marriage was a mistake. Sarah asks if she is aware of the allegations of sexual assault against Adrian. Abigail claims she wasn’t aware of those allegations before trying to end the conversation. She is adamant that Adrian was with her the whole day so he couldn’t have killed that girl. Abigail asks them to leave. Jim and Sarah wait for the autopsy to be finished. Jim thinks she should be at home. There is no cause of death yet and they only have 16 hours left on Stephenson.

Jim tells her to go home and get some sleep. Julie Woodson (Camilla Beeput) calls Sarah to ask if she can come see her. When they get together, Julie asks if she was obsessing over the missing girl named Tania. Julie wants her to know that she doesn’t need to be the center of envy. She helps Sarah take a shower and get into bed. Sarah asks if she’d like to stay, but Julie is afraid she’d be taking advantage of her. Sarah wants this. They begin making out while Lizzie wakes up and finds Kieran next to her. In the morning, Sarah and Elaine prepare to interview Katherine again. Elaine suspects something happened to Sarah last night because she isn’t grumpy. Then, they tell Katherine about the sexual allegations against Adrian.

One of the victims said he got her to play naked just like Tania did. Another said he got her drunk and made her perform oral sex on him in his car. Katherine finally confesses that he did the same thing to her. She goes on to say that Tania came around that day and they were going to watch the funeral, but Stephenson got there first. He said he was impressed by her playing and wanted her to play for him. Katherine was flattered because Tania had always been his star pupil. Once Tania rang the bell, Stephenson told her to ignore it because she would go away. Tania shouted that she should see his car. Stephenson went outside to speak to her before she went away. Adrian came back and made her play. Then, he started kissing her.

He raped her on the floor of her parent’s living room. Katherine doesn’t see how he could’ve killed Tania because he was with her. Steve checks on Lizzie at the hospital and says he is proud of her. Lizzie knows that Sarah only showed up because Steve realized where Brannon was. When they see Kieran outside the room, Lizzie tells Steve it isn’t any of his business. She wants Steve to tell Sarah she knows what she did. On Steve’s way out, Kieran tells him he still wants to work with him. At the police station, Lee Coutts says the carpet was made by the Axminster company in the 90s. He managed to track down Stephenson’s landlord from 1997 and he remembered laying that carpet in Stephenson’s flat.

He also said Stephenson changed it without his permission. Jim and Lee think that is enough, but Sarah still isn’t sure about the evidence. Sarah explains why the victims have remained silent about this. She thinks they need to listen to Abigail who has also been silent for 25 years. She was Stephenson’s alibi for the day Tania disappeared, but they now know he wasn’t with her. Their marriage license said they were married in August 1996. Abigail would’ve been 21 at the time. Public records say that Abigail Levy was born in 1979 so she was only 17 when they got married. It would’ve been abuse since the relationship probably started when she was 16 or 15.

Sarah and Elaine visit Abigail to question her about the lies. Abigail gets rid of her friends so they can talk inside. They tell her about Katherine’s claim and the fact that Tania’s body was wrapped in carpet. They believe Tania went to his home and waited for him. They think he killed Tania in or near the home. If that was the case, Abigail would’ve been watching in funeral in the home at the time. They question whether Abigail let her in and whether they talked until Adrian came back. Abigail was drunk by then so it might’ve made her cruel. She notices that Tania’s eyes moved to his violin. She asked her to play something and Tania did. Abigail admits she wasn’t very good.

Tania was embarrassed and said she shouldn’t have come. Although Abigail felt sorry for her, she was also furious. She soon thought that Tania was another her. Abigail says she wanted to die. Sarah thinks they should continue the interview at the police station so they arrest her. At the station, Abigail confesses that she pushed Tania down the stairs and heard a sharp crack. Abigail says her neck was broken and she couldn’t feel a pulse. She shouted for help and tried to call Adrian’s mobile phone. Abigail continued drinking until she passed out. When Adrian came home, he did everything they said and wrapped up the body in carpet. Adrian told Abigail that she killed Tania and he saved her.

He told her not to say anything and she didn’t. Cathy speaks to Lizzie about Skye who is doing well. Cathy brings gifts including a blank since she knits them and sells them on eBay. Sarah tells Steve that she wanted it to be Adrian. The court will take her age and the abuse into account. He could end up spending more time than her. Sarah begins thinking something is wrong. They check with the worker at the morgue and learn that there is no neck break. However, the left ankle had a transverse digital fibular fracture. There is no skull fracture so it is hard to say what caused her death. The hyoid bone is broken though. In fatalities, injuries like that are usually associated with strangulation.

Sarah suspects Tania was still alive when Stephenson came home. Lee and the others pick up Adrian and arrest him for murder. Adrian continues denying everything. He says this is a witch hunt by a lot of bitter and vindictive women. Adrian says Sarah’s case is built on lies so he will fight them and he will win. Kieran checks in with Lizzie at the hospital and says Mary is there. Lizzie reveals that she is pregnant. Mary joins them before Mary and Kieran leave. Claire Mills is allowed to see her daughter’s remains. Steve approaches Kieran to tell him that he is in for the Shaquille operation. Steve says Georgina’s name wasn’t even in the paper because she was a working-class kid and a victim of domestic violence.

When Sarah visits Lizzie at the hospital, Lizzie tries to thank her for her help. Sarah says systems are there for a reason so it isn’t always a good idea to rush in bravely. Lizzie admits she would do it again if a kid is in danger.

 

The Tower Review

The finale of The Tower’s second series was watchable although the revelations were pretty flat. Again, the biggest problem was that the season really didn’t bring anything unique to the genre. Even the twists were things that viewers had seen many times before this. The final switch that made Adrian the killer was predictable so there might’ve been one too many twists.

It was difficult to genuinely care about any of the characters because there wasn’t enough development there. Although the basics were good, it was hard to justify the second season in the first place and it’ll be equally hard to justify a third season. The Tower just doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from other shows in this genre.

On top of that, aspects of the story feel unfinished creating a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. While the series was worth watching overall, it wasn’t spectacular and should probably just end here. The finale scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Tower can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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