At the start of the episode, Tim Finch (Alex Jennings) is escorted by police. Cassie (Nicola Walker) gets a call from her boss. He wants to know that Cassie is doing the right thing. Then, Cassie contacts Jessica (Bronagh Waugh). Cassie invites Jessica and her mom to London. Emma (Jo Herbert) argues with her sister about Tim. Emma confesses that she believed her mother. Emma asks Carol (Amanda Root) about it. She insists there is nothing that sets off alarm bells. Emma doesn’t believe it. Emma leaves. James (Kevin McNally) tries to get in touch with Eliot, but he is not answering his phone. He calls Amy and she doesn’t answer either. Jessica and Suzanna (Brid Brennan) chat as they ride the train towards London.

They remember happier times with Hayley. Suzanna apologizes to Jessica for her loss. At the station, Tim admits that the box is his. He claims he bought the items in 2001. He can’t remember if he bought them together. He has an excuse for pretty much every question. Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) believes that they look like trophies. Tim claims that he never met Hayley. Chris (James Fleet) goes hunting for Jamila (Sasha Behar). We see that Jamila is heading towards the police station. Jessica and Suzanna look at the scrunchie. They do not believe that it could be Hayley’s. They explain that Hayley actually had short hair when she went missing. Next, they check out the panties.

They don’t believe they belonged to Hayley either. Finally, they’re shown the necklace. Again, they do not recognize it. Hayley was an atheist and wouldn’t have worn a cross. Cassie tells Jessica that she doesn’t want to give her false hope. However, she believes that they’re close. Sunny and Cassie agree to test everything anyway. Cassie contemplates contacting Adam. She leaves him a naughty voice message. Jamila wants to see the detectives face to face. She agrees to come back the following day. The following day, Sunny tells Cassie that the items did not belong to Hayley. The DNA belongs to a 14-year-old girl called Alison Baldwin. She went missing in 1997 and her body was found two days later. She was raped and strangled.

Cassie gives the team an update. She wants them to find other evidence of a connection between Tim and Alison. Cassie gets emotional. Cassie gets a message from John. She deletes his contact details. The police begin searching for more evidence. Alison’s family is shown the items. They recognize them. The police visit Derran (Siobhan Redmond) and Jamila speaks with the police. Murray (Jordan Long) goes through old files while the search crew finds something. Tim is asked about Alison. He sticks with his original story. They ask Tim about his Audi. They ask him about the spare tire they found. Sunny doesn’t believe Tim cleaned the car perfectly and they’re going to search it. Tim refuses to cave in. Tim is asked where he was working in 1997.

Cassie pulls out a book. It is a black desk diary. It was found in Tim’s surgery. On June 25th, 1977, Tim was at a conference. The conference in Cambridgeshire lasted for two nights. Cassie explains it was in a small village called Earlridge. Tim would have been there when Alison was killed. Cassie spoke to CPS about the evidence. They have agreed to charge Tim with both murders. She encourages Tim to tell the families what happened to their children. Tim asks for a cup of tea. Eventually, Tim admits that he killed both girls. He wants to confess and prevent everything from turning into sordid circus. If they can do that, he will tell them where the others are buried too. Mel speaks with James. She tells James that he did what he did because he loves Eliot. She tells him not to destroy himself over Eliot’s choices.

They agree to let him make his own mistakes. James thanks Mel before she leaves. Cassie tells Jessica and Suzanna about Tim. Emma and Derran learn about Tim being arrested for the murders. Tim tells the detectives that he killed the girls to protect himself. He raped them and had to keep them quiet. On an emotional level, he doesn’t feel anything. He speaks about his childhood and his parents. He wonders why his sister isn’t a killer too. Tim admits that sex was his only driver. He isn’t sure what caused him to have such weird sexual fantasies. Tim begins telling them what happened to Hayley. He was out looking for Chris. He was in a bad mood and he ran into Hayley. He admits he had already masturbated to Hayley several times.

He goes on to tell Cassie about the assault. Cassie sobs so Sunny takes over the questioning. Tim admits that he raped and strangled Hayley. He suggests there was very little pain. Tim agrees to take them somewhere. He doesn’t want cameras or press to be there. They agree to go there tomorrow. Cassie heads outside for a smoke. Sunny joins her. Sunny asks Cassie if she is okay. She promises that she is fine. He wonders if Tim is playing a game. Chris meets with James. They try to come to terms with the news. Sunny speaks to his kids about their mother. They tell him that he is with Sal now. He hasn’t been so happy in such a long time. Cassie eats alone. In the morning, the detectives travel with Tim. Sunny asks Tim why he decided to bury Hayley in the middle of a motorway. He admits he wanted to see if he could get away with it.

Tim tells them where to stop. They follow Tim up a hill. Soon, the police begin digging a hole. Tim tells them that her name was Natasha. She was killed 6 years ago. Cassie walks off. Chris meets with Mila. She explains that she needed to know who he was. She admits that she did her homework. Now, she thinks they can be very happy together. She tells him that he’ll never have to sleep in the van again. Suzanna tells Jessica that she should move on now. They agree to bury Hayley somewhere beautiful. Cassie returns home to her worried father. Cassie apologizes and tells her father that he was right. She admits she was lonely and scared. We jump forward three months. Tim speaks with Fran and Sunny. Sunny wants information in return for books. Tim asks about Cassie.

He tells them about a village and a girl names Victoria. Tim’s former home is defaced. A funeral is held for Pete. Eliot attends the funeral. Chris invites James to his wedding. He also reveals that they’re going to have a baby. Cassie hangs out with John. They meet with Sunny. They tell each other that they’ve missed each other. They visit a cemetery together. Sunny tells Cassie that he leaves everything at the office. Cassie has Hayley’s favorite flowers. They meet with Jessica and Suzanna at the memorial. The episode ends after Cassie puts the flowers on the grave.

 

Unforgotten Review

The finale of Unforgotten’s 3rd season was excellent. There hasn’t been a bad season yet. The writers managed to do something unique with the ending without going too far out there. Alex Jennings did a great job playing the killer. Cassie was pushed to her limit and that was different. It was a combination of her home life and her work. Either way, it was nice to see the character go through these emotions. The finale was great. It scores a good 8.5 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Unforgotten now!