Happy Valley has finally aired its conclusion and there’s plenty to unpick from the popular BBC drama’s final episode. Over the course of series 3, viewers have eagerly awaited the final showdown between Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood and villain Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), who she blamed for her daughter's death by suicide.
As mentioned, there are three series of Happy Valley. During that time, Catherine has done her utmost to prevent grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connagh), from having anything to do with his father, Tommy. In this series, Tommy and Ryan have been seeing each other and the show’s penultimate episode saw the fugitive attempt to get his son to run away to Marbella with him.
Writer Sally Wainwright had a huge job on her hands, tying up the multiple story threads of Happy Valley. Alongside the main Catherine/Tommy plot, there was also the matter of an abused woman’s murder, a drug-dealing pharmacist and the breakdown of Catherine’s relationship with sister, Clare (Siobhan Finneran) to be resolved. It’s safe to say that Wainwright has succeeded in tying a neat bow on the series. You can read all about that here. Here are our greatest moments from Happy Valley’s edge-of-the-seat finale.
Read more: The simple but brilliant way BBC Happy Valley has united the TV-watching nation
Tommy’s scary window pop up
It was always pretty obvious that Tommy had a score to settle with Catherine. After all, he was determined to get his hands on a gun from ‘friend’ Darius Knezevic. This didn’t in any way prepare us for when the moment eventually came, though.
After going on a rampage following Darius' betrayal, Tommy made his way to Catherine’s house. The police officer, herself, had fallen asleep in a chair whilst looking at family photos. As the camera panned up at the window behind her, viewers got a shot of Tommy outside, who was checking that the coast was clear.
Catherine admitting she’s wrong
After Ryan convinced his grandmother that she shouldn’t argue with her sister, Catherine visited Clare. It was here that she broke down saying that she was wrong to stop Ryan from visiting his father.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have been so frightened of him meeting him,” Catherine said. “It was always something that he'd want to do at some point.” She then told Clare that she should have had more faith in Ryan to not be like his father. Speaking of which…
‘Prince’ Ryan
If there’s one character that has been on a huge journey over the course of this series, it’s Ryan Cawood. This is in contradiction of grandmother Catherine's fear that the 16-year-old would turn out like his father, Tommy.
During her final confrontation with Tommy, Catherine taunted him, saying: “What I’ve seen in these last few days is how much [Ryan] is nothing like you. I’ve worried long enough but now, that boy is a prince. For all his ups and downs, he is about as unlike you as it is possible to be.”
Earlier in the episode, Ryan was questioned by police regarding the contact that he’d had with his father. It was here, to viewers’ surprise, that he ‘fessed up about talking to Tommy over a games console in the previous episode.
Ryan was also responsible for healing Catherine and Clare’s relationship. He told his grandmother: “Clare’s always been there, ever since I can remember… You can’t fall out with her and not because of me.”
Ryan Cawood, the 'new recruit'
It is somewhat of a rarity to see Ryan Cawood smiling and unexpectedly, in Happy Valley's final episode, viewers were treated to just that. The moment came after Catherine's boss, DSU Andy Shepherd, called the youngster in for questioning about his contact with his father.
After Ryan also gave Shepherd information on his teacher Rob Hepworth, the DSU said that he'd make a good "new recruit". Look at the smile on his face after that!
The subtle brilliance of Catherine and Tommy’s final showdown
An epic and explosive final showdown between Catherine and Tommy was teased ahead of the Happy Valley finale. What viewers got, however, was a little more subtle.
Sally Wainwright penned an incredibly tense scene where Catherine and Tommy had a conversation in the Cawood kitchen. An injured Tommy had overdosed on painkillers, refusing to accept an ambulance as he didn't want to go back to prison.
Tommy then told his late girlfriend’s mother that upon looking at photos of Ryan, he could see that his son had had a good childhood. He proceeded to admit that he didn't “hate” Catherine any more.
In a truly shocking moment, Tommy told Catherine: “I forgive you,” and with that, the retiring police officer described how he'd “reduced [her daughter] to nothing”. After the pair shouted at each other, Tommy doused his body in petrol before setting himself alight.
Catherine being Catherine
Catherine Cawood is an icon. The actress who plays her has even been tipped for a damehood from King Charles III - read more about that here.
Never has this been proven more than in Happy Valley’s final episode. As ever, Wainwright gave Lancashire some wonderful one-liners. Here are just a few of our favourites:
“You can get a bacon butty in’ canteen!”
“I might hurt you if you don’t do as I say… NOW!”
“And you forgive me? You delinquent f***!”
“We’ve had another bit of a tussle… I won, obviously. I think I might have singed one of your crocheted blankets.”
Ahead of the final episode, some viewers were terrified that the character would bite the bullet at the hands of Tommy Lee Royce. Luckily, it was Catherine who came out on top… “Obviously”. As the episode drew to a close, she visited her daughter’s grave and received a text that read: “TLR dead, hospital just rang” and with that, she appeared to be at peace.
What happens next?
While Wainwright has given viewers a perfect conclusion to Happy Valley, there are certain questions that we will (perhaps) never get answers to.
One of those is what happens to Clare and former alcoholic boyfriend, Neil. After he told Catherine how his great aunty was always there for him, Ryan said that Clare and Neil had been “arguing”. He was nowhere to be seen at the end of the episode, so is love on the rocks?
Another mystery is whether Catherine will get to go to India. In the first episode of this series, she said that following her retirement, she’d like to set off travelling. Now that Tommy Lee Royce has gone (in a puff of smoke - too soon?), the former police sergeant appeared to be at peace just as the credits began to roll.
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