*THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR THE HAPPY VALLEY FINALE ON BBC*
After three series and plenty of drama, Happy Valley came to an end of Sunday night with an extended episode bringing things to a conclusion. And there was a death twist right at the end, when it was revealed to Catherine Cawood, via text message, that her arch nemesis Tommy Lee Royce had died, after they faced off for a final time.
It was back in 2014 that Sally Wainwright's show first burst onto screens, with ex Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire in the lead role of Sargeant Catherine, a no nonsense cop on the frontline of local crime, while also having to deal with plenty of turmoil at home, in no small part to the actions of Tommy, the villain who raped her daughter Becky and got her pregnant with son Ryan, before she took her own life.
Over the last three series of Happy Valley, Catherine has been desperately trying to keep Tommy away from Ryan, but her mission to do that suffered a huge knock when Tommy broke free from court and made a successful bid for freedom, before making contact with teenager Ryan avia a games console.
READ MORE: BBC's Happy Valley ending divides viewers as death confirmed in final seconds
With Tommy intent on escaping to Spain but also wanting to take down Catherine, Sunday's Happy Valley finale was always going to be tense and, after a BBC warning about 'prolonged violent scenes,' it didn't take long to take a grim turn when, Tommy, convinced he was being tricked by the people meant to be helping him, viciously attacked two men in a car, as he demanded to see his so-called ally Darius Knezevic. Tommy then took things further by beating Darius' brother Zeljko to death and driving to Catherine's house, hiding himself from view as she walked out the front door.
After telling police during an interview that he'd spoken to dad Tommy, Ryan had his console taken in as evidence, before he told grandmother Ryan about Tommy asking him to go to Marbella and assuring her there was 'no way' he'd go with him.
As the 70 minute rollercoaster of a final episode continued, Tommy was seen looking through old photos of Ryan in Catherine's house, before bursting into tears on seeing pictures of Becky.
On returning home, Catherine noticed that the window to her cellar had been broken in to, but, fearless as ever, went into the house anyway, where Tommy was lying in wait, taking a load of pills and drinking neat spirits at her kitchen table. Armed with a tazer, Catherine ordered Tommy to nudge the knife in front of him across the table towards her, before picking it up and confirming to Tommy he was being arrested for escaping, while noticing he'd been looking at her photo albums.
The convict then tried to wind up Catherine by talking about Ryan going to see him, before she fired back, telling him she was pleased Ryan had 'seen through his dad," before quipping: "I take it Marbella's off the menu. I take it that's why you're in my kitchen?"
Taking things further, Catherine angered Tommy by telling him Ryan now knew he was "," adding: "You're not a dad. You don't know how to be a dad."
Tommy then told Catherine he had contemplated burning her house down, until he saw the photos of Ryan looking happy and realising what nice life he'd had, adding: "I don't hate you anymore and I forgive you."
Dismissing his apology straight away, Catherine laid into Tommy for the way he 'crippled' her daughter Becky and kidnapped and raped Anne Gallagher, which was enough to tip him over the edge as he branded her a "sanctimonious b**ch," and poured petrol over himself, before lighting a match and going up in flames.
Catherine rushed into try and put him out, before walking out of the house and saying he was "a mess" and that she'd got paramedics in.
The closing moments of the finale saw Catherine joined by sister Claire as she wept in the street, telling her: "We've had a tussle. I won obviously. I think I might have singed one of my crocheted blankets."
The action then cut to Catherine's office as she packed up her stuff. And, before she left work for a final time, she revealed corrupt pharmacist Faisal Bhatti as the prime suspect for Joanna Hepworth's murder.
Happy Valley's final episode ended with a final sting in the tail, when as Catherine paid a visit to daughter Becky's grave, she got a text message which read 'TLR dead. Hospital just rang," as a slight smile spread across her face.
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