Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching Sherwood on BBC One. Please don’t read it unless you have watched the series two finale.
Blood for blood
In the aftermath of Mickey Sparrow’s murder, younger son Ronan (Bill Jones) blamed himself for starting the deadly feud with the Bransons. Elder brother Rory (Perry Fitzpatrick) was consumed by vengeful fury. Despite grief-stricken Daphne (Lorraine Ashbourne) insisting Mickey wouldn’t want payback, Rory went rogue and stomped off to seek “blood for blood”.
“Borrowing” £3k of drug money from the cuckooing house, Rory offered it as a reward for the whereabouts of fugitive Ann Branson (Monica Dolan). Intel came from a surprise source: the Bransons’ former gangland ally Jarrod (James Burrows). The criminal fraternity wanted the old warhorses gone. Jarrod was due to deliver a passport so Ann could flee abroad. Instead, he told Rory where she was hiding. Rory refused to take Ronan along for the ride but disclosed her location to Daphne, who was closer – and had a gun in her glovebox. Daughter Rachel (Christine Bottomley) covertly texted Ian St Clair (David Morrissey) for help but a western-style face-off between the matriarchs was inevitable.
Daphne was ambushed by Ann, who shot her in the shoulder and led her down a jetty at gunpoint. The reservoir had long been the Bransons’ dumping ground. Daphne would be the last body down there. As they snarled and swore, up stepped Rachel. She distracted Ann long enough for Daphne to break her arm in a tussle for the gun. Daphne couldn’t bring herself to execute her, betraying Mickey’s last wishes. She was set to leave Ann at the mercy of rival gangs when she ran at Daphne in a rage, Daphne dodged and Ann plunged into the murky depths. Mother and daughter let her drown, just as the cavalry arrived. To quote Ann’s widower: dead, dead, dead.
‘It’s about trust and where you put it’
Ian and DCS Harry Summers (Michael Balogun) conducted a fruitless interrogation of Roy (Stephen Dillane). When Harry boasted that his late girlfriend, Chloe, had been about to turn his nephew Kyre into a police informant, Roy scoffed that Kyre and Chloe had fallen in love. He taunted Harry over “getting pissed with a witness on sad little cans of real ale” – a turn of phrase that proved telling.
Harry had only told this detail to DI Marcus Clarke (Jorden Myrie), laying a Wagatha Christie-style trail of breadcrumbs for the police mole. Claiming to have heard that Ann was “hiding out in Sherwood Forest, like some modern-day outlaw”, he jumped the dirty detective and confiscated both his phones. A text message proved that Clarke had tipped off Ann. Line of Duty-like scenes revealed that the Bransons had funded Clarke’s university education so he would be forever in their debt. What would Uncle Clive say?
Poison pen (the vape variety)
As Lisa Waters (Ria Zmitrowicz) lay unconscious in hospital, guilt-plagued Stephie (Bethany Asher) confessed what she knew. Not only had she and “cousin” Jordan (Tyrese Eaton-Dyce) visited Lisa shortly before she collapsed but Jordan’s teen gang were manufacturing liquid spice. When armed police raided the “cuckoo”, the drugs cooked up by the mini-Walter Whites matched those found in Lisa’s vape.
We heard how Jordan’s elder brother had been serving a life sentence but found salvation in the prison library. When funding was cut, his mental health declined and it was hinted that he took his own life. Jordan blamed Lisa and opportunistically poisoned her. An explanation that came from nowhere and didn’t convince.
Romance amid the rushed resolutions
When a near-comatose schoolboy was found at the drug den, Ian wanted him to be hospitalised rather than arrested. He had clearly been groomed and “needs help, not nicking”. When police refused, he quit in fury and frustration. Reunited with Julie Jackson (Lesley Manville), Ian wept with exhaustion. When she hugged him, hoorays could be heard nationwide. These tentative lovers had been on opposite sides in the 80s but agreed not to let lingering factionalism get in the way of “what we could have”. I suspect their second date will go rather better than the first.
Having been here herself, Julie reached out to fellow widow Daphne. The women had a heart-to-heart about learning to live with grief. Both two-handers were beautifully performed. No easy answers, lots left unsaid, but full of heart and hard-won wisdom.
Logan v Kendall: Sherwood edition
When Jordan confessed to the poisoning, malevolent mogul Franklin Warner (Robert Lindsay) could be released. Typically for a man who had spent a lifetime “dodging laws and taxes”, he got an apology from the chief constable. Addressing the press pack outside the police station, Warner blamed “corrupt institutions” (a bit rich) and threatened to sue.
Hearing that his proposed new coalmine was about to be rejected by the council, Warner showed his true colours, snapping “You fucking people” – an echo of his misanthropic line from episode one. Like a true megalomaniac, he’d “had enough of experts”. Happily, son Sam (Robert Emms) had turned the board against his father and ousted him from the company.
A closing montage caught up with our cast of characters. Franklin loomed over his model mine, still convinced he was a giant among men. Lisa made a rousing return to the council chamber. Harry attended his victim support group. Stephie buried the drug money, replacing Scott Rowley’s treasure, before moving to a new foster home. Her brother Ryan (Oliver Huntingdon) was transferred to a prison further afield but pledged to keep contact (those “I love you, mate”s were heart-rending). Jordan looked set to forge an alliance with Ryan’s corrupt prison guard.
Best of all, the surviving Sparrows – with Rachel now fully part of the family – undertook their road trip in Mickey’s memory, while Julie took down her For Sale sign and exchanged hopeful smiles with Ian. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
A watery end?
For me, this was a disappointing denouement. Both the pit and poisoning storylines ended with a shrug. The woodland showdown between the cops served little purpose, except for setting a scene in the famous forest. There was too much unsubtle speechifying and too many unresolved questions. Why weren’t Stephie’s fingerprints found on Kyre’s van door? Who sent the dossier and death threats? What exactly was Daphne and Franklin’s history?
The series started strongly and the penultimate episode punched hard but the plotting fizzled out. I felt several of Sherwood’s arrows missed the target second time around. How about you?
Line of the week
“Things can grow here” – Sheriff Lisa reclaims Franklin’s catchphrase in her closing speech.
Notts notes
For me, the stars of this series were the women: Lorraine Ashbourne and Monica Dolan were wondrous as the warring matriarchs. Shout-outs to Ria “Sheriff” Zmitrowicz and Christine “Rachel” Bottomley, while Bethany Asher was a revelation as Stephie. Her on-screen brother Oliver Huntingdon also announced his arrival as a major talent.
First Wuthering Heights, now Pride & Prejudice. Who knew Victorian female novelists were so popular in men’s prisons?
An eye-opening article here by the BBC’s Nottingham correspondent about how the drama echoed real-life cases in the region.
No news yet on a third series, although I wonder if James Graham has a trilogy in mind.
Thanks for your company over the past six episodes, me ducks. For one last time, please share your thoughts, theories and overall verdicts below …
