Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching Unforgotten season five. Don’t read on unless you’ve watched episode six.
ITV’s cold-case drama concluded with tearful confessions and killer twists. Would justice be done? And what’s the overall series verdict? Here’s your evidence board for the finale …
Swiss neutrality was no help here
As we returned to that floodlit residential garden, DCI Jessica James (Sinéad Keenan) and DI Sunil Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) faced the very real possibility of a double murder. Police had dug up the decomposed body of a young male with two bullet holes in his skull, likely killed around the same time as Precious Falade. Jessie was convinced that Lord Tony Hume (Ian McElhinney) was involved, so had him taken off his plane to Switzerland before it left the tarmac. Dignitas wouldn’t provide sanctuary after all.
DNA tests revealed that the corpse was Joseph Bell, son of Precious and cult leader David Bell. Ballistics confirmed that the second bullet found in the wall at 64 Waterman Road came from the same gun as the one that was used to kill Precious. Tenant of the garden flat at the time? Precious’s estranged mother Ebele (Martina Laird). The net was closing on the Tory peer and the troubled restaurateur.
Karol was in the clear
In an adjacent holding cell to Tory Tone sat ex-social worker Karol Wojski (Max Rinehart). He explained how, owing to burnout and antisemitic attacks, he’d had a mental breakdown and fixated on upskirting women. When he accidentally left his laptop behind after visiting Precious, she found his illicit photos and blackmailed him. Bank statements showed that he had withdrawn £2,000 in cash but deposited it the following day. If he hadn’t paid her off, how did he get the laptop back?
Karol had arrived at the Hammersmith house to find no sign of Precious, just a freshly mopped floor (taps nose). As he collected his laptop, he encountered a well-spoken old man with a mop and bucket (taps nose again). Fearing she would continue to extort him and had probably downloaded the pics elsewhere (she had), he fled the country. Karol was remorseful but hadn’t hurt Precious. Detectives (and viewers) believed him, not least when he confided in his parents. One suspect was out of the frame. Several to go.
Hume was economical with the truth
Naturally, Teflon Tony denied everything. When a petrol station transaction placed him near the scene of the crime and he realised he’d been seen with bloody mop in hand, his slick facade crumbled. He admitted a fling with Ebele’s teenage mother, Yetunde, in 1963. She was a cleaner at the City stock brokerage where Hume was interning. When he learned he had a daughter 23 years later, Hume offered financial support. His granddaughter Precious later contacted him. Cue another standing order. When she was homeless, he gave her the keys to the empty Hammersmith house.
The night she died, Precious’s son Joseph called Hume from Waterman Road, demanding money and threatening all sorts. Hume rang Ebele and both headed for Hammersmith. Hume arrived first to find a disturbed Joseph on a drug comedown. When he pointed a gun at Hume, Precious lunged and it went off, hitting Joseph in the head. As Hume tried to administer first aid, Precious turned the gun on herself.
Ebele walked into a scene of carnage. Hume promised to dispose of Joseph’s body, leaving Ebele with her daughter. Six years later, he panicked and anonymously tipped off police about where the corpse was buried, before trying to flee the country. A convincing account? Come now, this is a politician we’re talking about.
‘I loathe the pair of you’
En route to Bishop Street nick, Ebele visited Emma Hume (Hayley Mills) to drop a few truth bombs. She told the grandee’s wife that she was his secret daughter, that their “almost entirely financial relationship” for the past 35 years had been “reparation for screwing over multiple generations of my family” and “your privilege was built on the bones of people like me”. An air-punching speech.
We found out exactly what Ebele meant in her final police interview. It hadn’t been “a fling”. Hume raped Yetunde (hence his reaction to his grandson’s similar sex crime) but it had been hushed up by Hume’s father. Yetunde took her own life, leaving baby Ebele to be brought up by her disapproving grandparents. Hume hadn’t done the decent thing, he had solely been concerned with protecting his reputation. It was only when Ebele threatened to go public that he fessed up.
Her father might be a serial liar but Ebele corroborated his account of that fateful night. Hume paid her rent and had keys to her flat, so had buried Joseph there. She had spent all night with Precious and in the morning, spooked by workmen outside, hid her daughter’s body up the chimney and had the area covered with plasterboard. Surely Teflon Tony wasn’t in the clear? Enter the hooded gamechanger …
Putting the Jay into justice
Gazing across the Thames estuary, Jay Royce (Rhys Yates) had reached a watershed. He dropped off flowers for his mugging victim (“Tell her I’m sorry”). His girlfriend left him. He was reluctant to testify (“People like me don’t win against people like him”) but persuasive Sunny won his trust.
Just as he’d said, Jay “was there that night and saw everything”. Aged 14, he had watched unseen from the stairs as Hume slammed Joseph against the wall and was choking him. When Joe pulled a gun, Precious made a grab for it and was accidentally shot during the tussle. In shock, Joe meekly handed Hume the firearm and knelt by his dying mother, at which point Hume shot him in the head. Terrified Jay hid for two days, then ran and never looked back.
Hume gave his best impersonation of contrition, claiming that he’d been making amends ever since. Jessie gave his performance a sarcastic slow handclap, scoffing: “You’re just trying to improve your Wiki page.” He was duly charged with a 59-year-old crime, an Unforgotten record (for now).
Yet there was still time for a head-spinning late twist. When Ebele finally met Jay in an affecting scene (“I’m your nan”, “Hello, Nan”), he quietly admitted that he had lied. Precious had accidentally shot Joe, then turned the gun on herself. Pinning it on Hume was payback for all the pain he’d visited upon their family. With mere months to live and haunted by guilt, Hume took the fall for a rape he had committed and a murder he hadn’t.
An angrily ambitious series
As always with Unforgotten, the plot threads knitted together in powerful fashion. This fifth series was a politicised, panoramic tale of generational trauma, social inequality and the devastating impact of austerity. The letter of the law might not have prevailed but justice of a different kind was served.
The verdict on Jessie? I thought she worked better than we could have hoped. Writer Chris Lang ensured the hole left by Nicola Walker’s Cassie was rightly acknowledged. Sinéad Keenan was terrific and her initial clashes with the team felt realistic. Yet Jessie found her feet and forged a new relationship with Sunny. Their dynamic has plenty of promise, her signature sweater vest a worthy foil for his rucksack. Signing off with some cowboy bantz, the duo look set fair for series six. Yeehaw.
Line of the week
“You will only ever be remembered as a rapist who murdered his own great-grandson. That’s your fucking legacy, fella.”. Burning with righteous fury, Jessie goes a bit Ted Hastings.
Notes and observations
We left both our heroes with unhappy home lives: Sunny alone without Sal, Jessie reluctantly reconciling with “my gorgeous hubby™” for the sake of their children. Time to distract themselves with work again?
It wasn’t all about the lead pair. Shout-outs to DC Fran, DS Murray and DC Kaz, who all made vital breakthroughs. Wonder if DC Jake Collier (Lewis Reeves) will be back next time?
Martina Laird excelled as Ebele in the home stretch but Rhys Yates, AKA Jay, announced himself as an actor with real potential.
More than 8.5 million people have now watched this series, making it ITV’s highest rated show of 2023 so far. Treat yourself to two takeaway coffees, Sunny.
Thanks for your wit and wisdom over the past six weeks, Team Bishop Street. Was this a satisfying finale? Was Jessie a worthy successor to Cassie? For one last time, please share your thoughts and theories below.
