HAPPY VALLEY - s3 - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS - thread 6 and episode 6 and the LAST EVER EPISODE FOREVER !!!!!!!!!!

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Getting ready for the MOST waited final episode And most talked about series ever !!!!

I don’t mind if all pile on here now or wait till 5 is full

we are on tenterhooks of what May and could happen !!!

and we have an extra 10mins as well

blondes faints 😂😂

i can’t decide whether to watch and do quick replies so don’t miss anything on tv

or

watch - ignore thread as they can move quickly then come on 10.10pm

what a dilemma !!!

and so our followers including the guardian 😂 can find read and saviours forever the other 5 threads linked below

1
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4710280-happy-valley-series-3-bbc1-9pm-starts-1-january-2023-no-spoilers-tv-pace?reply=123037566

2 www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4718852-happy-valley-series-3-bbc1-9pm-started-1-january-2023-no-spoilers-tv-pace-thread-2?reply=123279174

3
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4724933-happy-valley-series-3-bbc1-sundays-9pm-no-spoilerstv-pace-thread-3?reply=123400097

4 www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4728813-happy-valley-s3-sundays-9pm-bbc-1-tv-pace-no-spoilers-thread-4?reply=123407648

5
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4731641-happy-valley-s3-tv-pace-no-spoilers-thread-5

I think the storylines this series were a bit off balance this series. We had a whole episode dedicated to the Jo storyline, so for it not to have had just a tiny bit more screen time in the final episode felt wrong. It's almost as if they should have decided where to cut the episodes differently, I think that would have evened things out so no one felt cheated at the end.

Did notice that Catherine didn't tell her colleagues about Govvsgy ..!

@Calmdown14 perceptive comment, SW is a master at showing the emotional truth in a series.

Also - who is Saga?? I keep seeing her mentioned here and have no idea who you're talking about!

Someone mentioned Anne not getting airtime, I think she was shown fleetingly when the tardy police station finally arrived at Catherine's to arrest tlr!

Can't believe how long it took for an entire force to arrive lol

The only thing I’d have changed in the finale is that we wouldn’t see TLR burning alive. A shot of Catherine’s face in reaction and TLR screaming in the background would have sufficed, before it cuts to the reveal that Catherine put the fire out. The fire effects were cheap and Tommy thrashing about in agony was very disturbing. The scream was done brilliantly and we would’ve got the point just from hearing that.

He must’ve been completely unrecognisable afterwards, I thought they were going to make us see him.

Did notice that Catherine didn't tell her colleagues about Govvsgy ..!
I thought that's why they got Darius - because of that information?

Me too. It was too clever.-clever an ending. TLR banging on about Ryan having a good life with Catherine after blaming her for keeping Ryan from him was all squashed into too small a space - it was rushed and therefore unconvincing. That TLR would try to blame Catherine for ruining the possibility of a relationship with his son is totally believable but it was so rushed, he ended sounding like silly Clare.
However this slight weakness hasn't spoiled the series - it is still magnificent. And it was amusing when Catherine fixed the police clearup at the very end.

She will be ok. She dodged a bullet there.

I think when Tommy saw Ryan's room it finally dawned on him that he could have never provided for him like that so to me it was a realistic change of heart.

I covered my eyes the moment I realised they were actually going to show that! Can't watch things that graphic, awful.

@JaneJeffer oh maybe I missed that bit?

I was 100% expecting to be subjected to the image of TLR’s charred body wheezing on the floor! They could’ve made a whole thing of it. A “Now that TLR doesn’t have his looks anymore, do you feel differently as a viewer?” message, but they didn’t go there.

@007DoubleOSeven Andy Shepherd mentioned to her how she'd managed to get Darius on her last day, can't remember exactly what he said.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11716127/SPOILER-Hello-said-trained-Taser-Tommy-Lee-piece-holy-hell.html
@1AngelicFruitCake your work has been nicked

I do find it odd that so many people need every aspect to be shown on screen to be satisfied.

Sometimes the writer gives you enough for you to understand what happens next. She's trusting you as the viewer to work the less important bits out for yourself.

Frankly calling SW 'lazy' as a writer is absolutely staggering. She's one of the finest, if not the finest, screen writers this country bad ever produced and this was how she was happy for it to end.

There was so much light and shade in that final episode. Catherine, Ryan and Tommy all showed how they had learned something important about themselves and each other. It was done with drama, brutality, softness and love.

Did people want a LOD style words on screen wrap up? :
'Alison's information led to Faisal's prosecution for murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Catherine went away travelling for a bit but came back for Ryan's gcse results. He did well and is now doing his - levels. She spends her time crocheting blankets with her sister.

Poppy kept her coat on because she was a child living in a toxic and traumatic situation what with seeing her dad terrify her mum on a daily basis and control every aspect of their lives.She's happy with her grandmother'.

oh i was hoping they would talk about it on radio 4, but one of the presenters hadnt watched it yet!
imagine not watching it yesterday and planning a watch today - you would have to be avoiding so much coverage

I loved it and yes - as The Times reviewer has said “it wasn’t perfect”. Faisal and Rob all v rushed.

but TLR and Catherine were excellent and it all made sense. TLR had had a relationship with Becky, CC then must have been like “what are you doing? He’s no good.” as he was clearly already at 19/20 into drugs. Becky then turned away from him and then he raped her. But probably thought she was “his” and so in his twisted mind never thought of it as rape. I sort of could understand why he was so angry with CC because she had never told him about Ryan. It explained to me why he was so filled with rage against her.

he had had a shit life - and for me I thought the message was strong - nurture will beat nature.

I think Alison this series was there to show CC’s compassion - no judgment, one of those ex-cons who would have contributed to CC’s retirement pot. Trying to make a life. CC helping her - realising she had done her time. I liked the subtlety of Alison’s character, paranoid she might do something that might have her recalled but a good person - despite a horrible crime.

Moreover it shows that no one is helping her. No one is doing anything more than saying ‘get that coat off’ in passing.

A PP used the word ‘anodyne’ to describe this last episode. Agree - for example, where was the suspense? When TLR was being punched and stabbed, who seriously thought he was going to die before he has that massively predictable showdown with ‘Saint’ Catherine? And he was never going to go to Marbella because good gas to triumph over evil (yawn).

I also agree that SW has been lazy. She was the same in the last two series’ of Last Tango.

You've got to wonder why some people bothered watching

I dreamt about it all night and therefore have not slept well. The theme tune was constantly in my head every time I woke up and still is.

😆

SW has hardly been lazy in her writing 🙄 the scenes between Catherine/Claire, Catherine/Tommy and Catherine/Ryan were pure magic.

You've got to wonder why some people bothered watching

Because series 1 and 2 were so well-crafted? Maybe that was the reason.

I didn’t twig that but yes you’re right …..he spotted the petrol can

I thought last nights episode was good viewing

But would a psychopath who has killed multiple times, raped at least twice.... would this psychopath look at a bedroom, a photo album or two..... decide to commit suicide and then forgive the woman he hates most in the world?

I just don't get it. Surely he'd take the opportunity to kill her?

I didn't get TLR having no handcuffs/not being in a closed/locked box in court either in E4

These little things bug me 🤣

I guess I did feel like Rob and Faisal were very rich characters - even though they were the "backstory" - SW so good at drawing people that they were real enough to put centre stage.

I thought they were brilliantly acted. I mean Rob was a nasty violent man with paedophiliac inclinations. But there was also sympathy when you saw him caught in the snare in the police interview. And I also felt that as a teacher he did want to help children at the same time as bully/disturb them. He was a really complex character.

As was Faisal. The actor was great - his tall lanky frame and boyish face - you just felt sorry for him getting himself into such a mess. And yet... he was a violent and scheming murderer, too. And full of bitterness and martyrdom about the fact his brother got more medical school funding and the demands his pushy family put on him to send the girls to private school and get their decking done etc.

Would have loved to see more of them.

I think another theme is both Catherine and Tommy realise their dependence on others to raise Ryan.

Tommy realises what he owes to Catherine.

Catherine realised what she owes to Claire.

@Ladybug14 - but I think SW was trying to show that TLR was not a psychopath - an extremely disturbed man who had grown up with no love shown to him and surrounded by violence and drugs. I have adopted twice and the backstory to LACs is often v horrific - and extremely sad because it frequently goes back generations. I have worked in prisons and I sometimes look at the kids coming through and you can’t help but think “how have those kids got a chance” when the mother or uncle bringing them is encouraging them at 6 or 7 to steal (maybe only crisps and chocolate) and then is extremely tough on them for other things - which I am sure if they weren’t on CCTV would at home lead to DV.

my take on TLR is that he isn’t a psychopath.

@BumpyaDaisyevna definitely zero sympathy for Rob. He didn't care. He was a pedophile who taught to able him to be close to kids. And abused his wife.