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HAPPY VALLEY S3 - thread 7 to chat and muse about the last ever episode

605 replies

Blondeshavemorefun · 06/02/2023 09:20

Several people have messaged me to ask if I will do another thread as still all chatting about it

6 is almost full so here you can linked to this one the previous 6

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

6
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4736071-happy-valley-s3-tv-pace-no-spoilers-thread-6-and-episode-6-and-the-last-ever-episode-forever?reply=123662539

OP posts:
Thread gallery
17
funnelfan · 06/02/2023 15:43

007DoubleOSeven · 06/02/2023 10:24

I also think it helped Ryan be honest during his statement about talking to tlr the night before, the policeman made him one of them just before giving his statement

I think it’s not just being taken for a recruit, it’s when the senior boss asked him his opinion of Hepworth, listened to him and asked him if he’d make a statement and help the inquiry. I think our all fed into his decision to tell the truth about TLR. He was very calm in that interview, I think he was channeling everything he’d learned from his granny about his to deal with that kind of situation. Whether he’d end up a policeman or not, I think he became an adult at that point.

The other point that got me was Catherine coming out of her house with the photo albums. Whether that’s because they’re the most precious things in the house to her, or because subconsciously she was removing Becky and Ryan from TLRs presence one last time. Another example of the fabulous detailed characterisation of the writing.

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 15:47

@Blondeshavemorefun will you be doing a thread for The Gold?

Blondeshavemorefun · 06/02/2023 15:50

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 15:47

@Blondeshavemorefun will you be doing a thread for The Gold?

I've did one last night

OP posts:
JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 15:51

Thanks blondes I had a look but couldn't see it. Will look harder.

Blondeshavemorefun · 06/02/2023 15:53

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4736596-the-gold-sunday-9pm-sunday-tv-pace-no-spoilers?reply=123682017

But will be tv pace

I have
*
Loved happy valley not being on iPlayer from e1

The fact we have talked and guessed , often wrongly About what may happen

So anyone who is on gold I expect the same restraint you have had to show
*
Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to binge !!!!

OP posts:
Peachy2005 · 06/02/2023 15:54

I think some people wanted to be spoonfed all the endings for the various characters, and have all the criminals’ sentences listed at the end LOD-style. It’s not Line of Duty and let us not forget how many were unhappy with the finale of that series!

Last night, I could tell after 20 minutes that it was all going to be over too soon so I stopped, went back and re-watched the previous episode, then started the final episode again from the start. So by the end, I felt satisfied with the quantity as well as the quality of HV I had had…and as a bonus, it was bedtime by then 😂

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 15:55

Cheers for the link Blondes - still couldn't see it Blush I have no choice but to watch weekly here so no worries!

Emotionalsupportviper · 06/02/2023 15:56

Blondeshavemorefun · 06/02/2023 15:53

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4736596-the-gold-sunday-9pm-sunday-tv-pace-no-spoilers?reply=123682017

But will be tv pace

I have
*
Loved happy valley not being on iPlayer from e1

The fact we have talked and guessed , often wrongly About what may happen

So anyone who is on gold I expect the same restraint you have had to show
*
Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to binge !!!!

Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to binge !!!!

<wonders why ears are burning>

Cormoransjacket · 06/02/2023 16:03

CaptainMyCaptain · 06/02/2023 15:26

I'd rather they went to the maternal grandparents than Rob's.

Yes, the grandparents who reported Joanna missing seemed switched on and caring.

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 06/02/2023 16:27

The other grandmother said 'I'm not going to ask you if you murdered her'

So yeah, deffo better off with Joanna's mum and dad.

honeylulu · 06/02/2023 16:52

I thought it did tie up all the plot strands though I'm greedy and would have loved the final episode to have been 1.5 hours so we could have had a bit more visual satisfaction (I have no objection to a bit of spoonfeeding!) Though I get what posters are saying about it risking detracting from the four main characters. I would have liked to see Faisal's arrest, Rob being charged, Poppy and Florence collected by Jo's parents, Ryan telling Ann her talking-to had resulted in him dobbing Tommy in and I wish Ivan the thug had been arrested at his wedding - it was mentioned so many times! But I'm greedy!

I thought overall the ending was very satisfying and brilliantly acted. I did think initially that it seemed unlikely that TLR did such a volte face and saw the error of his ways and admitted as much to his arch enemy, even though he'd murdered another three people that morning but flicking through a couple of photo albums made him suddenly change his mind. But I was dwelling on it further today (on my way to the dentist!) and my late MIL sprang to mind. She was a sociopath rather than a psychopath but spent her life conniving and upsetting people as much as she could but was adamant it was always their fault, she was right and the victim, had never done anything wrong. We really thought she was genuinely convinced by this. Finally on her deathbed she said to DH that she knew it was her and she wished she hadn't always bee n like that.He was gobsmacked that (a) she admitted it an you 7d (b) expressed contrition, first time for both. I think when your body knows you are dying, truth and remorse can come out unexpectedly! By the time he said all that he was literally dying, badly injured and overdosing.

It also neatly mirrored Ryan's revelation when Ann delivered her home truths.

I agree he'd gone there intending to kill himself (rather than anyone else) but to burn down the house as a final fuck you.

I think the Rob/Faisal storyline conclusion was supposed to imply that Faisal was going to get arrested for the drugs and then his involvement in Jo's death would come out. But Rob would ger his comeuppance anyway because of the grooming stuff on his phone.

I too have been wondering about whether Darius was always going to off TLR or decided later. TLR had done his bit naming the "wrong" murderer so once he was broken out they could dispose of him. Though hiding him at beetroot man's house suggests that wasn't the original plan. Possibly D decided he had to go when he was so insistent about going after Catherine rather than getting out of the country. Or was it when the two thugs got arrested and D decided TLR was an unnecessary complication/risk? Or did D have a mole in the police who knew Ryan had admitted TLR had contaxted him by xbox (as this could, and i think did, lead the police to raid beetroot man's house). Hmmm can't stop wondering!

Blondeshavemorefun · 06/02/2023 17:13

Possibly @Emotionalsupportviper

@JaneJeffer are you not U.K.

OP posts:
BIWI · 06/02/2023 17:16

I also loved the symbolism of Catherine appearing at the end, at the grave, without her coat and scarf. Representing her freedom from TLR as well as her job. Also neatly mirrors Poppy Sad who still hasn't been able to take hers off.

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 17:21

No Blondes Ireland

LindorDoubleChoc · 06/02/2023 17:23

I've read most of the comments since it ended last night.

I see I'm in a minority of those who didn't feel satisfied. There are some things I'm really pleased about - that Catherine didn't die being the main one.

But TLR setting fire to himself ... I don't know why but I just didn't buy it. I think it would have been so much more interesting had the Darius storyline been developed ... it was so tense knowing that he now wanted TLR dead because he'd asked for a gun and was obviously going to go after Catherine. Very unlikely that he could have overcome all those other goons in the car with one beetroot knife. And a near fatal stomach injury, we've seen him with one of those before. And then Catherine goes home and nods off when she knows TLR is on the run? And as others have said - no protection for Catherine? Just doesn't seem believable.

And whilst I don't want everything spoon-fed to me as a pp charmingly put it, why have storylines such as Richard doing the big drugs story and then just go nowhere with it?

I must have missed how the police got the information to bust the groom and his mate right at the start.

Yes, Happy Valley is all about family and parental love. But it is also all about drugs and alcohol and social deprivation. As Catherine said, this beautiful valley is awash with drugs. Becky, Clare, Neil, Jo, Tommy's mother, Anne (on the brink of alcohol problem) have all been users and all that rumbling on in the background.

I don't know. It was good, but it didn't grip me. I did love Ryan though!

storminabuttercup · 06/02/2023 17:34

I've had to watch it again today. I loved it even more. Proper closure for me

MavisMcMinty · 06/02/2023 17:38

As he was going through the photo albums I was thinking “Poor Tommy, bet there aren’t any photo albums of you as a child”. Darius’s henchmen - all so stupid and incompetent! How on earth can they be an OCG?

The day I retired I was seriously thinking about going off sick - what could they have done about it? Nothing! - but didn’t want to miss my presents. So after the speeches and food and splendid gifts, I said to someone “Just taking these all down to my car, back in a min” then fucked off forever. Unlike Catherine though, I had wept all day, and I wept all the way home too. Anyway, I LOVED that bit!

CaptainMyCaptain · 06/02/2023 17:40

BIWI · 06/02/2023 17:16

I also loved the symbolism of Catherine appearing at the end, at the grave, without her coat and scarf. Representing her freedom from TLR as well as her job. Also neatly mirrors Poppy Sad who still hasn't been able to take hers off.

I noticed that too. The rest of the time she had either been swathed in jumpers, a scarf and her big coat or her stab vest and hi vis.

EsmaCannonball · 06/02/2023 17:43

If I had to change one thing about this final series it would have been the pacing.

I would have opened with the finding of the body in the reservoir and TLR's confession and then cut right to the court case and have the escape at the end of the first episode. I'd then have Catherine discover about Ryan, Clare and Neil visiting TLR because as prison visitors they would be persons of interest in his escape. We could still have had the wonderful confrontation scene between Catherine and Clare and all the fallout.

I would have had the horrible PE teacher grooming Ryan and trying to sexually blackmail him already established in the first episode. It would have been something that was building before the series even started.

Similarly, I would have started the series with Faisal already paying up to the OCG and in over his head with Joanna, and would have had her murder in the first or second episode.

I would have Richard deep into an investigation of Darius and the OCG right from the get go. I think he needed to be placed in actual danger.

I would have had TLR loose and able to become embroiled with all the other characters from the second episode. I don't necessarily mean running around with guns and killing people, but maybe building up more tension about what exactly Darius was going to do with him, maybe something involving Ryan and the PE teacher to tie the two storylines together, maybe having a scene with Ann or breaking into her house just to mess with her head. I like the way his escape ended but there would have been more scope if he'd been at large for longer.

I did love the series and I did 80% love the final episode. I just felt that this series built things up which didn't pay off because too much was left until the very end.

PrincessScarlett · 06/02/2023 17:57

@LindorDoubleChoc the groom and his mate got arrested because of the CCTV from the court, Ryan and Richard identifying them at the train station afterwards in episode 5 and photographing them and Catherine noting their car registration in episode 4/5. They then found all the money which tied them to the drug den flat where the woman jumped/was pushed out the window. They had also previously arrested the cuckoo who may have blabbed or corroborated who they were.

RenoDakota · 06/02/2023 18:20

EsmaCannonball · 06/02/2023 17:43

If I had to change one thing about this final series it would have been the pacing.

I would have opened with the finding of the body in the reservoir and TLR's confession and then cut right to the court case and have the escape at the end of the first episode. I'd then have Catherine discover about Ryan, Clare and Neil visiting TLR because as prison visitors they would be persons of interest in his escape. We could still have had the wonderful confrontation scene between Catherine and Clare and all the fallout.

I would have had the horrible PE teacher grooming Ryan and trying to sexually blackmail him already established in the first episode. It would have been something that was building before the series even started.

Similarly, I would have started the series with Faisal already paying up to the OCG and in over his head with Joanna, and would have had her murder in the first or second episode.

I would have Richard deep into an investigation of Darius and the OCG right from the get go. I think he needed to be placed in actual danger.

I would have had TLR loose and able to become embroiled with all the other characters from the second episode. I don't necessarily mean running around with guns and killing people, but maybe building up more tension about what exactly Darius was going to do with him, maybe something involving Ryan and the PE teacher to tie the two storylines together, maybe having a scene with Ann or breaking into her house just to mess with her head. I like the way his escape ended but there would have been more scope if he'd been at large for longer.

I did love the series and I did 80% love the final episode. I just felt that this series built things up which didn't pay off because too much was left until the very end.

Sally Wainwright must be quaking in her boots.

LaviniasBigBloomers · 06/02/2023 18:27

MavisMcMinty · 06/02/2023 17:38

As he was going through the photo albums I was thinking “Poor Tommy, bet there aren’t any photo albums of you as a child”. Darius’s henchmen - all so stupid and incompetent! How on earth can they be an OCG?

The day I retired I was seriously thinking about going off sick - what could they have done about it? Nothing! - but didn’t want to miss my presents. So after the speeches and food and splendid gifts, I said to someone “Just taking these all down to my car, back in a min” then fucked off forever. Unlike Catherine though, I had wept all day, and I wept all the way home too. Anyway, I LOVED that bit!

My dear departed uncle was a police officer and this was one of his favourite soap boxes. We assume that criminals are clever, but he always said to never over-estimate their intelligence and to always, always follow the money.

Runrabbitrunn · 06/02/2023 18:35

This is also what I liked about the series - the ‘baddies’ weren’t some sort of criminal masterminds like they usually are in long running police/crime series where there is a key ‘enemy’.

TLR was just a very damaged individual, whose lack of empathy made him dangerous because he was so vicious and unihibited in his violence. A brutal thug. None of the criminals were particularly clever - either desperate or thugs who control through sheer violence.

LadyEloise1 · 06/02/2023 18:35

JaneJeffer · 06/02/2023 17:21

No Blondes Ireland

See !
I'm not the only one
@Blondeshavemorefun

I "get"JaneJeffers name too. 😉

LindorDoubleChoc · 06/02/2023 18:42

I like Esma's re-writes Grin.

I don't like the picking apart of some posters who weren't thrilled with the ending or the series as a whole in some cases. People should feel free to post their opinions without facing scorn/condescension from others on the thread. I'm not going to out myself but I do know a bit about TV script writing so don't feel my opinion is any less valid than anyone else's.