Everything was in place for the last episode of Happy Valley to go out with bang but nothing could've prepared us for just how far they'd take it. We kicked off with Catherine Cawood's cathartic return to form from the beating she took a week or so ago at the hands of Tommy Lee Royce. As I wrote last night, this episode was reminiscent of the Life on Mars in terms of history repeating itself, but it went even further than that bordering on the Shakespearean themes of Sins of the Father given Tommy's pursuit of Ryan. All of this was watched over by the ghost of Becky Cawood, whose grisly end drove her mother on to revenge.
It's a real testament to writer Sarah Wainwright's skill as a writer that we felt every blow to every character. If they weren't three dimensional enough the drama wouldn't have succeeded but they were, and it did in brutal styles as the series came to an end. Is Happy Valley too violent? No. Of course there have been shows which have been just as if not more violent and have been penalised rightly for it. But shows shouldn't be punished for showing violence, instead punishment should be for the way violence is handled.
Luckily Happy Valley handled everything, as we've become accustomed to, brilliantly. It was a hard ending to watch but for all the right reasons and I know I'm not the only writer looking forward to the second series. It was harsh, brutal and oh so watchable with a wonderful final scene guaranteed to give you a lump in your throat out of relief more than anything. A gold star to the BBC who have come good again to rule the airwaves when it comes to crime.
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