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Happy Valley Finale
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
Musings on the byways of popular culture
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So what did we make of that that, all of us including me who made Happy Valley one of their January recommendations.
I loved it. Having predicted a showdown where Catherine, Ryan and Tommy Lee are brought together and at least one of them ends up killing one of the others I was surprised but satisfied to see Tommy look as if he was about to die twice before he even reached the showdown with Catherine (in the field and when he was shovelling pills and booze while,looking through her photo albums). Then the great confrontation where Catherine slips from the professional to the personal as Tommy moves towards ‘forgiving’ her, deluded to the end that his is the only opinion which matters.
If there was a niggle it’s that she surely wouldn’t have entered the house without back up, but I’ll forgive the series that, just as I forgave it Tommy’s unrealistic escape from court, for the sheer pleasure the writing and performances have given me.
Yes, going in alone did seem a little reckless.The court escape has happened in real life.
Fairly perfect I think, though I agree with your niggle. “Call for backup” we were shouting at the telly!
It’s a really common trope of cop dramas that the hero/heroine/someone will go into an extremely dangerous situation without waiting for backup. All part of keeping things dramatic.
I shall start bingeing all three series tomorrow. I’ve seen the first two already but they’re well worth a rewatch.
At the gig I was at earlier, the singer expressed her surprise we weren’t all staying home for the finale instead of coming to see them play.
Yep, exactly this. 30 years or so of solid police second nature experience all forgotten in a heartbeat. A bit all too conveniently tied up for me.
If only I could have driven from Dewsbury to Hebden in 20 mins it took me nearly an hour yesterday,
Oh and seasonal shift.
I can’t help saying Dewsbury as DEWS!bury.
aka Doomsbury.
Oi! (Says the wife)
I’m only quoting.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/doomsbury?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Wonderful series – way better than the increasingly implausible LOD.
That said, all the plot lines felt a bit too neatly squared away for my liking.
Can understand they needed the SMS about Tommy’s dying to make it clear this was the end.
Sadly, it all went a bit Dixon of Dock Green when carwood’s boss announced the horrid teacher had get off murdering his wife only to wind up getting done for kiddie porn, thus freeing the finger of guilt to point at Faisal.
Wonderful series – way better than the increasingly implausible LOD.
That said, all the plot lines felt a bit too neatly squared away for my liking.
Can understand they needed the SMS about Tommy’s dying to make it clear this was the end.
Sadly, it all went a bit Dixon of Dock Green when carwood’s boss announced the horrid teacher had get off murdering his wife only to wind up getting done for kiddie porn, thus freeing the finger of guilt to point at Faisal.
Too many repeats on TV these days 🙂
The kiddie porn was a bit meh. However, I thought the finger of guilt was pointing for the supply of drugs not actual murder.
As you well know, there is no such thing as “kiddie porn”.
Yes, going in alone did seem a little reckless.The court escape has happened in real life.
Am I alone in thinking it would have been better had Tommy died in the field, to show the random futility of it all. Less entertaining, perhaps, and uncertain how they’d have thus closed the episode and series, but I remember thinking what a neat touch from Wainwright, sidestepping us all. Plus I’d like to have seen the sports master go down for the murder and evil Faisal looking forever over his shoulder, waiting to see if the goons would shop him.
Just me, then.
I agree on both points. Once Ryan had shown that he was past his curiosity with his biological father there could have been a sudden switch of attention. Catherine could still have had her closing moments at Becky’s grave, and Rob was every PE teacher we ever knew taken to an extreme level so no jury would possibly fail to convict if he went to trial. It also would have meant that Catherine and Tommy’s showdown wouldn’t have had to be engineered in the way Twang and I object to above. But then we wouldn’t have seen the incredible work that Sarah Lancashire and James Norton put into it, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that.
@retropath2
I felt the same way about the resolution of the Faisal/Joanna/gym teacher arc. Much more realistic if the force started reverting to type after Carwood’s departure by banging up someone (however horrible) for a crime they hadn’t actually committed..
Think the whole series would have been devalued if they missed out on a Heat-style Pacino/DeNiro showdown between SL and JN though.
The fact that SW set it in the kitchen of the home in which Carwood had raised Ryan subtly underlined how it was her love that had saved the boy from ending up like his dad.
Big kudos to Siobhan Finneran who is quietly brilliant in everything she’s in.
Be interesting to see the four alternative endings they shot so the big reveal wouldn’t leak out
Faisal as his prison visitor, a darker version of Porridge.
Great climax to it all. I was cringing when Catherine went into the house, thinking it was dumb not to call for back-up and heading towards a cliched fight between the heroine and villain. But the way it switched into Tommy Lee’s final act took it to another level, not just for the drama of it but for that dissection of his own fucked up psyche. A great piece of drama.
As an aside, I’ve previously urged an American friend to watch Happy Valley. He and his wife couldn’t get past the Yorkshire accents in the very first episode.
Christ, all that mumbling shit we put up with from them. No US actor has actually opened his mouth to speak spince about 1986.
Yep, we were shouting ‘call for backup’ too..!
The murder storyline seemed a bit…well…superfluous in the end, and I was expecting something to tie it all together. I wanted to see Faisal get arrested in front of a horrified family! But it just got quickly tied in a bow with a bit of exposition.
Anyone else notice the line to Ryan on the staircase about joining the police..? A sequel methinks….
Great piece by Val McDermid:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/feb/06/val-mcdermid-on-happy-valley-tv-every-bit-as-manipulative-as-tommy-lee-royce
“Bob Dylan is a massive fan, apparently. I can’t wait for his next album and The Ballad of Happy Valley. Or maybe even Catherine Cawood and the Wankatron Twat.”
It’s the Corrie link. Both SL and SW started out on the soap
And a Rita, Sue and Bob Too link.
Siobhan Finneran and George Costigan in that one. And Michelle Holmes was in Coronation Street.
It’s all circular innit
Well, I had never watched it before and I’ve just binged the three series over the last couple of weeks. Brilliant telly, and I’m never very generous with my praise.
My favourite episode was the finale of season Two. The conclusions of the story lines about the fake teacher and the farmer and her son were both unexpected and very moving. And the dodgy cop guy jumping off the bridge! I think the third series moved a bit too far towards melodrama for me, but it was very satisfying that overall it kept its edge and remained addictive viewing right to the last kick.
Brilliant. I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks (the Arctic, great thanks) so have been avoiding social media until I could sit down and watch the final 2 episodes today. I nearly gave up watching after the first few episodes of the first season, as I found it quite distressing. Glad I stuck with it though, it’s become more and more engrossing.
I thought the ending was perfectly judged. As happy an ending as you could where multiple murders and self-immolation are involved.
Love this! His mannerisms for them all are spot on (especially Ryan. “May-beh” haha
A truly pathetic representation of pharmacists.
No one wears a white coat and haven’t done for 20 years
Some community pharmacists, like Faisal, still do though hospital pharmacists don’t.
Finally got to see the last one and really enjoyed it. The Returm of the Jedi has a lot to answer for – why? Well…there always seems to be a scene where the main character gets a cheery thumbs up from a deceased loved one. They don’t freak out – they just nod back and smile. OK – so that’s not quite what happened here, but you know what I mean.