‘Happy Valley’ Recap: ‘Season 3, Episode 6’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Sara Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the Series Finale of ‘Happy Valley’. (Photo Courtesy of Acorn TV/AMC Networks.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Finale of ‘Happy Valley’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. This article also contains discussions regarding suicide, which made be triggering to some individuals.
​
If there is one word that one can associate with the final season of Happy Valley on AMC Networks, it would have to be… unconventional. For there have been no bombastic moments or grand speeches regarding the final showdown to come between Sergeant Catherine Cawood and her nemesis, Tommy Lee Royce. Nor has there been a bloodbath of main characters dying at his hands. There have only been intimate moments with a few dashes of incredible surprises in this farewell journey, and that has made for an engaging and refreshing final season of the show. Because we simply don’t know what to expect and well, the surprising nature of this goodbye journey is top of mind today… because the show’s series finale, leaned hard into the unconventional. 
​
For the finale was a story… that featured unique paths to bringing bad guys to justice. For instance, the men that freed Tommy, and their boss… were brought to justice through conventional police-work. Not to mention, Rob’s story ended with his own dirty and underhanded acts coming back to bite him and Faisal finally faced the music for all of his own transgressions, through carelessness. Since there was finally something to tie him to his distribution of drugs and eventually the murder of Joanna and that was just so smooth and so prompt, that it defied convention. For normally… we get a big build up to such arrests and endings. But here… it just another day at the office for the now retiring Sergeant Cawood. 

Not to mention, all the family drama was handled in a stunning manner as well. For what Ryan did, would lead to ultimatums and big speeches and heartbreak in some form or fashion following the wrong choice, in other stories in this vein. But Ryan… did all of this to understand for himself what his father was all about, because he needed that closure and that allowed for him, to make a tough call in this story and feed all the information he had to the police because he came to understand the danger his dad presented, and he also… opened up to his grandma about his decisions and how hard this was upon him. And that brought about… a different kind of heartbreak. One grounded in gratitude and frustration since Catherine came to realize… how well she and Clare had raised Ryan, and what a man he was becoming. Not to mention, she realized… that the fighting was worthless, as was the fury over a decision that Ryan was going to make regardless. Because they were family and they only had each other, and that needed to be cherished for certain. 

Speaking of Tommy Lee Royce, even the resolution involving him was unconventional in nature. Since Tommy came to learn how little he mattered in this world now, when allies turned upon him when those good ol’ boys were arrested, and that left him wounded and broken and without a place to stay. Which brought him to the Cawood estate, wherein he learned about the life Ryan led and that broke him emotionally as well. To the point where he was slightly penitent and that brought forth… a different kind of final showdown between he and Catherine. Since she eventually came to learn he was in her home and well, once they were face to face… Tommy did his best to offer sorrow and remorse and even absolution and Catherine was finally able to speak her mind and say all the things she needed to say regarding the impact he had upon her life. Making for one unique final showdown, one grounded in humanity and emotion and one free of traditional tropes.

If anything, the only familiar aspect of this showdown came about via the fact that the heavy died. But not through traditional means. Since Tommy took his own life in a horrific manner, and well… his end closed a long and painful chapter for Catherine and allowed for her to finally move on. All of which made, for a perfect ending to a perfect series. For it brought everything to a wonderful and logical and refreshing close, and it allowed for everyone to experience a journey of growth and what’s amazing… is that it still left us hungry for more. In part because this finale was so good and so engaging that this writer, and others, undoubtedly, didn’t want it to end. But also, because, we want to see Catherine and her family enjoy peace at last, without the cloud of Tommy Lee Royce hanging over them. But perhaps that is the brilliance of this ending. In that, it tasks us to dream of that continuation, for this was the only chapter of their lives we were privy to, and what a powerful and moving chapter that turned out to be.  

---

Powered by JustWatch