05 February 2023 , 22:10
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Sally Wainwright once said that there is no drama in happiness.
Really, Sally? Try telling that to the 11 million viewers who were dramatically punching the air in delight after 10 o’clock last night as Sgt Catherine Cawood grabbed her happy ending.
Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) popping on her sunglasses like some nonchalant Hollywood action hero and striding to her Land Rover just after receiving a text message confirming Tommy Lee Royce’s death was the ending most Happy Valley fans had been hoping for.
Catherine was finally at peace with the world. And she was off on her solo road trip to the Himalayas.
I hope she has a nice, relaxing break. Let’s face it, after Wainwright’s script put her through the wringer one last time in a brutal and emotional extended finale, if anyone deserves chill time it’s Catherine.
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We can also relax – and take a few extra breaths to compensate for the many we didn’t take during a pulsating seventy minutes, in which our heroine’s fate hung in the balance right into stoppage time.
The final episode wasn't lacking in drama tonightEven as Tommy (James Norton) lay whimpering under one of Clare’s crocheted blankets after torching himself in Catherine’s kitchen, I still wasn’t sure she was going to prevail – although I am certain I wasn’t the only viewer yelling, “MOVE AWAY FROM HIM, CATHERINE – HE’S STILL ALIVE!”
It wasn’t the first time I’d shouted at my telly either. I’d also like one count of, “GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, CATHERINE – TOMMY’S COMING UP THE CELLAR STAIRS!”, and one of, “DON’T GO INTO YOUR HOUSE ON YOUR OWN – WAIT FOR BACK-UP!” to be added to my charge sheet.
Luckily, the handsome devil was unable to rise for one final assault, leaving Catherine to stride out of her house and down the street like a Marvel superhero… before crumpling in a sobbing heap by a parked car.
Quite why Clare (Siobhan Finneran) suddenly showed up remains a mystery to me. Maybe we should just put it down to sibling intuition.
Anyway, I’m glad she did – because what a scene that was. And what a line Catherine came out with amid the guttural sobs. “We’ve had another bit of a tussle. I won, obviously. I might have singed one of your crocheted blankets though.”
Sarah Lancaster's character has been put through the wringer in this seriesUnderstatement, self-assuredness and dark humour – Catherine in a nutshell, right there.
That wasn’t the only laugh of the night either. I was delighted by one last piece of police radio banter between Catherine and Joyce.
It was also fitting that newcomer Oliver Huntingdon was rewarded for his fine work playing the Knezevics’ henchman, Ivan. During the first of many police raids he was given a brilliantly funny line. Pleading with the officers, Ivan yelled, “I’m getting married in two hours. My girlfriend is gonna go mad!”
Ivan’s fate was one of a number of loose ends tidied up on the night.
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Catherine also took down gang boss Darius Knezevic and fingered murderous drug-dealing pharmacist Faisal Bhatti.
No wonder her superior Andy Shepherd told her, “Most people just bow out quietly on her last day.”
Sgt Carwood, your work here is doneThose last-minute collars were not Catherine’s greatest triumph though.
Notification of that came during her tea-fuelled reconciliation with Clare. Confirmation came at the height of the tussle with Tommy.
She told Clare that her grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) was “just a happy, well-adjusted, pretty flippin’ normal kid”, and followed that up by triumphantly informing his evil jailbird father that Ryan was “a prince”.
Finally. A male character in Happy Valley who isn’t a wrong ‘un.
Sgt Cawood, your work here is done. We thank you for your service.