Psychological thriller Close To Me is based on the bestselling novel by Amanda Reynolds. The six-part drama follows Jo Harding (Connie Nielsen), a woman who falls down the stairs at her home and wakes having lost a year’s worth of memories.
Her husband Rob, played by Christopher Eccleston, won’t tell her anything; and Jo endures lingering flashbacks and a sinister feeling that her injuries were not accidental.
As the series slowly reaches its climax, Jo uncovers harsh truths about herself. But nothing is as harsh as what she discovers about the man she has shared her life with for decades.
*Warning: this article contains spoilers for the entire Close To Me series.*
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Close To Me ends with some powerful showdowns, highlighting indefensible behaviour with direct dialogue that is wholly appropriate for the subject material.
In the final instalment, Jo finds herself back in hospital after fainting, but makes her escape after sending Rob home. She heads off to see Anna (Leanne Best), her husband’s pregnant mistress. Anna is adamant that Rob still loves Jo and isn’t capable of physically hurting her.
Already aware of how forcefully he has manipulated recent events to his advantage, Jo remains unconvinced, and visits her ailing father.
A flood of memories come back to Jo during their time together. First, after she spots ex-colleague Nick (Ray Fearon) she recalls an incident in which she made a move on him after learning of her husband’s infidelity. There’s an awkward shared look between Jo and Nick as she remembers his rejection.
She also gains clarity over her childhood flashbacks, which show her father Frederik (Henning Jensen) almost killing her adulterous mother through strangulation. Jo had called out for him to stop, and in the present he breaks down in tears as she confronts him over his actions.
The scene is a huge turning point, setting up what happens next and leading to the most satisfying conclusion Close To Me could have.
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Jo’s father’s weak reply that he attacked her mother “only once” is met with a firm “once is too often”. In that moment, the series treats the context of the violent outburst with the seriousness it deserves.
The response carries real weight, and crucially doesn’t make any allowances for Frederik. It also influences how Jo decides to deal with Rob.
After leaving her father, she returns home and informs their grown up children Sash (Rosy McEwen) and Finn (Tom Taylor), of Rob’s affair and subsequent unborn baby.
Left alone with Rob, Jo accuses him of pushing her down the stairs, but he claims she slipped and he tried to save her. A sudden flash of memory, however, confirms her suspicions. Rob deliberately let go of her hand, allowing her to fall.
Jo finds an inventive way to broadcast this revelation. The writing is on the wall – literally – as her post-accident timeline bears one last message: ‘Rob tried to kill me’.
The words are seen by daughter Sash and her boyfriend Thomas; so whether he is cast out of the family or arrested, the idea is that Rob faces a definitive justice of some kind.
Rob tries to diminish his cheating betrayal by blaming his wife for being “cold”. But as Jo rightly points out, she was going through the menopause and when she later “blossomed” in her career and social life, it was his bitterness alone that led him to stray.
Rob’s flawed reasoning isn’t even considered, and his flat-out denials over Jo’s fall are also in vain. It’s not just viewers who will be condemning him – the drama is too.
Neither of the men in Close To Me are excused for their actions, and this is exactly as it should be.
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Jo is picked up by Helen (Lorraine Burroughs) who she befriended at her support group. The closing moments find her in her homeland of Denmark where she is now beginning to move on. The focus is very much on Jo as a survivor, and it’s important that her story is wrapped up in our eyes.
The fact that the series leaves us guessing over Rob’s fate is the right choice. It’s enough to simply know he must face up to his actions one way or another.
Close To Me resonates through its unwavering, unfiltered storytelling, as the final chapter exposes its male characters without justification.