{"id":28696,"date":"2023-01-15T23:00:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T22:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1768739"},"modified":"2023-01-16T09:51:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T08:51:12","slug":"happy-valley-stuns-with-sherwood-style-twist","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/happy-valley-stuns-with-sherwood-style-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Valley stuns with Sherwood-style twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 15 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Happy Valley has done it again. Another episode down, another cliffhanger that\u2019s left many of us picking our jaws up off of the floor.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a lot to be said for the Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde nature of Faisal Bhatti (Amit Shah)<\/a>, the question of Joanna Hepworth\u2019s (Mollie Winnard) survival is the only thing on our minds.<\/p>\n

It was a murderous twist that most of us wouldn\u2019t have seen coming but it\u2019s one that is reminiscent of the way that other hit BBC drama Sherwood<\/a> opened up. While the dramas are not to be mistaken for one another, they\u2019re both brilliant in the way they weave shock value into an episode. Namely, how a seemingly awkward, well-meaning character like Faisal (and like Andy in Sherwood<\/a>) turns into a weapon-wielding villain.<\/p>\n

In both cases, the men feel triggered by something said around them and their demeanour. With Happy Valley<\/a>\u2018s Faisal, it\u2019s the fact that Joanna says her husband could probably have beaten Faisal up. In Sherwood, it was the discussion of Andy\u2019s late wife\u2019s suicide. But with both of these dramas, the quick advance to murder leaves us stunned.<\/p>\n

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Haniye Bhatti (Myra Sofia Ifthkar) and Faisal Bhatti (Amit Shah) in Happy Valley.<\/span><\/figcaption> ,Lookout Point,Matt Squire, BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Initially, many thought that episode 3 would mainly be concerned with the fallout from Clare (Siobhan Finneran) and Catherine\u2019s (Sarah Lancashire) confrontation scene in the caf\u00e9<\/a>. It came after episode 2<\/a>\u2018s shock admission that Clare and Neil have been taking Ryan (Rhys Connah) to go and see his father, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), in prison.<\/p>\n

In this episode, we traversed those mysterious prison walls and got a glimpse into Tommy and Ryan\u2019s growing relationship \u2013 as well as Tommy\u2019s apparent and somewhat hilarious disrespect for Neil (Con O\u2019Neill) \u2013 while also getting increasingly choked up over Catherine\u2019s emotions around her family\u2019s betrayal<\/a>.<\/p>

Really, though, this third episode wonderfully managed to give us further insight into the ever-evolving sub-plotlines within the show.<\/p>\n

Like previous seasons, the storyline is never just focused on Catherine and her family. Rather, Catherine always manages to be the uniting factor in the crimes and characters within the series.<\/p>\n

This time round, we know that Ivan (Oliver Huntingdon) and Matja (Jack Bandeira) slot into a wider criminal group after demanding Faisal gives them a portion of his drug dealing earnings.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a brilliant (and bloody) face-off with Catherine and another suspect in the later scenes of this episode, the attention was really on Faisal and Joanna. After lying to Faisal in order to get the money to escape her abusive husband, Rob (Mark Stanley)<\/a>, Faisal and Joanna hatch a plan to murder him instead.<\/p>\n

With drugs on hand, a syringe that\u2019s ready to be hidden and a body disposal plan to think through, Faisal seems weirdly animated talking about the plan to kill the PE teacher. He visits Joanna and instructs her: \u201cIt\u2019ll take about 15 seconds\u2026 and then we\u2019ll put him in his car and I\u2019ll drive him to Huddersfield and then I\u2019ll just leave him in his car.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then asks Joanna for the keys to the garage, and once in there, canvasses the room. \u201cI could drag him out this way. Open this door, reverse his car in a bit, nobody will see anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, maybe we shouldn\u2019t,\u201d Joanna says nervously. She admits: \u201cAlright so, I didn\u2019t. I lied, he doesn\u2019t know about you\u2026 I just said that so you\u2019d help me but he doesn\u2019t. So we don\u2019t have to do this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it might be better if I just went back and talked to that police lady, ask her to help me. I won\u2019t say anything about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Joanna Hepworth (Mollie Winnard) and Faisal Bhatti (Amit Shah) in Happy Valley.<\/span><\/figcaption> ,Lookout Point,Matt Squire, BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cIs that alright \u2013 not doing it?\u201d she asks, but when Faisal presses her, Joanna thinks about the possibility of not moving away from Rob. Faisal\u2019s anger is red hot and as well as shouting in her face, he proceeds to condescend her.<\/p>\n

Joanna knows she\u2019s lied previously but admits she\u2019s not lying now, saying: \u201cAnyway, I\u2019m not lying because if I was, don\u2019t you think he\u2019d have knocked on your door by now and smashed your teeth down your f**king throat? And been to the police?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou better lock that door otherwise he\u2019ll know you\u2019ve been in there,\u201d Faisal goads her, prompting Joanna to push him. But when he falls back on her kitchen counter, he gets back up with a rolling pin in his hand and hits her over the head. It\u2019s not an accident, it\u2019s not something he steps away from with a look of guilt on his face. If anything, he still looks furious.<\/p>\n

Joanna is still alive, slightly moving, when the house phone rings, with Catherine leaving a message. She\u2019s asking Joanna if she wants to give a proper statement before her bail hearing and that she\u2019s on duty until 6pm if she hopes to do so.<\/p>\n

With Catherine\u2019s voice in his ears, Faisal looks like a deer caught in headlights and you can see that his world \u2013 or should we say, his fa\u00e7ade \u2013 is slipping from his grasp. He\u2019s a desperate man looking for control and much like Sherwood\u2019s Andy, he\u2019ll likely stop at nothing to retain the illusion. But will Faisal deliver the lethal injection?<\/p>\n

Something tells us that he definitely could, and possibly frame Rob in the process, but we\u2019ll just have to wait and see. If anything, this episode of Happy Valley has once again proven that Sally Wainwright\u2019s writing can never be predicted \u2013 and we just can\u2019t get enough.<\/p>