Many of us are still processing those final scenes so let\u2019s briefly run through them. Charged up with the energy he had from crafting together a murder and body disposal plan for Joanna\u2019s husband, Rob (Mark Stanley), Faisal\u2019s energy is completely different from what we\u2019ve seen previously.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a man struggling to retain a sense of control in every part of his life but with Joanna\u2019s news that she\u2019s told her abusive husband about his involvement in providing her with diazepam, Faisal sees no other alternative than to kill Rob.<\/p>\n
Arguably, the chaotic scenes of Faisal and Joanna attempting to concoct the plan weave in some light comedy. But in the final scenes, Faisal enters Joanna\u2019s (Mollie Winnard) home with shoe covers, clear that he\u2019s got business to take care of.<\/p>
He bursts in, first checking that he\u2019s not saved in Joanna\u2019s phone as a contact. \u201cWe have to make sure that nobody can connect me to him, so obviously if they can connect me to you, that\u2019s a connection,\u201d he tells her.<\/p>\n
He instructs Joanna tersely about how many diazepam pills to crush up into Rob\u2019s drink and produces a syringe which he\u2019ll use to inject him with the lethal dose of thin air. \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 even states that he\u2019ll \u201cdrop a bit of something\u201d into his own wife\u2019s drink so that she\u2019ll \u201cbe out of it\u201d and won\u2019t be suspicious of his midnight activities. He says it in such a way that you\u2019d be remiss not to take a beat and wonder whether he\u2019s done this before.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Happy-Valley-Faisal-4da4ab0.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\u201cAre you sure you want to do this\u2026 for me?\u201d Joanna asks him. And Faisal is<\/em> sure, he\u2019s forthright in the fact that he thinks without Rob, Joanna won\u2019t need the pills anymore and thus, will leave him alone. Let\u2019s face it: his saviourism is cloaked in his own selfishness. He simply doesn\u2019t want his wife finding out about his drug dealing or extra-marital affair.<\/p>\n But when Joanna questions Faisal about how they\u2019ll cope with putting Rob\u2019s 13-stone body into the car, he says: \u201cI\u2019m stronger than I look.\u201d Joanna laughs and suddenly, Faisal\u2019s demeanour changes. He\u2019s threatened and instantly moves round the kitchen island towards Joanna, shouting in her face: \u201cI\u2019m trying to help you\u2026 I\u2019m trying to find a way to solve the mess that\u2019s been created.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though he knows that Joanna has to live every day in fear of her own husband, in fear of similarly aggressive situations and violence, he proceeds to stand over her.<\/p>\n He watches her intently as she has to retrieve a hidden stool to access the key box that Rob has placed out of her reach. It\u2019s a mission for Joanna to get the keys to her own garage and in doing so, Faisal is only reminded of the power imbalances that exist within her life. So, the real question is: why has he sought to create more of them?<\/p>\n Once in the garage, Faisal proceeds to develop his body disposal plan. His speech grows alarmingly quicker and in a strange way, his animation almost points at excitement. But Joanna has to come clean and reveals that she\u2019s been lying.<\/p>\n \u201cI just said that so you\u2019d help me but he doesn\u2019t [know]. We don\u2019t have to do this. I think it might be better if I just went back and talked to that police lady. I won\u2019t say anything. Sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n With that admission, Faisal transforms before our very eyes. Up until this point, we\u2019ve understood him to be the small town pharmacist, the father who is consistently ignored in his own home and always reminded by his wife that they could be doing better. His own teenage daughter even says he\u2019s got a \u201cmassive chip on his shoulder\u201d because of his brother\u2019s career as a doctor and him, as a pharmacist.<\/p>\n Faisal always seems in over his head \u2013 from his dealings with Matja and Ivan, to the very fact he\u2019s selling drugs from his own pharmacy and even being coerced by Joanna to buy her a flat.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the character that we know has some questionable morals but up until this point, many viewers have undoubtedly given him the benefit of the doubt. Oh, the cloak of being a bumbling and confused man.<\/p>\n But in those final moments, where he condescends Joanna, shouts in her face and assaults her repeatedly with a rolling pin, he reveals himself as the character many of us have underestimated.<\/p>\n You see, while Faisal may not be your archetypal charismatic drug kingpin, he is calculated enough to pounce on the addiction needs of the small community he lives in. He knows the drug problem that has riddled the Calder Valley, and yet exacerbates it for his own financial benefit.<\/p>\n So too does he take complete advantage of Joanna, someone he knows is a victim of domestic abuse and is addicted to diazepam, but has clearly been having a sexual relationship with. By Joanna\u2019s actions in the first episode, it\u2019s a dynamic that has likely previously been transactional, but most definitely is one led by its power imbalance.<\/p>\n He\u2019s cold-blooded, aggressive and, as it turns out, deadly.<\/p>\n In those final moments, where he sees Joanna\u2019s still breathing and moving, he could make the right decision. But instead, he\u2019s fuelled by the fact that Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) leaves Joanna a phone message, and likely, the fear that his world is closing in is only growing larger.<\/p>\n While the episode leaves us on a cliff-hanger of whether he will kill Joanna or not by way of syringe, one thing\u2019s for certain: Faisal is a character that we\u2019ve gravely miscalculated. But what will the consequences of his actions look like?<\/p> ![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Happy-Valley-Faisal-2-b5a2b81.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C403"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/405783-98d436d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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