{"id":29812,"date":"2023-02-06T16:07:42","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T15:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1780585"},"modified":"2023-02-06T20:54:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T19:54:41","slug":"happy-valleys-final-tommy-scene-wasnt-a-redemption-moment","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/happy-valleys-final-tommy-scene-wasnt-a-redemption-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Valley\u2019s final Tommy scene wasn\u2019t a redemption moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tommy was incapable of salvation. <\/p>

By Abby Robinson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 06 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Sally Wainwright achieved the impossible in the Happy Valley finale<\/a>: she elicited sympathy for Tommy Lee Royce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In spite of his many abhorrent crimes \u2013 the murder of Kirsten McAskill, the rape of Ann Gallagher, his brutal attack on Catherine Cawood and the tragedy that initiated this whole sorry saga: the rape of Catherine\u2019s daughter Becky, which was the catalyst for her <\/span><\/span>suicide \u2013 his misery was far from cathartic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He was a shadow of the man who had leapt out of the court dock like Spider-Man and fled into the Yorkshire hills<\/a>; the man who had\u00a0<\/span><\/span>bludgeoned Zeljko Knezevic to death with a rock was nowhere to be found.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Miraculously, he appeared remorseful as he leafed through photos of Ryan and Becky, unable to contain his emotion as the weight of his burden bore down on him like God\u2019s judgement itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019d witnessed him express sorrow when his mother died, but not like this. This was different. Was Tommy confronting his demons? Would he finally take accountability for his actions?<\/p>\n

During his final interaction with Catherine, Wainwright did not permit him that luxury.<\/p>

When Catherine rejects Tommy\u2019s half-baked apology \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m sorry I didn\u2019t treat Becky any better\u201d \u2013 he lays the blame for her death at the police sergeant\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved her,\u201d he asserted. \u201cI loved<\/em> her! She made me feel normal. And then she didn\u2019t want to know me. And that\u2019s when I got cross. And that were you. If I did anything to her it were because of you, you sanctimonious b***h.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being confronted by Catherine\u2019s bone-deep agony, despite depriving Ryan of a relationship with his mum, Tommy is unable to accept responsibility for the violence he has enacted.<\/p>\n

A reformed man would have remained silent and weathered Catherine\u2019s storm; a changed man wouldn\u2019t have set himself alight, but chosen to live out his days in purgatory. But Tommy couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Instead, he used that moment to \u201cforgive\u201d Catherine for the role she played \u2013 and not as one final cruel gesture, but because he had absolved himself of all blame, which once again speaks to how grossly unsettling he is.<\/p>\n

Tommy displayed no real remorse. Becky\u2019s death was Catherine\u2019s cross to bear, not his.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Ryan and Tommy meet in Happy Valley.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

There\u2019s also Ryan.<\/p>\n

For Tommy, building a relationship with him was never about prioritising Ryan\u2019s well-being, the central tenet of good parenting. Not once did Tommy question how his presence in Ryan\u2019s life, from their prison visits to the violent display at court, would impact the 16-year-old.<\/p>\n

By contrast, manoeuvring\u00a0himself into Ryan\u2019s life<\/span> was about what he could gain; it was about filling the black hole within him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to spend a bit of time with him,\u201d says Tommy when Catherine highlights just how negligent it would have been for Ryan to accompany him to Spain. Once again, he prioritises himself; all of Tommy\u2019s schemes and dreams initiate with the word \u2018I\u2019.<\/p>\n

And even now, he can\u2019t grasp why Catherine had kept Ryan\u2019s existence a secret from him. He\u2019s unable to empathise with her predicament, her anguish, her fear. It has always been about Tommy.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton).<\/span><\/figcaption> Lookout Point\/Matt Squire<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

There is a flicker of humanity from Tommy in his final moments.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I realised what a nice life he\u2019s had, what a nice life you\u2019ve given him,\u201d he says to Catherine, a lump in his throat. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to get done. I want you to be here with Ryan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But while such displays from Tommy are rare to the point of being non-existent, that moment should not be confused with a redemption arc. Instead, it illustrates the complex nature of the human condition.<\/p>\n

Wainwright<\/span><\/span> has never once excused Tommy\u2019s behaviour, but she has provided vital context as to why he is the way he is. His actions are monstrous but as we see with Ryan, he\u2019s not incapable of expressing emotion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of life\u2019s discombobulating truths and good writing acknowledges those nuances and anomalies.<\/p>\n

For a single moment, the bravado melted away and we glimpsed something softer. It was a window into the man he could have been had his life played out differently. But it didn\u2019t and as a result, his final moment confirmed what we\u2019d always known: Tommy was incapable of salvation.<\/p>