Since BBC One announced the return of Happy Valley earlier this year, die-hard fans have been waiting for new information to come to light. The final season of the award-winning TV drama series is currently filming in Yorkshire, England. The BBC has confirmed the return of the main cast, including Rhys Connah, who will reprise the role as lead character police sergeant Catherine Cawood's now 16-year-old grandson, Ryan. Since it would be impossible to pick up exactly where the series left off six years ago, what will the third and last season of Happy Valley be about?
Sarah Lancashire will return in the lead role of policewoman Catherine Cawood, with James Norton playing Tommy Lee Royce and Siobhan Finneran as Catherine’s sister Clare Cartwright. Con O’Neill will also be joining the series as Clare's recovering alcoholic boyfriend Neil Ackroyd, with George Costigan as Nevison Gallagher and Charlie Murphy as his daughter Ann. Several new faces will appear in key roles of the last season, including Amit Shah (The Other One, The Long Call), Mark Stanley (The Girl Before, White House Farm) and Mollie Winnard (All Creatures Great And Small, Four Lives).
All Threads Lead To Tommy Lee Royce
Happy Valley has been closely revolving around the battle between police sergeant Catherine Cawood and James Norton's charming criminal, Tommy Lee Royce, who was allegedly responsible for the death of Catherine's daughter. Both of the previous seasons tapped back into Cawood's world as her ongoing investigation inevitably led her back to Royce. The official synopsis revealed that Season 3 will follow a similar entry point: "When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce."
Catherine Cawood Considers Retirement
Season 3 is set on the cusp of Catherine's retirement and Ryan's transition into a young adult, which makes a game-changing difference from the previous seasons. In six years, the next generation of the police force, such as Ann Gallagher, has grown to become capable detectives (presumably, given her return to the series). Though the valley's drug problem is a never-ending game, it was time for Catherine to put unresolved matters to an end.
What To Expect From Season 3 Finale
The previous two seasons have already borne glaring differences from one another. Season 1 featured cat-chase-mouse police work in the open, while Season 2 saw a much more intensified entanglement between Catherine and Royce as more people became involved in Royce's mind games now that he was locked up in prison for life. Unlike Catherine's refusal to acknowledge Royce as Ryan's father, Ryan has ideas of his own about the kind of relationship he wants to have with Royce.
The Season 2 finale ended with Royce receiving Ryan's letter. The desire to have a relationship with his father and the conflict with Catherine under the catalyst of Ryan's transition into young adulthood will push the storyline to progress drastically. Although the season finale established Catherine's capability of forgiveness and compassion, the scale still seems to lean heavily towards an unresolved extreme between Catherine and Royce.
Since biology is a bond that one can't escape for life, the end game for Happy Valley will likely be extreme, one way or another. After six years, will Catherine eventually choose to resolve their difference and let go? Or maybe she will take matters into her own hand? Now that Ryan has grown up, the policewoman now needs to make a decision. Hopefully, the series finale will give viewers closure for their decade-long struggles.
Happy Valley Season 1 & 2 are available on AMC+.