In the weeks leading up to Craig’s final scenes, we were fed spoilers and teaser videos surrounding the events, and how Lisa would react to them. Specifically, ‘grabbing happiness where she could’.
Social media flooded with theories, a proposal, a house move, Lisa asking Carla to adopt Betsy in case anything happened to her, among others.
Whether you thought it was too early for a proposal, or whether you had your fingers crossed that it was going to happen, I don’t think any of us were prepared for it when it actually played out on screen. Those two simple words sent us all in to meltdown, and we’re still there, on what is going to feel like the longest weekend in history.
Just as Lisa said in her monologue, nobody is promised tomorrow. Why do people put things on the back burner and wait for a better time, when if you truly want something, you should grab it with both hands? Craig’s death proved that a future can be taken away in an instant, Becky’s death proved that a family can be ripped apart at any point, and I think the takeaway from the day is that Lisa is finally realising she needs to change her priorities. Put her family first, before a career that has already played a part in killing two people in her life.
Of course, some will say it was too soon, that it was trauma talking, a knee-jerk reaction to the heartbreaking day she’d had. But here’s the thing: there really is no perfect time. There’s only now. And after a devastating day, Lisa saw that more clearly than ever. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. She could wait for the ‘right moment,’ the ideal setting, or until her and Carla have been together longer. But what if that moment never comes? What if all we have is now?
Trauma often has a way of blocking the noise and leaving only the truth. And Lisa’s truth, in that raw, broken moment, was that she didn’t want to waste one more second not choosing happiness. Not holding back on what she wants, just because the world was falling apart around her. Because that’s the irony – it always is. There’s always something. A crisis, a career, a tragedy, a reason to push wants and needs to one side. But sometimes, what looks like madness is actually clarity.
Maybe it wasn’t about timing at all. Maybe timing doesn’t really matter. Maybe it was about seizing a moment that felt honest, no matter how imperfect. It was Lisa choosing to live with intention. To grasp something amazing, something pure, while she still could.
For me, and I’m sure many others, it wasn’t just a proposal, it was a declaration that despite everything, despite the pain and the unfairness and the grief, love still wins. It was Lisa’s way of reclaiming control, of saying this is what matters. This is who I choose.
It might not be the perfect moment, but it’s a real one. And that’s more than enough.
Sarah xo
Images copyright of ITV