Director: Abe Juckes
Writers: Susan Oudot & Jan McVerry
Watch Now: ITVX or STV
Well, I think this is going to be the longest episode recap I’ve done so far. Wowza, we had a lot to unpack in today’s episode.
I wasn’t too sure how today’s scenes were going to kick off, after Lisa’s frosty attitude in Monday’s episode. But, after an early morning run, Lisa apologised, and told Carla she doesn’t deal well with people being nice to her. Carla reassured her all was forgotten. Maybe she’d taken Roy’s words on board and realised that whilst it’s not ideal, it is just Lisa’s way of dealing with things as a police officer.
Carla said she wasn’t looking forward to the day ahead, and that Craig had been taken away too young, before realising that Lisa knew that feeling all to well after the untimely death of her late wife, Becky.
Betsy then appeared, and when she started looking through box files Lisa had left on the table, her mum promptly told her to respect her private things. Carla heard the commotion and encouraged Lisa to get herself ready for Craig’s memorial service, taking the boxes with her for safe keeping.
At the Bistro, friends, family and colleagues had started to gather for the memorial service, but Kit, who had been asked to make a speech, was nowhere to be seen. After Carla stepped in and asked a few people if they would speak, Lisa realised the honour was going to fall to her.
Before she stood up to address those that had gathered to pay their respects, Betsy took the opportunity to ask what was in the files her mum was keeping secret. Lisa told her there were documents from the donor bank, about her biological father (he’s not a dad and you will never see me refer to him as such), but that she couldn’t legally have them until she was 18. Betsy initially looked satisfied with this information, but soon snuck out of the restaurant.
Later, Lisa stepped forward to make a moving speech about Craig. Her colleague, her friend, and an incredible member of the community who was unfairly taken in the worst way possible. She reminded everyone that Craig’s bravery and courage should be something everyone should aspire to.
“Being a police officer is a privilege… but it can come at great personal cost.” she said, whilst visibly holding back tears. She continued to say that we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t wonder if that cost was too high. Is this the final straw that’s going to make Lisa realise that whilst she loves her job, she needs to focus on other things. Could she be about to take some time off work and finally look after herself?
After her speech, she headed over to Carla and told her she was glad her girlfriend was there. Carla reassured her by reaching for her hand and saying ‘always’. My heart honestly.
Back at the flat, it became clear what Betsy had escaped the memorial for. Knowing her mum was going to be tied up there for a while, she snuck back to root through the boxes she’d been kept away from earlier in the day.
Carla came home unexpectedly, forcing Betsy to close the box, but not before she snapped a photo of a letter sitting on the top of a pile of documents. When questioned, she said she was helping tidy things up for her mum, before making a swift exit and leaving Carla very suspicious.
Lisa arrived home soon after, initially questioning why Carla had left the memorial abruptly, but it soon became clear she needed to take her medication.
Carla then continued ‘being nice’ as Lisa would put it, and told her partner how good of a job she’d done that day, before giving her a much needed hug. It didn’t take long for Lisa to notice the box files on the table though, and realising what Betsy must have seen.
We then saw Lisa showing Carla the letter, and revealing that before her death, Becky was being investigated for corruption. I’d seen a few ‘is Becky a bent copper?’ tweets flying around, and I’m now firmly in the camp of her not being the saint everyone thinks she was.
Lisa confided in her girlfriend that Becky had kept the letter from her, but when she found out, she had doubts about her wife’s conduct. This had started a period of tension between the two, leading to the argument the morning of Becky’s death. Becky had apparently left her phone in her locker at the station (more on that at the end of this article), so Lisa couldn’t contact her, and after an alcohol-fueled night, Lisa had woken up the next morning a widow.
She also revealed that Becky wasn’t good with money, and that due to the investigation, Becky didn’t receive the funeral she deserved. Carla encouraged Lisa to ask Betsy exactly what she’d seen, to try and clear the air as soon as possible.
Lisa then went back to work (of course she did), and when Kit appeared after failing to show at the memorial, she told him not to look at her. After telling him off for forcing her to go through so many feelings making a speech, and going missing in action, she advised him not to go into the station with the iconic one-liner ‘have a mint’.
Betsy headed down to the station to meet her mum, and we had the most heartwarming scene between the two of them. Lisa tried to get to the bottom of what Betsy knew, and like mother like daughter I guess, as we had a little white lie from the teen. Betsy told her mum she’d gone to open the donor bank envelope, but decided against it as she didn’t feel she needed to know anything.
She reassured her mum that she is enough for her, even if the donor was a millionaire!
We finally got back to the flat, where saw Lisa bring home a takeaway. She cracked a joke about Carla having a gourmet meal prepared, a nod to the tension from Monday’s episode after Carla cooked her some noodles after she’d had a hard day.
Lisa said that Betsy wasn’t going to find out about the row her parents had had before Becky’s death, and Carla agreed. Tensions definitely eased between the pair throughout this episode, and it culminated with Carla saying ‘normal, boring, and happy’ was a good phrase to have on an epitaph, if you were going to have one. The smile from Lisa made me think she agreed, and that a normal, happy future is what she sees with Carla.
The drama didn’t end there though. Betsy headed off to see Lauren, revealing the letter she’d found regarding Becky. She asked Lauren to help her with an idea, which will be revealed on Friday as Betsy makes a trip to the prison.
Now, Becky. The more I think about it, the more a few things are adding up (in my brain at least). We now know she was being investigated for corruption, Matty referred to her as ‘Bex’ (27th November episode) which overly familiar, and said the getaway driver was obviously trying to get someone away from the scene of the burglary (Lisa later mentioned to Kit that they always suspected there was someone else involved other than the person convicted). Combine that with the fact we now know Becky was bad with money… could this be leading to a story line that reveals Becky’s involvement with a criminal gang? Could she have been part of the burglary to make some cash? Could she have been the person the getaway driver was waiting for, and got run over by accident as she didn’t make it to the car in time? Or could she have been about to grass the gang up, and was killed for what she knew?
Either way, it’s clear there’s more coming with this story, and I truly think it’s to allow Betsy to learn that her mum wasn’t always the hero she believed she was. Despite Lisa trying desperately to keep the truth from her daughter, to protect her memories of her mum, it looks like it’s all about to come out.
Swarla HQ xo
Images copyright of ITV