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While we are given nearly all the answers you’d require in terms of Carys and her disappearance, there is something left over for a possible second season.
| Network | |
| BBC One | |
| Director(s) | Mahalia Belo |
| Writer(s) | Kris Mrksa |
| Air Date | 3/16/2018 |
Back From Who Knows Where: Hal, Trudy
HAL IS ALIVE! Mind you, he is naked and branded, but he is alive. As for what happened to him? Well, we don’t find out. All we know is that he is with Trudy and doesn’t reconnect with Matilda at all.
A Few Answers Before The Finale: Matilda, Sylvia, Stephen, Sean, Lloyd, Verity, Janice
Let’s run down the facts here: Mary, aka Janice, did take Carys and it seems with time, she just kind of forgot. Matilda grew up and I guess became so accepting of this that when Janice switched things up on them, she just mentally forgot. Which doesn’t make a lick of sense to me, even if Carys was 3, but I’m just going to go with it. Oh, and as noted, Matilda is confirmed as Carys. Just in case you were wondering.
As for why that other boy died, Sylvia simply says it was because there was too much of a sedative given and it gets confirmed that crazy dude in the woods is actually Sean. From there, we have to bring the narrative in a bit. We learn Janice did indeed warn Stephen about Ewan and the rest but he blew it off because of her reputation. Leading you to wonder if her “troublemaker” persona wasn’t because she was a bad cop, but she kept digging her nose into things cops were supposed to be hiding? Who knows?
What is clear though is that, at the very least, Sylvia and the Satlows are longtime members of this cult, and Ewan was part of them until he decided he didn’t want to participate anymore. Leading to, so it seems, Sylvia pushing the errand angels, who seemingly she has some realm of power over, after him and thus killing him. She doesn’t confess to the possibility of her sending them after Mary/Janice though. But, considering what she did to Ewan, it seems like a safe assumption.
The Big Event: Rose, Matilda, Sylvia, Nick, Lloyd, Verity, Stephen, Davey, Rose, Sean, PC Graves
As the clock strikes 8 PM, the power goes out throughout the whole town and Stephen, who seemingly sets up the constable to go on a bogus call, breaks Matilda out of jail and takes her to Nick’s home. There he paints the picture of believing Mary was trying to be heroic and like he is on her side, especially in terms of rescuing Davey. Thing is, that’s all BS. What he needed to do is bring Matilda to the ceremony he, Nick (by force), Lloyd, Verity, and of course Sylvia are having. Of which, she had to come by her own decision.
Though for things to really get started, she had to head into the tunnels by her own free will and with Sylvia threatening jail time, or being put in a madhouse, pretty much it is do as I say or be locked up somewhere for a very long time. Really pushing this idea of Laura having to be a failed experiment somewhere down the line. But, that isn’t gone into. We get no confirmations there.
All we learn is that Stephen is part of this group looking for a cure for his son, Nick is there, again, by force, Lloyd wants to hear the voice, Verity… well, we don’t learn why she is necessarily there, and Sylvia just wants to be the right hand to an angle. However, unlike the past she conjured up, she isn’t looking for your everyday errand sort of angel – she wants an Archangel.
Thing is, her using Matilda to summon one pretty much backfires. For after a lot of bone cracking sounds, and Matilda’s nervous or circulatory system glowing blue a few times, it seems she has become one with the archangel and it uses her to kill everyone in the house but Davey. Of which, in a sort of Mr. Robot
What is clear though is that Rose acknowledges her as her daughter and Davey accepts her as his sister. That and Sean is alive, and now washed, and seems to be okay. Leaving us to wonder, with this Arch Angel, after 23 years, no longer being dormant, should we consider this being good or evil?
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Before Hal, who was mutilating the farmer’s sheep?
- So, with it being clear Aron and Eddie were cultivating drugs, and Ewan might have been in on it, a vice of his Stephen says, what will happen to them?
- What caused all the power to go off at 8PM? Is there someone part of the electric company part of their cult?
Highlights
It Answers The Majority Of The Big Questions
What happened to the kid the Satlows adopted, is Matilda Carys, is Hal alive, and a few other of the big time questions – they got answered. Were they the most satisfying or intriguing answers? No, but what mystery show really has jaw-dropping finales when all is revealed?
Low Points
So, Just Never mind Hal, Huh?
I know Hal is a bit of a token on the show, but we’re really just going to glaze over the man, likely possessed by an angel, eating sheep, running around naked, and Trudy not questioning the marks on him? Much less, him not trying to get in contact with Matilda? Also, we’re not going to talk about how he was in a rather violent, possibly deadly, car accident, and yet can walk? Was that to push the idea that these angels, while they can tear up some sheep, aren’t as bad as they often appear? They just have a very absolute sense of justice?
How Did You Forget Your Own Name and Mother?
Do 3-year-olds really have short term memory like Carys especially did? Could it be when Mary/Janice shook her like she did, it rocked the child’s brain so much she forgot this woman wasn’t her mother but kidnapper? Granted, a kidnapper who knew to hide mirrors and more, but a kidnapper nonetheless? Or, are we supposed to believe that during Sylvia’s incomplete summoning of the archangel, it perhaps wiped some of Carys’ memories at a later time?
On The Fence
So, You Want a Second Season, Huh?
With the known Scryers dead, Eddie and Aron likely going to jail, yet Hal being discovered as alive and now Carys reunited with her mom, and sharing a body with an archangel, is the show looking to explore things further or is that it? Will there be an investigation into the other kids Sylvia used over the years, who Mary truly was? Hell, will PC Graves figure out the truth? Are these pressing thoughts which make me giddy to the point of bursting? Absolutely not. However, the weird thing about a lot of British shows is that their finales could easily pass for series finales, despite many of them ending on ellipses. So begs the question, is there really enough here to warrant a second season?
By all means and purposes, the big mystery is gone and going further is basically just milking this show for all it is worth. And, don’t get me wrong, the show isn’t terrible, but while there are certain things I’d like to see elaborated on, there isn’t enough to warrant a second season. Like with ITV’s Liar, a second season seems like something which would peak the early on and go downhill fast. To the point that I’d be more tempted to read recaps than watch the show. Just so I can get a fairly to the point reveal of the few things I wondered about.
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