Tommy Lee Royce had a plan up his sleeve for the trial (Picture: BBC/Lookout Point)
*Warning: This article contains spoilers for Happy Valley season 3 episode 4.*
If you’re still reeling from *that* Sarah Lancashire cafe scene, then Happy Valley season 3 episode 4 will not, I’m afraid, do anything to calm your nerves.
The hour-long instalment from genius Sally Wainwright kept viewers on the edge of their seats wondering what tricks Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) had up his sleeve to the whereabouts of Joanna Hepworth (Mollie Winnard).
Faisal (Amit Shah) was, chillingly, barely featured, other than a run in with Rob Hepworth (Mark Stanley) over a minor car scuff, in which he was preternaturally calm (yikes!) in the face of his rage.
On a more positive note, Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) has somewhat cooled off over Ryan’s (Rhys Connah) illicit visits to his father, saying the teen is now allowed back home.
The copper has also taken tentative steps to reconcile with his sister Clare (Siobahn Finneran) but made it clear to Neil (Con O’Neill) that under no circumstances were they to accompany Ryan to jail again.
After that tragic ending, here are all the questions we have after watching Happy Valley season 3 episode 4.
What else did Tommy do to Becky?
Ryan has continued to visit his dad despite knowing some of his past behaviour (Picture: BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)
While we know that Tommy raped Catherine’s daughter Becky, which the cop blames for her suicide, she has continued to insist there’s more.
Confronting Neil at the shop, and begging him not to take Ryan to see his father anymore, she tells him that Tommy has committed further dark sins that they are not even aware of.
Although Ryan doesn’t know the truth about the circumstances of his mother’s death, believing that she died in childbirth, Catherine has also implied to him that Tommy’s evil runs deep.
Does Richard stand a chance of bringing the Kneževićs down?
The police are on to the Kneževićs in Happy Valley (Picture: BBC/Lookout Point)
Fans of Sally Wainwright should know to never gloss over a subplot because they could trigger for a pivotal moment to come.
With all the Tommy Lee Royce and Joanna Hepworth drama, it could be easy to forget that Richard (Derek Riddell) has teamed up with a national journalist to investigate the Kneževićs.
Catherine’s ex-husband even heads to Tommy’s trial, where he witnesses the mayhem, as he prepares to interview the gang leader Darius (Alec Secareanu) about his council leader bid.
Could he be about to put himself in very grave danger?
Will Faisal get away with Joanna’s murder?
Joanna Hepworth was found dead after being beaten and poisoned by Faisal (Picture: BBC/Lookout Point)
While Joanna was left for dead by Faisal, who was then seen priming a lethal injection, there was a (very small) hope she might have taken Catherine’s advice and fled to a shelter.
Fans would have expected to see her lying on the kitchen floor but she was nowhere to be found, with even Rob and her parents contacting police to report her a missing person.
After an officer came round to pay Rob a visit and search the home, Rob spied a suspicious-looking suitcase in the garage.
Once the cop had left, he opened it up and found Joanna’s dead body, surely, given his abusive behaviour and coercive control, predicting the blame is going to fall on him.
Will Rob try and hide the body, making himself look more guilty, while Faisal, the true killer, walks free?
Where is Tommy heading and what has tricks has he got up his sleeve?
Tommy Lee Royce has been way too calm, and now we know why (Picture: BBC)
Catherine knew it all along when she became suspicious about Tommy’s motives after learning he had invited Ryan to his trial for the murder of Gary Gaggowski.
Sure enough, with the help of the Kneževićs’ muscle who caused a distraction, the criminal knocked out his guards and escaped from the courtroom, before the entire building was put on lockdown.
Tommy dashed to a newsagents – presumably the one that was mentioned in the coded text message he received – where he quickly changed into bike gear and cycled off the road.
Where is he going and what has he got planned?
Is Catherine’s life in danger?
Catherine knew something was up with Tommy (Picture: BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)
Which brings us on to Catherine, Tommy’s arch-nemesis, whose life is surely in grave danger now.
Even the unflappable cop is fearing the worst, having asked for protection for herself when she learned Tommy had invited Ryan to the trial.
The criminal, although supposed to be serving life behind bars, has also repeatedly promised Ryan a bungee jump.
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Could this be code for something truly awful?
Happy Valley continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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We’re fearing the worst.
