'Happy Valley' Season 3 Crosses The Midpoint With a Shot of Adrenaline

After last week’s action-packed climax, things cool down slightly for Sergeant Catherine Cawood, just so they can ramp up again in the season’s most explosive moment yet. Before we got to Tommy Lee Royce’s dramatic escape from Leeds’ high court, the heat was dialed up on several supporting characters. Catherine reentered the world of Faisal’s crimes after a couple of episodes dealing with her own mess. Season 3 has just gotten an injection of energy that will propel us to the series finale.

We pick up with the two thugs who arrived at Josip’s too late to avoid the police, racing away and petrified that they’re going to face the consequences, Knezevic-style, for funneling out bags of cash from the high-rise flat when they probably shouldn’t have. They’ve hidden the money but still get called in by brothers Darius (Alec Secareanu, from God’s Own Country) and Zeljko (Greg Kolpakchi) — finally putting faces to the mercurial, sinister crime pair. They don’t seem to be onto the stolen money and aren’t too bothered about Josip being arrested. However, one of the thugs, Ivan, still receives a brutal, humiliating beating for his incompetence. Darius gives them a new job that involves suits and trekking to the courts of Leeds.

After her first excursion with CID, Ann is already finding problems with their policing — as Josip is not being charged with the sexual assault and murder of the blind woman whose flat was used to store Knezevic cash. Catherine has a lot on her plate, which probably explains why she shuts Ann’s concerns down in a patronizing manner, but viewers who felt a touch uncomfortable at a rape victim immediately signing up with the police force may be vindicated by Ann’s hinted disillusionment with law enforcement.