'Ridley' Delves Into "The Memory Jar" in Season 2's Final Mystery

Ridley Season 2’s final mystery, “The Memory Jar,” opens with a shiveringly good look at a brutal winter on the windswept moors. At the farm owned by Tara (Emily Stott) and Rob Dunning (Tachia Newall), they start another day in their homely, messy kitchen, getting ready to hit the road, Rob for work, and Tara to take their small son Leo to school. They’d agreed Tara would drop Leo at a neighbor’s after school, so Rob was alarmed that afternoon when the school called to say Tara never picked Leo up. 

The nearest village is Colden Dale, a gossipy place with a community board run by pub owner Simon Beamish (Steve Cooper). The police barely start on the case before the internet, which is heaving with wild guesses and conspiracy theories. The police are not particularly pleased and arrange a press conference, while Carol summons Ridley, suggesting they visit Rob. Rob, convinced someone has taken his wife, is stressed and defensive; he eventually tells them Tara has bipolar disorder, but she’s taking medication. Her sister Sarah (Sabina Arthur) arrives to help, and he snaps at her. Outside, Sarah gives a different picture, telling them Tara had dark moods and struggled to maintain her marriage.

Annie Marling is surprised to find her business partner/love interest, Harry Bentham, considering a makeover at the jazz club she owns with Ridley, one that includes chandeliers. Annie is unenthusiastic; she is also annoyed to walk in on Harry cuddling up to a singer he’s hired for that evening, scheduled to go on in Ridley’s regular timeslot (for singing, not cuddling). He argues Ridley hasn’t been around much, and for the first time, Annie and Harry openly bicker about money. If Annie is serious about retiring to the Caribbean, they need to upgrade the club and prepare to sell for a small fortune. Annie’s name is over the door, but Harry’s is on the checks. (So who’s really in charge?)

Back to the case: Tara’s car is found abandoned in the coldest spot in Lancashire. Dr. Wendy identifies the blood on the windscreen as Tara’s and also finds a partial handprint on the exterior of the door she can’t identify. Another car was there; however, there was no evidence of a collision. Tara likely skidded on the snowy road, cracked the windshield, and injured herself. Carol and Ridley turn their attention to Tara’s employer, Celia Machin (Maggie Steed), who runs the tearoom in the village hall. Elderly and suffering from early onset Parkinson's, Celia tells them Tara was supposed to work on the day of her disappearance but never showed up. 

Celia also reveals Tara was having concentration issues because she’d stopped taking her meds (a secret she’d shared only with Celia). Tara had also been upset by the advances of a village newcomer, Jason Dover (Micky McGregor), who harassed her until Celia told him to leave her alone. The house-to-house interviews reveal Tara had taken the train to Renton recently. Rob, adamant that Tara was still taking her medication, explained that she occasionally volunteered at a charity shop in Renton before going off on Sarah being a busybody out to make trouble. 

Pub owner Simon and Celia organize a community search, which Carol advises Rob not to join, but he ignores her. He is one of the many volunteers who crowd into the pub for instructions, as is Jason Dover, much to Celia's displeasure. A shouting match follows, in which he describes his interactions with Tara as “a bit of banter.” But Simon googled the newcomer and told everyone Jason served two years in prison for sexual assault and is on the Sexual Offenders’ Register. The villagers set off on the search but find nothing useful.

Darren has been working his tech magic on Tara’s phone and discovers calls to the Renton Hospital two days before her disappearance, and she never volunteered at the charity shop. Darren is uncharacteristically jumpy, watching horse racing on his phone during working hours and randomly inviting Ridley for a drink in the pub. It's not as random as it seems; it's to ask Ridley if he can borrow £5,000 (he cites a mortgage and a second baby on the way, putting the strain on him). Ridley accepts Darren’s claim at face value that he’s not in trouble, but the sudden interest in horse racing seems sus.

Before heading home, Ridley stops by to visit Jack, who has 200 hours of community service. Today, he’s picking up litter. He feels he let his mother down, but he’s grateful he’s not in prison. Upon getting home, he makes a significant step forward in his recovery, boxing up his dead wife’s clothes and telling his psychiatrist, Dr Samantha Larsson, he realizes there’s little to keep him here. Even the jazz club no longer seems essential, as Annie and Harry don’t need him anymore.

The following day, Ridley and Carol visit the Renton hospital and discover Tara regularly visited her mother, Mary Jane Bulmore (Jill Myers), every four weeks. Dr. Vikram (Ash Tandon) explains Tara's mother has been a patient there for eight years, ever since her schizophrenia diagnosis, and she also is suffering from early onset dementia. (They also learn she murdered her husband and set fire to their home. Very Maternal.) Vikram says he advised Tara not to visit since it upset her mother, who seems frightened and troubled. Ridley goes to talk to her gently; she shows him the bruises on her arms. Before he can ask about them, Dr. Vikram hustles them out.

Back in the village, Celia has not been seen or heard from, so Darren does a wellness check only to find her dead at the bottom of the stairs, in a position that indicates she was pushed. Additionally, someone wiped down the kitchen surfaces yet left some fingerprints on the back door; Wendy identifies them as Jason’s, whose truck was seen nearby overnight. 

Under questioning, Jason claims to have been doing handyman work for Celia and admits he’d come to apologize after the shouting in the pub, but his truck was there because he was visiting Sarah Dunning. Sarah confirms Jason did come to see her, but they quarreled because she didn’t want him to move in with her, and she was frightened at his inability to control his anger. However, that’s not enough to arrest him.

Wendy shows Ridley Tara’s medical records, which include that she suffered from postnatal psychosis following the birth of her son and received treatment, including antipsychotic medicine. Also, the autopsy confirms she had stopped taking her medication, but it was for good reason: she was pregnant. This raises a whole host of questions about Tara’s relationship with her husband. Is shifty-eyed Dr. Vikram abusing his patients? Is Jason innocent or unlucky? Will Ridley ever sing again? And is Darren in trouble? Answers to all these questions and more in the conclusion of The Memory Jar and the season finale.

Ridley Season 2’s final episode airs Sunday, November 3 at 8 p.m. ET on most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. PBS Passport members will have access to all episodes of Ridley Season 2 to watch as a binge (or as initially intended, i.e., as four two-hour-long episodes). As always, check your local listings and streamers.