Nottingham Finds a Road to Peace as 'Sherwood's Bransons Are Brought to Heel

As Sherwood Season 2 winds down, the separate threads are starting to come together, but in typical Sherwood fashion, the tapestry is devastating as the truth emerges. Any hope that St. Clair had of keeping this case under wraps is blown out of the water when Sheriff Lisa Waters joins the victim list in the most recent Nottingham crime spree. Harry isn't up to facing the press because he thinks hanging out with the Bottomleys the night before they were killed is what led the Bransons to them. 

He can't face potentially screwing up the case even more, which leaves St. Clair leading the press conference and kissing his dreams of community outreach goodbye. No one is going to trust him to reach out to at-risk youth if he's still so closely attached to the police, and now he's the face of cracking down on the latest crime wave. He goes rogue, saying he doesn't trust the police, but begs anyone with information to come forward. The community and the cops must work together to return to a place of peace. The community doesn't give St. Clair his next lead, though. It's on Lisa's desk: the file revealing Frank Warner* was the Thatcher spy during the strikes in the 80s. 

He goes directly to Daphne (who Season 1 revealed was a spy cop during that era) to ask if she knew Frank when working undercover. She shrugs he was around but has no interest in talking to St. Clair since he coerced her into wearing a wire to entrap Ann Branson. If you expect Daphne to then tell Mickey about Frank Warner, you're in for a shock. Instead, she goes to her daughter, Rachel, which is how we discover Frank is Rachel's biological father. Daphne doesn't say it, but it is heavily implied that Frank raped her, and that's why she gave Rachel up. She couldn't stand the everyday reminder of what Frank did to her. 

(*It is speculated Frank Warner is based on real-life activist David Hart.)

That part of the conversation is not fun for either of them, but the way Daphne holds her cigarette as she tells Rachel reminds the latter of Roy Branson flicking his cigarette after killing the Bottomleys. She tells St. Clair, and the cops find the cigarette butt, giving Harry the ammo he needs to arrest the Bransons. 

Time to kick back and open a beer, we've done it folks! Just kidding, we're not even halfway through the finale. The cigarette is enough to connect Roy to the Bottomley murders; however, he falls on his sword and says he acted alone, so the police have no choice but to let Ann go. Harry doesn't tell St.Clair until it's too late. Ann is already at the Sparrow farm and ready to take out Mickey. The camera follows Mickey on an agonizing walk through the house, knowing Ann is waiting. She shoots him in the back when he finally reaches the living room. The sociopath asks him what he's thinking about as she watches him bleed out on the floor. In typical Sparrow fashion, Mickey tells her to piss off, but there is no saving him. 

Ann slips away, only for Daphne to run in moments later and find Mickey in a pool of blood on the living room floor. The Sparrows are no paragons of virtue, but we know that Mickey and Daphne were truly in love and would have done anything for each other. We head into the final episode heartbroken. 

St. Clair and Henry question Roy to determine where Ann might have run to after killing Mickey, but Roy isn't interested in grassing on his wife. Instead, he taunts St. Clair and Henry, demanding to know who killed his nephew. He also taunts Henry by mentioning that he was with the Bottomleys the night before they were killed. However, Roy mentions details Harry only told Marcus, confirming that Marcus is the rat, leaking details of the investigation to the Bransons. He refuses to talk as Stephie makes her way to the hospital to tell Sandy she and Jordan were the last to see Lisa before she fell ill. 

The cops round up all of the drug runners at Stephie's house as Henry determines Jordan poisoned Lisa, revenge for shortchanging prison programs that led to his brother being sent away for life. The roundup of the teens is St. Clair's breaking point, though. He wants to send the young offenders to rehab, but the cops insist on arresting all of them. Watching a 12-year-old get marched off to detainment rather than the hospital pushes him to turn over the case to Henry officially, and then he bails on the police station. 

St. Clair is a good cop, but good god, does this man need a break and the ability to focus on the programs he thinks will create real change? Luckily, Julie checks on him just as he's on the verge of tears. They have a nice, heartwarming chat and decide they are going to give their relationship a go. So, there are silver linings in all of this mess. Julie should consider a second career as a therapist because she also reaches out to Daphne, widow to widow. The two also have a bonding moment over whether it's ever possible to get over the love of your life being murdered. 

While Julie imparts some empathetic advice to Daphne, Rory finds Ann's location. He's intent on avenging his father, but Daphne is closer. The only issue is that she has Rachel with her. The two head north to beat Rory to where Ann is hiding out. Daphne ends up in a brawl with her rival and gets shot in the arm. Ann is about to send Daphne floating down the river, but Rachel shows up with Daphne's dropped gun, so it's two against one. Rachel catches Ann off guard so that Daphne can break her arm. When Ann falls into the nearby water, she's not able to swim and drowns right before St. Clair and a parade of police cars arrive. 

St. Clair quit the force but is still the first to arrive at the scene, and the one to tell Roy Ann is dead. Daphne and Rachel make statements, but they aren't taken to jail. They ride into the sunset with Rory and Ronan in the new Sparrow transport van. Harry resumes going to the community grief counseling group, and Lisa retakes her post as the sheriff of Nottingham. Stephie gets to move into a group home with a pool table as Ryan is shipped off to a more secure prison after he was busted for trying to import drugged books into the new prison library. 

(He's still the only one who knows Stephie is the one who killed the Bransons' nephew.) 

So it seems that peace may return to Nottingham, but it won't be easy. St. Clair will have to decide whether to stay on the force or commit to being a community advocate. He and Julie seem ready to settle into a quieter life. Daphne didn't kill Ann Branson because she felt it wasn't what Mickey wanted, but will the Sparrows go legit? And will Nottingham learn to bet on itself or fall back on old habits? We'll have to contemplate these big questions as Sherwood completes another incredible season. 

All episodes of Sherwood Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on BritBox. Season 3 has been greenlit and is expected to come stateside in 2026.