HAPPY VALLEY

UK TV SHOW

"Every person has a reason"

Season: 2 (continued to season 3)

Year: 2014-?

Rating in IMDB: 8.5 (Top Rated TV #247 on last 2019)

Genre: Crime, Mystery

Creator: Sally Wainwright

Main Casts: Sarah Lancashire (Catherine Cawood), Siobhan Finneran (Clare Cartwright), Rhys Connah (Ryan Cawood), Shane Zaza (Shafiq), Karl Davies (Daniel Cawood), Charlie Murphy (Ann Gallagher), James Norton (Tommy Lee Royce).

               When you see the title, Happy Valley, what do you think? Is this series really about the happy and heart-warming neighborhood? Nah, don’t think so. This title does not tell the story itself.

               Happy Valley was filming in Calder Valley, Yorkshire, England. It is a gorgeous place, with beautiful green mountain scenery surrounding the small town. Then we are going to see the tragic life of the policewoman named Catherine Cawood. She has a complicated past, started when her daughter died because of suicide. Becky, her daughter left her son, named Ryan Cawood who is Catherine’s grandson. While she must take care of Ryan, she also keeps her eye to her sister, Clare. Her sister is an ex-drug addict, so she has to supervise her sister. After Becky died, Catherine had left by her ex-husband, Richard. The funny part is, they still doing relationships secretly even though they had a divorce.

               The complicated private story of Catherine didn’t stop there. On the first episode, the one and only person who is have been lingering on Catherine’s mind over the years, appeared. The rapist and father of Ryan named Tommy Lee-Royce released from prison. Catherine felt annoyed after knowing Tommy Lee-Royce released. She was afraid that he will know about his son, in fact, he never knows that he has a son when he prisoned. Catherine becomes over protective of Ryan, but there are always some chances to Tommy. It started when Kevin blackmail his boss named Nevison Gallagher. Kevin wanted more money so he could pay his daughter tuition, but Nevison declined his wishes to raise his salary. After that, he cooperated with a gang to make a dirty plan. He wanted the gang abducted Nevison’s daughter named Ann Gallagher. The gang composed three men, and one of them is Tommy Lee Royce.

               Kidnapping dirty mission wasn’t going smooth. When Kevin tried to threat Nevison with abducting her daughter, otherwise Nevison wanted to give money to help Kevin paid his daughter’s tuition. Everything becomes worsens, even Kevin tried to stop the gang, and the gang didn’t stop. This is the moment when Catherine, at last, met Tommy Lee Royce. Then, eventually Tommy knew about his son and he tried so hard to meet Ryan.

               The story is thrilling enough to watch, then the other good aspect of this show is the character. Catherine is a “damaged policewoman”; she couldn’t grief properly with her past. She is full of rage, easily taking out her anger. Her relationship with Ryan has many downs and ups, especially after Ryan met Tommy, her father. Catherine like a fierce and over protective person, but it made the character interesting. We usually love the character especially the detective or police character who smart, charismatic, kind, cool, etc. But, Catherine is a developing character; she has many flaws and her effort to grief and protect her family is well-enough to enjoy.

               The plot story is easy to follow and it is worthy to binge-watch. It contains some episodes with cliffhangers, so you will look forward to the next episode and hard to stop. The relationship between the characters are high-quality, we can see how each person respect their other member in the family. Even the crime sometimes leading to tragic moments, but it could emerge the heart-warming and touching story. We will value more about our family, not only our relationship to mother, father, husband, wife, and child; but also our relationship to grandparents, grandchild, and siblings.

               The technical things in this show worked enough, started with the cast’s acting, the cinematography, and the setting. The background has a familiar detail with England small city’s style. In the second season, [SPOILER] the story has a different plot with the first season, but it told about Tommy revenge, the detective affair, and the complicated crime. Generally, I more enjoyed with season one than season two. Oh, Attention for viewers who may not like the violence or brutal actions, this show has several violence scenes (Although I think isn’t that many).

My favorite scenes [SPOILER AHEAD!]

It's Catherine times; show your power Cat~

My heart was racing than usual when saw this; poor Ryan :(

The scary moment, when Catherine has to stop the negotiator from his willingness to suicide

Incredible scenery anywhere