With Devis and Sophie in Copeland’s hands, the team race to save them.

This is a story, penned by Roland Moore, built on two very big choices. The first choice is a structural one, taking this multi-part story that has spanned Earth, the Moon and several cities. There’s been a hint, at times, of a massive conspiracy, the sort of plot the show has always done very well before. But instead of that, what we have is much more personal. This is a story about revenge and what revenge does, and it ties three damaged people together in a way that only does more damage to all of them.

Steve Nicolson’s Harvey Copeland arguably has the hardest job, given he’s the newest character. Nicolson plays him as a man who is so plausible he believes himself. Copeland continually has one hand over one eye, and is convinced he can see perfectly. He’s a tragic, monstrous figure, a man whose trauma and dissociation make him as pitiable as he is dangerous.

Rosa Coduri’s Sophie is similarly complex and she travels the full spectrum from victim to villain to something more here. Coduri and Trevor Cooper have a lovely, easy chemistry and they spend this entire story together. Faced with no choice but to confront her dad and everything he represents, she finds something close to common ground with him and Coduri shows us that emotional complexity with real skill and eloquence.

Finally, of course, there’s Cooper. Devis began the show as the most simple character; a big man, more dogged than brilliant, completely without filter. Every single one of those factors is still here but there’s much, much more to Devis as this story finishes. Cooper puts him through the wringer here and the way Devis’ layers of snark and humour are stripped away by events is incredibly poignant.

These three, what they do and who they are to each other, are at the core of the story. But the genius of the script lies in how they drag everyone else in. Goldwyn keeps the focus tight with everyone else too, as they go flat out to solve the case and more importantly, save their friend. Everyone gets some nice moments here, including the person we’ve heard everyone give testimony to over the course of the story.

This is the first big choice and it works brilliantly. The second, I have to be honest, I’m not sure about. I’m being deliberately obfuscatory here because the story is well worth your time and you really should go in unspoiled. The third act here is all that second choice and every piece of thinking behind it is right there in the story. I see it, I understand it, but I’m not sure I like it. I’ll need to sit with that a while and, crucially, hear what happens next.

It’s a frustrating note to end the review on I know and for that I apologise. But this is an immensely talented group of people and while I may not agree with one of the choices here, I respect the work that got us there.

Verdict: An intimate, but massive, ending and a showcase for a phenomenal cast, this is the ending that, I think, the series was always going to have. But like I say, I need to sit with it a while. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart

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