Betrayal

Betrayal begins the morning after Curly's murder, with Carol and Rose doing exactly what innocent people should not. Terrified that the police will blame her, Carol decides to get rid of the evidence, and Rose helps her move Curly's body.

Carol's reasoning is not foolish, given her history. She spent time in a psychiatric ward after attacking Curly with boiling water, and he was her client before he became her friend. She has every reason to believe that the police will see a disturbed former prostitute and look no further. The episode's force comes from that fear. The mistake she makes is a product of the way women like her are treated, not of guilt.

It goes badly wrong. The police find the car the next day, with Carol's fingerprints all over it, and she is arrested for Curly's murder. Rose suspects George Ferguson, who has every reason to strike at the women, but suspicion is not evidence, and Carol's own actions have made her case look worse.

The episode's second strand is quieter and in some ways more painful. Joyce, Gina's mother, has taken her grandchildren to Blackpool to see their father, Steve, who is working there. The day goes well until Joyce and Steve both drink too much and sleep together. The next morning they regret it. Steve was married to Joyce's murdered daughter, and the night is a grief-stricken mistake by two lonely people. Kay Mellor handles it without comedy or judgement, and the strand gives Rachel Davies's Joyce a story of her own.

The title fits both stories. Carol betrays her own innocence by acting guilty; Joyce feels she has betrayed her daughter. The episode is directed by Betsan Morris Evans, her last of the series; IMDb also credits Matthew Evans, who directs the rest.

The weakness is plausibility. Moving a body is a dramatic choice that many viewers will find hard to accept, and Television Heaven's review notes that the second series is implausible in places. The strength is that the drama understands why Carol does it. The women of the Lane have learned that the law is not on their side, and the episode shows that lesson leading an innocent woman into a cell.

Rebecca Callard and Lena Headey also appear, as Tula and Colette.

By the end Carol is in custody, the killer is still free, and the audience has reason to wonder who in the women's circle might have wanted Curly dead.