Episode 6

Catherine and Shafiq call in at Far Sunderland farm to visit Alison and Daryl and walk into a scene of carnage: Alison slumped on the dining table, covered in blood, after taking an overdose. Susan Lynch's Alison has been carrying more than anyone noticed, and the image stops the episode cold. A farmhouse should be the last place a horror like that lands, which is exactly why it lands there.

Andy and Jodie start to suspect that the person who killed Vicky Fleming might be someone on the team. The suspicion turns the investigation inward, and the episode gets a lot of quiet mileage out of colleagues starting to look at each other differently. John Wadsworth's torment grows as the investigation heads toward its conclusion, and he takes drastic measures to avoid the consequences of his actions. Catherine, meanwhile, has to confront a delusional Frances Drummond, and Shirley Henderson makes the confrontation stranger and sadder than a straight villain would allow. Frances has built herself a version of events that keeps her safe, and the meeting with Catherine is where it starts to crack.

John's story has been building all season, and here it arrives at its worst moment. A man who thought he could control the mess he was in discovers he never could, and Kevin Doyle sells the realisation without a single theatrical beat. It is a quiet collapse, which makes it harder to watch, and it leaves its mark on everyone around him.

Sally Wainwright wrote and directed the season finale. Sarah Lancashire is Catherine, Shane Zaza is Shafiq, Robert Emms is Daryl, Vincent Franklin is Andy, Katherine Kelly is Jodie, Kevin Doyle is John, Olwen May is Mrs Beresford, Rick Warden is Mike Taylor.

The season ends with blood on the table and suspicion in the air. Nobody here gets the clean version of an ending, and Catherine least of all.