Screenplay:
Sally WainwrightComposer:
Ben FosterCast:
Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran, Shane Zaza, Charlie Murphy, James Norton, Ishia Bennison, George Costigan, Joe Armstrong, Steve Pemberton, Adam Long (more)VOD (4)
Seasons(3) / Episodes(18)
Plots(1)
Catherine Cawood is the sergeant on duty when flustered and nervous accountant Kevin Weatherill comes into her West Yorkshire station to report a crime. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (4)
Reviews (4)
I’m rating this series after I’ve seen both seasons and I have to say that Happy Valley isn’t a series with some kind of concrete concept but rather something that makes you appreciate the locations of Halifax town situated in the north of England. It is a god-forgotten town where nothing ever happens. In this town we meet a few nutjobs, a murder or two and one experienced lady who is quite good looking with a foul mouth on her. I liked it. During those 12 episodes I felt like I was standing in one of their living rooms. Moreover, this series had a story line which, according to me, was secondary. What was primary was the gloomy atmosphere with stark but still green nature which looked just like Scotland or Ireland.
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A Series of Unfortunate Events, Volume 14. On the one hand, I like the verve with which screenwriter Sally Wainwright took on this indictment of the violence that men inflict on women. On the other hand, I was also irritated by the almost exploitative use of women’s physical and psychological pain (the series’ creators depict violence against men in a significantly less graphic manner). Almost like in a biblical parable or almost any film by Lars von Trier (though without his ironic wink), fate throws one punch after another at Catherine. Though she is more or less untainted (unlike others, she is able to apologise for her inappropriate behaviour), she is a lightning rod for other people’s sins. Men lead the actual investigation of the crimes, while she is merely lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time on a few occasions (the screenplay doles out fortunate coincidences as generously as the most hackneyed cop shows). The subordinate role of women is presented as an unalterable fact. The protagonist can either submit to the corrupt system or give up. She is not given the ability to actively deal with things as shown in The Fall, another dark British crime series with feminist subtext. The heightened interest in the suffering of weakened and broken women is also reflected in the gradual genre transformation from procedural crime thriller into a stinging, partly maternal, partly “kitchen-sink” melodrama with hysterical characters. That’s not a bad thing, since Wainwright is better at writing scenes that are powerful and emotional due to the acting performances than scenes that are in some way suspenseful or surprising (because of the omniscient narration, there is very little suspense at all). Because of this, however, the last two episodes (which do not reveal much new information and, mainly, harp on older and more recent traumas and intensify the main character’s sadness and depression) and the series finale are somewhat unsatisfying in the context of the preceding events. In fact, the switching of genres seems like an attempt to extend the time by two hours rather than a response to the needs of the narrative. Despite the increased interest in the characters’ inner world, the protagonists are notably unchanging and predictable. We have the certainty that they will not step out of their respective pigeonholes. Whatever Tommy does will be inherently perverse and malicious; whatever Catherine does will be right. The attempt to create an atmosphere of a world from which almost all positive values and loving interpersonal relationships have disappeared also suffers from a similar bias. The writer goes too far; everything is simply dark and can only get darker. Unlike in Fargo, which is similar in terms of subject matter, humour is not allowed in Happy Valley. The intense effort to achieve bleakness ultimately has the opposite effect – it becomes laughable. Compared to other British and Scandinavian crime series, however, at least there aren’t any ridiculous plot twists, so the screenplay mostly remains believable. Together with the excellent Sarah Lancashire, this is one of the few positive aspects of a series that is too flat to stand on its characters and with too dull a plot to be satisfying as a crime thriller. 65%
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A crime series that came at the right time alongside its undeniable qualities. I was already somewhat tired and maybe disgusted with the trend that popular Nordic crime was heading toward, with ever more convoluted plots, more monstrous and increasingly genius villains, and less and less believable psychology of film and series characters. The detectives from Department Q are a typical example of that. Happy Valley returns to a more realistic and civil approach. Its strength lies in well-written characters, whose motivations and actions you tend to believe in. It has a strong feminist overtone, and if more prominent male characters appear in the series, they are villains, weaklings, and selfish people. But it's to an extent that I am able and willing to forgive in a series that is so well-written and well-directed. Catherine is not a superhero or a poster-positive character and she has her weaknesses and human flaws, but her selflessness and determination place her on par with the strong male heroes of police thrillers past. Overall impression: 90%.
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Calling this British Fargo is as misleading as it is oversimplifying, but you know how it is... No smoke without fire. The mutual similarity lies not just in the concept itself or in disruption of the everyday routine of a back-water town, but also in the fact that this cuts deep into all of the characters who behave “like your neighbors". And this is why the convincing events “the evil inside each of us" is so chillingly disconcerting. It was brave (and controversial) to change the style and the genre during the final two episodes when the uncompromising psycho crime thriller turns into an uptight, intimate psychological drama where there is no room for the crime storyline. But it doesn’t matter, because this is not fundamentally about the crime as such, but the characters caught up in its whirlpool. | S1: 5/5 | S2: 5/5 |
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