Oh, I meant to mention Hayley Mills as Lady Emma Hume! It's nice to see that she and her sister Juliet are still at it!

I'm needing to watch the other night's new episode (of both this and VdV), then will be current.

For now, based on this season's episodes I've so far seen, I must say I consider the Ebele Falade (deceased Precious' intense, volatile mother) character the season's especially compelling and by far most rivetting, and that Martina Laird's portrayal of her is absolutely superb.

merry, for some reason, I thought both Mills sisters (neither whom I've seen in seems like decades) have passed on. Good to hear Hayley is in the latest PBS episode of this series!

genplant, I saw Juliet in a TV movie sometime during the past year. Those two are something else! I especially loved their dad, John Mills, in two favorite films: Ryan's Daughter (I think he won an Oscar for that role), and Hobson's Choice. Both were directed by the great David Lean.

I agree, the Ebele Falade character is riveting. Scary, actually. I was surprised to see the degree of bruising on her partner's face after she hit him! Apparently she's done it before, too. While I know men also suffer domestic abuse, it was a disturbing portrayal of it and Martina Laird has been excellent in the role. I have to admit though I'm most anxious to find out how Lord Hume figures in this sordid crime, as he's not a brute or thief like the mother, son or former social worker. At least not that we know of yet...

You'll like the episode. I enjoyed the exchange between Sunny and Jess about their personal problems. And the suspense is still sustained -- whoever killed Precious remains a mystery.

I keep seeming to recall, something in one of this season's episodes I've seen, a weird vibe between Lord Hume and his wife, like there's an unspoken secret between them. And am I correct that some mention, by he or his wife, was made of his sister? Could be clues...if I'm remembering accurately.

Who would go through all the trouble of hiding a corpse in a chimney. Wouldn't be a breeze, for sure!

Juliet Mills (82 in November):

She has worked more than Hayley in the last few years. She appeared in 5 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this year.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005236/

Hayley Mills (77):

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001539/

genplant, the house in which the squatters (including Precious) lived had been owned by Lady Hume's sister. When she died, Lord Hume took charge to some degree, it seems only as a sort of caretaker, since there were also attorneys involved to handle legal matters of the estate. If he played more of a role when it came to the house, I missed it. The most I recall is he had to deal with getting rid of the squatters after neighbors complained, and he had the locks changed as a result. He told Jess he paid off the squatters to get them to leave. Although, I think the detectives determined Precious was still living there after the locks were changed. Hmm...

The point's been made that he's a Tory, yet he's been trying to get funding or government backing for a project to help disadvantaged youths(?) or something (not exactly sure). When you get caught up with Ep. 4 you'll discover he's been more involved in the lives of Precious and her son than we knew before. And maybe it's the reason for the "weird vibe" between he and his wife (I noticed it too).

I can only suppose since Precious was so petite, it was easier to stuff her body up the chimney of the room in which she was evidently murdered than to remove her and find somewhere to dispose of her body without being seen.

bratface, I was surprised to see how much work Juliet's been up to even in just the last 5 or so years! When I first saw Hayley - who has such a distinctive face - in this show, I wasn't quite sure if my eyes were deceiving me because I hadn't seen nor heard of her in a long time.

@genplant29 said:

I'm needing to watch the other night's new episode (of both this and VdV), then will be current.

For now, based on this season's episodes I've so far seen, I must say I consider the Ebele Falade (deceased Precious' intense, volatile mother) character the season's especially compelling and by far most rivetting, and that Martina Laird's portrayal of her is absolutely superb.

merry, for some reason, I thought both Mills sisters (neither whom I've seen in seems like decades) have passed on.** Good to hear Hayley is in the latest PBS episode of this series!

Wow, Hayley from "The Parent Trap (1961)" and I still remember Juliet as Nanny in "Nanny and the Professor (1970-1971)".

I loved both of those shows, but I always think first of Pollyanna, wonder2wonder, which I loved her in. Being such an optimist was so alien to me when I was a little girl. I'm old enough to confess the government scared the bejesus out of me to the point where I begged my father to build a fallout shelter and stock up on canned goods 🤣

Well, I have to admit I'm somewhat puzzled by the ending. On one hand and to his credit, the writer Chris Lang didn't tie up loose ends into a neat and tidy bow -- the ending was stunning. But I'm scratching my head as to why Lord Hume confessed to a gruesome crime he didn't commit. Are we supposed to think it's because of some sort of white guilt/reparations? The crime of rape he committed as a youth, which caused the young woman to get pregnant with Ebele Falade and go on to kill herself once Ebele was born, undeniably spawned THREE GENERATIONS of seriously messed up substance abusers with rap sheets to boot! So maybe his false confession was indeed meant as atonement. Maybe since he was apparently dying anyway of a terminal disease and was going to be outed as a participant in the sordid mess one way or another, he figured he'd take the rap. Although, I was left wondering if Ebele was going to let the false confession persist after her grandson told her he'd lied to police and Lord Hume wasn't guilty after all. And poor old Lady Hume. She obviously tried to bury her head in the sand for decades, and didn't want to hear anything her husband tried to confide about his past, but reality finally caught up. This was a disturbing season in several ways but IMO well done all around. Genplant was right to single out Martina Laird's performance as Ebele -- she was absolutely astounding.

I'm still 2 episodes behind, but am hellbent on finally finishing catching up with this and VdV's episodes this weekend. (Last weekend I managed to watch an episode of each, tho each was from 2 or 3 weekends earlier, therefore I remained viewing in a lag.)

The finale of this sounds highly intriguing! (Btw, spoilers never at all bother me, in fact I tend to like a head's up, so I'll know what/whom to be paying attention to. Therefore, it's no problem, whatsoever, for me, that you mentioned fascinating key plot points, merry!)

Maybe the episodes air earlier where I live, I don't know genplant. I'm also not sure how long PBS affiliates show any of the episodes after initial broadcasts. I don't think they show them for very long though (to try to get viewers to subscribe to Passport???) so you probably need to get caught up soon! I watched a re-run last night to try to make better sense of it all. I also watched Professor T (even MORE perplexing of an ending!!!) as well as Van der Valk -- all three were season finales. And of the three, IMO this one has the best writing. Although, I have a soft spot for Frances de la Tour who has a recurring role in Professor T...

Anyway, on initial viewing of this finale, I came away thinking Lord Hume had a subtle smile/smirk on his face at the end, but last night's viewing proved that to be wrong.

@merryapril said:

Maybe the episodes air earlier where I live, I don't know genplant. I'm also not sure how long PBS affiliates show any of the episodes after initial broadcasts. I don't think they show them for very long though (to try to get viewers to subscribe to Passport???) so you probably need to get caught up soon! I watched a re-run last night to try to make better sense of it all. I also watched Professor T (even MORE perplexing of an ending!!!) as well as Van der Valk -- all three were season finales. And of the three, IMO this one has the best writing. Although, I have a soft spot for Frances de la Tour who has a recurring role in Professor T...

Anyway, on initial viewing of this finale, I came away thinking Lord Hume had a subtle smile/smirk on his face at the end, but last night's viewing proved that to be wrong.

So then have you seen this?

https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/47039-vicious

@merry, I recorded all episodes that I've not gotten around to viewing yet, so do have them ready whenever the perfect opportunity(ies?) to catch up rolls around. I have two of Unforgotten to watch, and one of VdV.

@brat, I followed Vicious back when it was on. Frances de la Tour easily was my by far fave performer in that series!

Yes bratface, Vicious is what really introduced me to Frances. She's a riot as Violet! I wish that show were still running, as so little makes me laugh anymore. The world could use more comedy...

@merry, yesterday I finally watched Season 5's two final episodes. Very good season!

Something I'm not at all clear on: How did Ebele and Jay never meet? Wouldn't he (Jay) have been with Precious at least sometime while he was growing up?

It certainly was a massive twist, Jay revealing he wasn't who everyone believed he was!

I think Lord Hume confessed to Joseph's killing in order to do right, in a huge way, for Ebele. Meanwhile, Hume had terminal cancer, so knew he would have an abbreviated sentence to serve, if convicted.