The final episode of 'What Remains' found Detective Harper (David Threlfall) actually waking up in dead Melissa's bed, even while her stuff was being cleared away. Events were clearly reaching a head, the discovery of her tragic fate was vital and I think it's probably fair to say Harper was getting a bit too involved.
Harper's tireless vigil continue to the bitter end
A visit to his wife's gravesite, as well as a big ping of his arrow on a board, initially led Harper straight to Mr Sellers (David Bamber) and his strange set-up - a woman who despised him in his bed, a bunch of unruly pupils in his classroom, and a body he forgot to report in the attic. It wasn't looking good.
But that proved only the first of the red herrings being thrown around, as this first 'ending' prompted a series of increasingly unlikely events - single white female Elaine (Indira Varma) preventing Peggy leaving their flat courtesy of a rope (has Peggy got no friends who care enough to pop round either?), and the new resident of dead Melissa's flat turning out to be… a rejuvenated Detective Len, looking less Dickensian extra, more Paul Weller, suddenly.
Things weren't looking good for Mr Sellers (David Bamber)
This wasn't even the most far-fetched bit of the last ten minutes, as Vidya (Amber Rose Revah), freshly single and a mother, scarpered away from the real villain of the piece. Perhaps the front door, anyone, with a call to emergency services en route? But no. It was back to the attic! With a baby. Who might just make a baby-like sound and give the game away.
All looked lost, until the bow and arrow made another timely appearance. Thus did 'What Remains' come to an increasingly macabre, even gothic, end. Some might say this all verged on the melodramatic, but I prefer to think of 'What Remains' going out with a bang, or a ping, but certainly not a whimper.
Oh dear...
And it made a sad kind of sense, after Harper's visit to his wife's grave had earlier revealed just how close he was in spirit to the solitary Melissa, fearful of another 20 years of loneliness. Instead, he had the chance to work his way out of that, and into true comradeship, the very hard way. On reflection, perhaps joining a bowling club might have been easier.