Penance review: Sexual obsession, jealousy and betrayal reign supreme in Channel 5’s gripping drama
THE third and final episode of Penance aired last night and Channel 5 manage to tie up plenty of loose ends.
The drama reached fever pitch as Jed finally got his comeuppance and Rosalie, Luke and Maddie gained some closure after discovering what really happened to Rob.
Penance didn't take long to tug at our heartstrings as it began with the shocking news that Rob, the son of Rosalie (Julie Graham) and Luke Douglas (Neil Morrisey), and the brother of Maddie Douglas (Tallulah Greive), had passed away while on holiday.
Struggling to cope with their grief, Rosalie and Luke split up and she attended a grief counselling session with her daughter, held by a family friend - the wise and charming priest Father Tom.
This is where they would meet Jed (Nico Mirallegro), who was grieving for his grandmother and his parents that he lost at the tender age of four, or so he would claim.
After a brief conversation following the meeting, Rosalie, also known as Rosie, and Maddie, invited Jed over to their house for dinner, which would spell the beginning of the end.
The show highlighted the controversial theme of sexual obsession and the devastating impact it can have on families, especially a vulnerable one.
The creepy Jed would begin to spend more time with the family and soon developed a relationship with Maddie, but that would prove to matter very little as he soon had eyes for Rosalie.
As wrong as she knew it was and as hard as she tried to fight off the temptation, the sexual dreams about the young man, paired with constantly seeing him around the house proved too much for Rosie, as her and Jed made love on her dead son's bed.
In sickening scenes, Channel 5 proved that those who are grieving can look for who they lost in someone else, but little did Rosalie know that Jed had yet to show his true colours.
Things slowly began to unravel for Jed once Father Tom (Art Malik) realised he could not be trusted, upon finding out he lied about the death of both his parents and his Grandma dying alone.
The priest, who was portrayed in a positive light with his warm and funny personality and strong sense of humanity, had a very close relationship with his best friend Rosie, which Jed despised.
Furious that she had another man in her life, Jed did his best to eliminate the 'competition', and crept up behind Tom in church and tossed him over the balcony, sending him tumbling to the floor.
Jed, who claimed towards the end of the final episode that he didn't intend to fall in love with Rosie, wanted her all to himself and was willing to do whatever it took to keep it that way.
Jed had a knack of getting what he wanted and sussing things out, but his luck would run out once Rosie found out who he really was.
In the final episode she lured him to the faraway cottage and was going to set him up and expose him as a fraud and trickster, but Jed would find Rob's phone in Rosie's room, as she had stolen it from his father's house, who he initially said was dead.
Knowing she was in trouble, the businesswoman ran into the forest to escape, but was eventually caught by the obsessive stalker.
He pinned Rosie down and chillingly told her that he met Rob on holiday and it was him who killed her son.
He roped in his buddy Yaz, who held a knife to Maddie's throat earlier in the mini-series, and it became clear the pair weren't done wreaking havoc on the family Rob left behind.
As he attempted to kill Rosie, Luke returned and pulled Jed off of his wife, before he was wrestled to the ground.
After processing that she had slept with the man who not only was in a relationship with her daughter, but also cruelly ended her son's life, Rosie's fury boiled over and she took a knife she brought into the forest and plunged it into Jed's stomach, killing him and ending her living nightmare once and for all.
Soon after, Rosie cryptically confessed to Father Tom, who had recovered from his horrific fall, but admitted she was not sorry for her actions, without giving too many details away.
In her mind she had atoned for sleeping with Jed and gained revenge on him for taking her son's life and everything else he had put her family through.
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Her penance would be living with the fact she had murdered someone for the rest of her life.
The psychological thriller was certainly one that kept us on the edge of our seats and provided twists and turns we didn't see coming.
Penance was an apt illustration of the rash and erratic decisions grief can cause people to make, without thinking about the devastating ramifications for themselves or their families.
Julie Graham played a strong female character who shouldered the responsibility to do whatever it took to protect her family.
Each episode was truly encapsulating and we're already counting down the days to season 2.