Having read the comments under my previous review of Good Cop it seems that the unanimous decision is that this programme is one of the best dramas of the year with praise for the writing, direction, atmospheric cinematography and Warren Brown’s lead performance. I’d tend to agree with all of you as I’ve found Stephen Buchard’s drama engaging from the get-go as we watch John-Paul Rocksavage become a killer after witnessing the fatal beating that his partner took in episode one. I personally think that four episodes is far too short for a series like this but judging by the ending, which I won’t reveal here, the story has certainly been left wide enough open for a second run.

This episode does start with Sav running and the camera eventually lets us see that he’s chasing after a man in black who jumps onto a dirt bike driven by an accomplice meaning that Sav can’t catch up. It transpires that this week’s big crime is this mystery man who is going around the city attacking young women, primarily students, with the crimes escalating to include sexual assault and burglary so the police fear that these two men may eventually begin murdering. Sav and Amanda attempt to track down the culprits with help from one of the former’s informants – petty thief Kyle Smart who agrees to help them free of charge as he has sisters himself. Eventually though it is decided that Amanda pose as a student to lure these men out and make an arrest however Sav is unsure as he doesn’t want the same thing that happened to Andy to happen to his new partner who it seems he’s grown quite fond of. Nonetheless Amanda agrees to go through with it and the entire team accompanies her on her tour of the town however as is always the way on this show things don’t exactly go according to plan.

In his revenge plot Sav is still seething that Jonjo Heinz escaped with a caution last week so planted those drugs in his house however he returns this week with the intent to kill. The wiping out of Heinz is harder than the murders of Callum Rose and Noel Finch as Jonjo has a young family so it almost seems that he doesn’t want to kill him as he feels for the kid. Some of the best scenes for me in this final episode were when Sav was Heinz’s flat attempting to outwit but almost being discovered before something else happens that takes the young couple’s attention. One of the reasons I believe that Good Cop may be coming back for a second series is because of Costello’s insinuations that Noel Finch wasn’t at the top of the ladder and this Mr Big character could’ve easily orchestrated the murders that we know were committed by Sav. This also ties into the shooting of an accountant that Sav and Amanda investigate after being informed of a dead body by the caretaker of an apartment block with Costello’s team soon arriving on the scene informing the pair that this murder could be connected to those of Finch and Rose. To me these were interesting developments in the overall plot of the series in that there may be more going on off-screen than we previously believed and maybe it’s not just Sav that wants these scumbags dead.

The other series long plot is that of Sav’s pursuit of Cassandra, the mother of his daughter Liberty, who he callously split-up with after she revealed she was pregnant. After receiving a note from his last week Cassandra meets Sav on the beach and they have their first ordinary conversation of the entire series where they discuss the weather before he puts his heart on his sleeve and tells her that he wants his dad to know that he has a granddaughter. I thought this scene between the pair was one of the best in this final episode as Brown’s delivery was completely believable when he told Cassandra that he wanted her daughter to be his daughter. It demonstrated that he wanted the best for his family even if that meant her being with another man but he knew that it would ultimately destroy his dad if he knew there was a member of the family that he’d never met. My only problem was that we haven’t seen more of Cassandra this series which is a shame as I think Aisling Loftus is a wonderful actress who has excelled in this small yet vital role and she shares an excellent chemistry with Warren Brown making you believe that these two were indeed once young lovers. It’s also a shame that Michael Angelis hasn’t been in the series more however again he has acted as his son’s sounding board since the first episode and their oddly poetic reading sessions, of which there is another one tonight, have been another of the many highlights of the show.

I don’t know if I can say anything about Warren Brown that hasn’t already been said but with Good Cop he’s made the move from supporting star to leading man playing a believable ordinary copper thrust into the limelight and forced to act against his own beliefs in order to exact revenge. As far as tonight’s episode goes I thought both Brown was great from the get-go excelling in the scenes where he is creeping around Heinz’s house as well the aforementioned scene with Cassandra as well as the final few minutes of this instalment. This episode also highlighted how good Kerrie Hayes has become as she has relaxed into the role she and Brown are great together as this platonic partnership who now really care about each other. To me this was demonstrated in the scene prior to her undercover mission in which the two chatted in the ‘privacy cupboard’ with her airing her insecurities to him before they shared a hug. Hayes was also great in the long sequence where the cameras followed a nervous Amanda on her undercover mission on the dark streets of Liverpool as she did an excellent job portraying a young woman who scared but trying to be brave in order to do her job. As always the camera-work was top notch with a particular highlight of mine being Sav’s chase of the guys on the dirtbike that happens later on in the episode as the camera is able to convey the tension of the situation and the hatred that Sav feels towards the men he’s pursuing.

Good Cop certainly didn’t end in the way I thought it would but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this episode indeed it made me think that there could possibly be a second series around the corner. Good Cop certainly had a lot going for it as it was both a revenge thriller and a study of what it’s like to be an on the beat policeman in a big city in 2012. The performances across the board have been top notch while the direction and camera-work have been brilliant from beginning to end as has the use of Liverpool itself. While I do think there could’ve been a couple more episodes I get the impression that Butchard isn’t done just yet and I wouldn’t be surprised if John-Paul Rocksavage made a return in some form in 2013.

What did you think to the final episode of Good Cop? Did it end in the way you were expecting? Leave Your Comments Below.