Last night’s episode of The Children was the final part of this excellent drama from Lucy Gannon, however, I found the ending to be something of an anti-climax and quite disappointing really, but more about that later. First, in case, you missed it, here’s a recap of what happened last night…

The episode opened with a recap of events so far which focussed primarily on eight year old Emily falsely accusing Jack of sexually abusing her and her strange obsessive behaviour towards her newborn step-sister.

Throughout the episode we saw the detective in charge of the case briefing his officers about the complex relationships within the extended and troubled family. He told investigating officers that any one of the people in her life could have been responsible for killing her.

“The only person with an alibi is the baby” he said.

The show then continued with a review of Emily’s last day which first saw her mother Sue ordering Cameron to remove Jack – and all his belongings – from her house and making him promise that he would never allow Jack into the house again. She was concerned that all of this upset could wreck their relationship but Cameron tried to reassure her at first that that wouldn’t happen. He and Jack then spent an uncomfortable night in a hotel with both worrying about the long-term impact of Emily’s accusations on their lives.

Sue meanwhile tried to ensure that Emily didn’t tell anyone else about the abuse that she’d accused Jack of; Sue didn’t want her life turned upside down by outsiders such as the police or social services, so she wanted to be sure Emily wouldn’t talk of the incident to a teacher or a friend. She was torn between knowing how damaging it would be to Emily if her own mother didn’t believe her story but on the other hand, she wasn’t sure she did believe it.

Jack went off to school the next day but bunked off to spend time with his new girlfriend Mary who was also Emily’s babysitter and neighbour. He broke down and told her that Emily had accused him of raping her and that he felt his life was hopeless. He had no real home and nobody wanted him, he tearfully told her. She responded by telling him that she didn’t believe Emily and was fully aware that prior to their encounter the day before, Jack had been a virgin. This was evidence enough for Mary that Jack hadn’t done anything to Emily. He didn’t think she’d fully grasped the enormity of his situation and the pair then sat in silence, each thinking about what Emily had done and how much trouble she’d caused.

In the meantime, his father Cam – who is headmaster of a local school – was late for work having had such a bad night, but he sought solace in the arms of his colleague Polly with whom he’d started an affair. We also saw Jack’s mum Anne waking up with the man she’s been dating and receiving the call from Cam to explain that Emily had accused Jack of rape and therefore, the two needed a place to stay. Anne dealt with the news in her usual irresponsible manner by booking a last minute two week holiday for herself and a friend. She left a note to tell Jack and Cam that they could stay in the house while she was away but she wanted them gone on her return.

In regular scenes from the police incident room, we see the police trying to narrow down the suspect list but it seems literally nobody has a valid alibi for the time period when Emily died. We also heard that her extensive injuries were caused because she was dealt a very hard blow which sent her reeling backwards, head first through the French doors at the back of her home.

Emily herself was supposed to be at her school’s after-school club but she left early before her mother came to collect her. We then saw her going into her back garden to await her mother’s return from work, which is where the deed was done of course.

Meanwhile, we see and hear all of the adults in the tangled web of her family accusing Emily of being a troublemaker and an attention seeker. Cam doesn’t believe that Jack touched Emily and Sue it seems is having doubts about it too but won’t admit that to Cam. Anne just hates Emily for the fact that her accusations mean she may have to have her son Jack back at home and Natasha – her father’s girlfriend – is resentful that Emily hurt her baby and put the newborn in danger. She also resented the fact that the majority of her and Paul’s income went towards Emily’s upkeep.

So now, everyone’s more of a suspect than they ever were; everybody has a lot to lose if Emily’s terrible lies are believed and if her troublemaking carries on unchecked. And this is when we saw a sequence of ‘red herring’ endings. First, we see Cameron going to Emily’s home to pick up some papers and on discovering Emily in the garden, he angrily accuses her of telling lies about his son and when Emily starts to answer back and screams, he lashes out to silence her and we see her in the falling backwards scene that’s been one of the dominating images throughout the drama.

For a minute or two, it looked like that was it; case solved, the evil step-dad did it. However, we then saw everyone else – with the exception of Natasha – going into the garden, finding Emily on the swing, and landing the fateful blow that knocks her through the glass doors. With literally seconds of the show left, we still don’t know who actually did it and just as I was giving up hope of an actual answer, the footage cut to a shaking, distressed Natasha with a large red welt on the back of her hand mumbling over and over that she was sorry.

So, it was Natasha who killed Emily… and there the show ended.

I was on the edge of my seat, quite literally for those last few minutes, but I found the ending to be, as I mentioned before, a bit of an anti-climax which left lots of questions unanswered. We know in general why Natasha did the deed of course, but unlike all the false endings, we were given no detail. Why was Natasha at Emily’s house? What sparked her rage sufficiently to lash out so violently and was she going to be caught or give herself up or what?

I also felt that the last half an hour of the show felt rushed; all the characters suddenly became sooooooooo much more accusatory, sooooooo much more willing to blame everything on Emily that I felt it was a bit more ‘Where’s Wally’ than was necessary. The other two episodes, while not exactly subtle, had let us make up our own minds and have our own suspects but this last half hour kind of shoved it in our faces that all these people were suspects. We already knew that of course and didn’t need a Whodunit 101 right at the eleventh hour.

However, despite the unnecessary red-herring alternative endings, overall this drama was excellent. Lucy Gannon pointed an accusatory finger at our attitude to, and the realities of, step-families in the noughties and without doubt, it made uncomfortable watching. There were elements in it that anyone who’s been part of a step-family could probably relate to.

Granted most of us don’t go around launching our annoying step-children through patio doors but the fact is, you could see how it could happen. Resentments, petty squabbles and jealousies are common in such extended family situations, as of course are custody battles and rows, and the point that this drama very ably demonstrated was, it really is the kids who suffer.

It’s an often used and much clichéd phrase but Lucy Gannon managed to take that line, ‘It’s always the children who suffer’ and turn it into a very real and believable drama. The ones who really suffered for all their parents’ irresponsible, selfish and childish behaviour were the three children, Jack, Emily and in the future, baby Sally. Emily paid with her life, Jack paid psychologically and physically and will probably continue to do so and Sally was repeatedly put in danger thanks to her irresponsible, self-absorbed father, and we can probably assume that she will now grow up without her mother.

All in all, despite the woolly and somewhat unsatisfactory ending, a gripping and brilliant drama that was thought provoking and entertaining at the same time. Let’s hope it’s not long before Lucy Gannon’s dramas are back on our screens.