'Flesh and Blood' Episode 4: Imelda Staunton shows lonely housewives make good killers in jaw-dropping finale
The story is not done in the rivetting finale of 'Flesh and Blood' but we do get a bravura performance from Imelda Staunton as Mary, the lonely housewife-turned-opportunistic killer. The central mystery of the series so far has been the identity of who is in the hospital -- Vivien (Francesca Annis) or Mark (Stephen Rea)?
In this episode, we get to know it's Mark. But how he ended up there forms the climax of this slow-building tale of how jagged human emotions culminate in the appalling 'accident'. At the start of the episode, we see Helen (Claudie Blakley) staging an intervention in her house. When Vivien arrives, she, Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard) tell her about Mark's first wife dying of drug overdose, which is ruled a suicide. Vivien is understandably terribly upset about her children interfering and tells them that Mark had told her about his first wife and how she died.
Vivien reaches home but starts feeling dizzy and disoriented, unable to get out of the car. She has to recover in Mary's house, who rustles up some tea. At Mary's house, we see another sinister pill bottle with Mary debating whether to use some, before deciding against it.
So there is a possibility that in addition to Mark, Mary could also have been lacing all the food she keeps bringing to Vivien's house. But the episode never dwells on it, just like it never dwells on why Vivien slept longer and more deeply after Mark's drink, which was made in the shadow of another pill bottle.
Later, Vivien does find Mark's stash of drugs in his first aid kit when she goes snooping. Mark explains this by saying he is a doctor and doctors tend to collect medicines and injections to be ready for any emergency. He says that unless Vivien trusts him, the marriage is dead.
It is emotional bullying and Vivien caves, saying she trusts him. Just before the party, Jake's sex 'sessions' are discovered by his wife and she tells him she can forget about getting back together. Jake breaks down and gets terribly drunk before showing up at Vivien's house for birthday drinks. Mark is similarly sloshed dreading meeting a bunch of people who hate him.
And what about Mary? Dear old Mary couldn't be happier. She is more alive than she has ever been in weeks as she cooks up a storm, finishes a beautiful quilt made from the children's old clothes for Vivien, and smartens herself up for what is possibly the only social event she has been to in months.
It is both a portrait of domesticity as well as lonely desperation. As we follow her around the house, we see exactly how much she centers her life around Vivien -- without her in her life she has nothing to live for. Even Vivien's children are 'hers' by extension after she had a tragic miscarriage. But, it is highly improbable that the children would come to visit her if Vivien wasn't there.
As the family gathers for the last time before the India trip, tensions are ripe -- so ripe that it is rotting. Inevitably, the unstable and drunk Jake and the insecure and drunk Mark have a go at it and start fighting. Vivien promptly faints (again) and the children push Mark away from her. When he insists on getting to her shouting "but I'm a doctor", Jake pushes him. Mark loses his footing and crashes through the wooden railing and falls off the terrace and crashes on the ground below. But he is still alive.
The scene then shifts to Mary giving her testimony about how she tried to revive Mark by giving mouth-to-mouth but we see snatches of what really happened. We see her crouched above him like a vulture, pinching his nose shut and then placing her hand over his mouth to stop him from breathing. In that tense moment, we see her debate whether to help or harm, almost giving him CPR before deciding to choke him. No one sees her do this of course because they are all busy with Vivien.
As the case is closed as an accident by the detective, we learn that Mark actually did have a daughter who is rushing to be at his side. The next day the family seems back to normal with Mary cooking up a storm, bright, busy, cheerful. Only Vivien is reserved and depressed, looking at her happy family with suppressed resentment.
And then in a horror movie-like moment, the scene shifts to the hospital with Mark opening his eyes. If the show gets a second season, we'll get to know what that development means especially since Mark will now have his daughter in his corner. The question is how much does he remember? While he does 'see' Mary trying to choke him but he also has a bad brain injury -- so events will be hazy in his mind. Will he accuse Jake of pushing him or will he remember that Mary tried to kill him? While the series is not as intriguing as 'Broadchurch', it has enough going for it to warrant another season at least, just to tie up the loose ends.