Holding episode 3 review: Secrets and lies as two bodies discovered on farm
Charlene McKenna, Siobhan McSweeney and Helen Behan in episode three of Holding, on ITV.
Exactly whose body is buried on farming land in episode three of West Cork-set drama Holding? The forensics say it isn’t local missing man Tommy Burke, yet locals are convinced otherwise. But the ante is well and truly upped in the penultimate episode - when the remains of a baby are also discovered in the ground nearby.
It’s clear there are some serious secrets and lies at play in this little corner of West Cork, and the skittish and uneven humour that served as a distraction previously now makes way for some true drama.
On the case is quirky and unassuming Garda PJ (Conleth Hill) who’s aiming to keep a cool head as all around him, simmering resentments come to the fore and deep wounds are reopened.
Missing man Tommy, we now know, led quite the double life romantically. Tommy was having an affair with feisty local woman Evelyn Ross (Charlene McKenna) right up to the morning of his wedding to Bríd (Siobhán McSweeney). He left her jilted at the altar in a story that scandalised the area, before disappearing, presumed to be in London.
Now all these past secrets are literally being dug up, and the investigation moves towards finding out the identity of the child. Were Evelyn or Bríd pregnant with Tommy’s baby when the romantic scandal erupted? Or is the baby the result of a much older and deeper wound?
Mrs Meaney thinks so, and reveals following a somewhat rambling conversation a shocking fact to PJ. She tells him she was raped as a young woman, and gave her child to another woman whose baby had died in the area.
Episode three also reveals the full extent of the hatred between Evelyn and Bríd and their love for the same missing man. It’s apparent that Bríd is still holding a candle for the man who broke her heart and is convinced Evelyn is involved, confronting her: “What did you do to him you f***ing lizard? I know you saw him that night.”
But Evelyn’s jilted younger boyfriend Stephen claims to have the most shocking revelation of all, humiliating his ex-lover by revealing she was pregnant with Tommy Burke’s baby and lost the child. She is incensed at the public nature of his betrayal.
There’s an abundance of drama, yet for all the reveals it’s difficult to feel fully invested in these characters and their fates as the final episode of Holding approaches.
- Holding will begin on new channel Virgin Media More from Tuesday, April 12
