There were moments at which the fourth and final episode of Grace season 6 felt like a series finale, bringing John Simm’s woes and fears to an end.
After solving this week’s case, Roy prepared for his wedding day with Cleo, but was granted an early gift from his colleague Nick. Nick showed him that footage had been found from the hospital in Munich the day that Roy’s wife Sandy died.
In the footage, a man wearing hospital scrubs was seen roaming the corridors, wearing a mask and cap. In spite of his attempts to remain undetected, one snapshot image identified him as Albazi, the Benchdale gang leader who had been making threats to Roy’s son Bruno, and terrorising Glenn’s family as he got too close to the truth.
Nick revealed that the footage had been sent to Munich police, and that, because of this, the prosecution in Albazi’s case felt confident that they would be able to secure a conviction.
Upon this news, the whole team celebrated, with Glenn surmising that the entire Benchdale gang would now be done for.
After this, we saw Roy and Cleo finally tie the knot, with all of their friends, and Bruno, surrounding them. As they then partied at the reception, it truly felt like we could be witnessing the end of Grace. After all, Simm has repeatedly said in interviews that the show wouldn’t work with a truly “happy detective”.
In the end though, it couldn’t last, and instead of closing on an optimistic note which could spell the end for the detective drama, it brought forth the biggest cliffhanger the show has given us yet, making a season 7 of the show, which is currently unconfirmed, an absolute necessity.
The moment came when Nick got a call while at the wedding, telling him that one of Albazi’s top guys had recently made their way into the UK. They had also got a job in catering, in order to work a wedding in Brighton on exactly that night – one of Albazi’s men was at the reception.
Upon hearing this news, Glenn sprang into action, warning Roy. The two immediately tried to get eyes on Bruno, but when they mercifully found him, they were already too late.
Bruno revealed that a man had tried to abduct him, but that Cleo had fought them off. Following this, she had been taken instead, driven away in a van.
As Roy called Cleo, he found her phone left on the ground outside the venue. He then received a call on his own phone from Albazi in prison, and a video to his email, showing Cleo, still in her wedding dress, tied up and gagged inside the back of a van.
Utterly defeated, Roy asked Albazi, ‘What do you want?’, as the episode cut to the credits.
Just how Roy and the team will get out of this situation, whether they’ll be able to save Cleo, and what it means for Albazi’s conviction going forward, remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain – Grace season 7 really can’t come fast enough.
Grace seasons 1-6 are available to watch in full now on ITVX.
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