*Warning: This contains spoilers for Happy Valley season 3 episode 2*
Happy Valley watchers believe there is more to Ryan Cawood’s (Rhys Connah) growing friendship with Tommy Lee Royce than meets the eye (James Norton).
Ryan’s grandmother, Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), was hurt when she discovered he had been seeing his horrible father in prison against her wishes.
But that’s not the least of Ryan’s concerns, as episode 2 revealed that Catherine’s sister Clare Cartwright (Siobahn Finneran) and boyfriend Neil Ackroyd (Con O’Neill) are joining Ryan to Sheffield prison.
Catherine, after following the threesome to the jail to confirm her worst fears, noticed Clare in a coffee shop, waiting for the visit to end.
When Catherine summoned her, she gave her enough time to tell the truth, but Clare continued to lie through her teeth, and the sergeant eventually ambushed her sister in the cafe.
While it may appear to be the ultimate betrayal, Happy Valley supporters believe Ryan has a plan and, rather than reuniting with his father, has a different reason for visiting Tommy in prison.
Users in a Happy Valley Facebook community claimed that Ryan might be double-crossing Tommy in order to exact revenge on Catherine and his mother Becky.
Catherine blames Tommy for Becky’s suicide, which occurred shortly after she was viciously raped by him.
‘Maybe Ryan’s plotting his revenge on his Dad for all the hurt he’s seen Royce has caused over the years and Claire and Neil are in on it,’ one fan commented.
Several articles also pointed out that Ryan mentioned in the previous episode, “revenge is a dish best served cold,” which could be a foreshadowing of Tommy’s fate.
‘I think Catherine’s grandson will kill his father… A dish served cold!,’ as one user put it.
Another added: ‘Ryan has grown up seeing the pain TLR has caused over the years and has confided in Clare and Neil he’s going to serve him some sort of revenge for it. They can’t tell Catherine because as her role she would have to report what he’s going to do.’
Many people agreed with this view, stating that Clare would never be capable of such betrayal against her sister.
On This Morning, Siobahn highlighted what fans can anticipate from episode 3, telling hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that there will be a lot to take in.
She said: ‘All I can really say about that is I think you’re gonna have to fasten your seatbelts for episode three.’
Happy Valley’s return after seven years has been a big success, even outperforming Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with Tom Bradbury on ITV on Sunday night.
Happy Valley continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.