www.denofgeek.com
Warning: contains finale spoilers for Unforgotten series 6.A violent domestic abuser, racist and misogynist who spread online right wing conspiracy theories, A violent domestic abuser, racist and misogynist who spread online right wing conspiracy theories, Unforgotten series sixs victim Gerry Cooper is hard to mourn. The picture of Gerry that emerged as Sunny and Jess team investigated the discovery of Gerrys dismembered and rotting body parts was about as pretty as the parts themselves. He physically attacked his wife, blackmailed and punched his mistress, stole money from a vulnerable and neurodivergent young man, and skimped on his responsibilities as a landlord to a fatal degree.Gerrys not the only one of Unforgottens victims whose death couldnt properly be considered a loss. Series two opened with the discovery of a suitcase containing the long-dead corpse of David Walker, a serial sexual abuser of children. When Sunny and Cassies investigation led them to discover Walkers killer, they faced a decision very like the one Sunny and Jess faced in the series six ending. With finale spoilers ahead, lets dig in to what they chose to do.Who Killed Gerry Cooper?In series six, episode four, 15-year-old Taylor Cooper asked if her mum Juliet had killed her dad Gerry. No, Juliet told her, and it was the truth. Juliet was the one whod covered up Gerrys murder and disposed of his body parts in London marshland, but she wasnt his killer; that was Taylor. Aged 11, and unbeknownst to her, Taylor Cooper had murdered her father.On the night of February 23rd 2021, 11-year-old Taylor heard her parents arguing and went downstairs to the kitchen to see her father brutally stamping on her mothers ribs. Shed heard him hitting her, and seen her mothers bruises, multiple times before. Fearing that he would kill her mother, Taylor jabbed a paring knife into his leg, accidentally hitting his femoral artery. Juliet rushed Taylor back upstairs and ran her a bath, and by the time she returned to the kitchen, Gerry had bled to death (it can take as little as two minutes for somebody to die in this way).To protect her daughter, in the early hours of February 24th, 2021, Juliet executed a clever cover-up and re-framed Gerrys death as a disappearance. She cleaned up the scene, dismembered the body and wrapped the parts, used gaffer tape to make her car number plate untraceable on ANPR and drove the body parts to London marshland where she disposed of them.To throw the police off the scent the next day, she drove Gerrys phone to Ilford, where she knew disgruntled ex-employee Marty Baines lived, in an attempt to frame Marty for Gerrys murder should his body ever be discovered. From Ilford, she used Gerrys phone to cancel the brewery appointment he had that afternoon by playing an old voicemail that Gerry had left her (hence his use of overfamiliar language) down the phone. Then, that evening, she parked Gerrys car by the Thames and reported Gerry as missing. DCI Ram Sidhu unwittingly helped her cover-up by ruling Gerrys disappearance a suicide. Until now, Taylor had suspected that her mother was her fathers killer, but never that shed done it herself accidentally.Why Did Jess Stop Sunny From Cautioning Taylor?Sunny and Jess knew that Gerry Coopers most likely cause of death was a stab wound to the femoral artery in his leg. When Taylor told them that shed stuck a small knife in his leg, Sunny realised that she was the killer and thought this was a confession, so he began to caution her to advise her of her legal rights and remind her of the consequences of giving false information to the police. Jess though, realised that Taylor didnt know shed killed her father and so stopped Sunny before he could finish the caution, keeping Taylor protected from the truth until they could decide what to do next.Knowing the truth, Jess and Sunny chose not to tell Taylor that three years ago, shed accidentally killed her father, but to leave the decision up to her mother. If Juliet wanted, they would go along with her taking the blame for Taylors unwitting act and present evidence to the CPS that Juliet was Gerrys killer. Juliet would then likely be sentenced to four years in prison for murder in self-defence, and be released in two years.Juliets other option was to trust in the CPS and tell them and Taylor the truth in the hope that, under the reasonable force argument that showed Taylor hadnt acted unduly when defending her mother from her father, the CPS wouldnt judge it in the public interest to pursue murder charges against Taylor or her (other than possibly for the unlawful disposal of human remains and perverting the course of justice).And thats exactly what happened. Juliet must have chosen to tell Taylor what really happened and to submit all the evidence to the CPS, who ruled that no charges would be brought against Taylor or against her. A happy(ish) ending? Lets hope they start those therapy sessions tout suite.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!While Sunny and Jess were in the car discussing what to do, Sunny insisted that whether or not to tell Taylor wasnt their decision to make, warning Jess, You do not want the weight of this on your shoulders, trust me, you do not. He was alluding to the events at the end of series two, in which he and Cassie faced a similar decision.In that series, Cassie and Sunny discovered that decades ago, three survivors of horrific childhood sexual abuse had worked together to kill each others abusers in a Strangers on a Train-style pact. (Knowing that they could be linked to their own abusers murder, they each murdered a stranger who had abused one of the other two so there was no way to trace them back.)Cassie and Sunny decided not to report the findings of their triple-murder investigation to the CPS because they judged that the three survivors had suffered greatly throughout their lives as a result of the abuse, and despite a great deal of pain and loss, were all fulfilling upstanding roles in the community (as a headteacher in a troubled school, a childrens ward nurse, and a barrister in the process of adopting a vulnerable child). The choice was instinctual but didnt come easily and both had to bear the weight of their decision (which, if discovered, would lose them their jobs) in the years since, even if it did feel like the right moral decision.Who Assaulted Gerry in the Car Park?Although Marty was captured on CCTV near Gerry around the time of the attack, he wasnt the one who knocked him out; that was Asif Syed. Fearing the loss of his British citizenship and the potential threat of being returned to Afghanistan (where he was under threat of death by the Taliban due to being gay), Asif had lied to the UK police about his dealings with Gerry Cooper. When his DNA was found on Gerrys clothing, he was forced to tell the truth.When Asif worked as an interpreter for Afghan families seeking asylum in the UK, he met the Diwaris, who were living in one of Gerry Coopers poorly maintained properties. Cooper refused to pay to fix a serious mould problem which had caused 18-month-old Jamal Diwari to develop an acute fungal lung infection that killed him on Feb 22, 2021, two days before his second birthday. Asif blamed Gerry for Jamals death and confronted him in the car park, hoping to appeal to his better instincts. Gerry became violent and Asif defended himself and knocked him out.In series six, episode one, Jess found a long red hair on her husband Steves coat. Because hed admitted to having had an emotional affair with her sister in the previous series, it raised her suspicion that he was cheating again and she was dead right.After Jess discovered that Steve had lied about the affair with her sister being emotions-only (theyd actually had sex multiple times), she confronted Steve to get the whole truth. He told her that he was seeing a therapist for sex addiction and that there had been multiple other women. Jess gave an excellent speech and walked out on him, but later had misgivings when her mother said she was worried that Steve might hurt himself because he was feeling so low. Steve is clearly a master manipulator who put on an act for his mother-in-law to avoid being criticised by her, because in Jess final scene, she saw him as happy as Larry, having drinks with the redhead. The dirty dog had been cheating all along.Sunny and Dr. Leanne BalcombeDivorced from the mother of his daughters, who left him to raise the girls alone, Sunny began a new relationship with Sal in series three. He and Sal got engaged and then in series five, Sal became unexpectedly pregnant and had a miscarriage, all of which made her realise that she wanted children and Sunny realise that he didnt, and so they broke up.After suffering the humiliations of the dating apps, Sunny began spending time socially with Dr Leanne Balcombe, the forensic pathologist who investigates the dead bodies around which each series of Unforgotten revolves. They hit it off and kissed, then she went cold because of events in her past. A long time ago, Leanne was unhappily married with a young daughter and she walked out on her husband and child without warning. There were mental health issues and court cases and a lot of pain involved, she told Sunny, but she would understand if he no longer wanted to see her especially given his own history with his wife and daughters. Sunny though, being a champ, told her that everybody has a past and that he still wanted to see her. Who knows where that might take them in a potential series six?An Unanswered QuestionWhy, at the end of episode three, did Dot Baines phone Marty and tell him, Dont say anything about Daddy, Pickle, dont say a single word.? As far as we know, Martys dad died with Covid after refusing the vaccine (on Gerry Coopers indirect advice), but didnt have anything to do with Gerrys murder, and it was just a coincidence that Marty moved back to his parents place in Kent a week after Gerrys death.All episodes of Unforgotten series six are streaming now on ITVX.
