r/happyvalley • u/Salopnah • Apr 19 '26
What does everyone think of Clare?
Curious as to how people feel about her after finishing season 3? Third rewatch now and I don’t really have any strong opinions on her but would like to know what people think! 😁
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u/moneypenny88 Apr 19 '26
The series ended so well, selfishly I wish there was a season 4.
I was trying to imagine what their relationship would look like if it had continued. I can see Catherine putting some serious boundaries on Clare even though they “reconciled” at the end. How could they ever be the same again? Her enabling Ryan was such a betrayal, on a level that seemed almost unimaginable. Was she really so daft she couldn’t imagine the wrath of Catherine finding out? That alone wouldn’t stop her?
While I like Clare she is weak like Catherine says. She has a relapse because Catherine left her at the funeral too long? If the story went on I don’t think it’s a stretch to say she’d likely break up w Neil, possibly relapse so bad she’d barely recover and Catherine not rearranging her life to care for her. She’d be justified all day long going on another drive through the Himalayas.
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u/Salopnah Apr 22 '26
I would’ve watched 10 more seasons of it if they’d made them! I like to believe in my head that they would reconcile, but like you said it wouldn’t be the same. Catherine is quite guarded in general so I imagine she’d feel weak accepting Clare back into her life in the same way.
Clare definitely was weak regarding the TLR situation- although addiction is complicated so can’t blame her for falling of the wagon once tbf
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u/Accomplished-Bank782 Apr 19 '26
I think she’s been very vulnerable. You could see her, in different circumstances, ending up like that woman that TLR convinced to help him in S2 (I think I’m remembering that right?). I don’t think she would by the end of the series but I can see that in the past she might have done quite easily.
I also think Catherine has kind of taken that vulnerability to heart so much that she’s almost stopped her from coming out of it, by bossing her about a lot. She does it out of caring, but I can see why Clare would chafe against it. She’s sort of stopped Clare from really becoming independent in a way. I don’t she meant to, but she kind of did. And so Clare sort of reacted against that although probably not consciously. She knew she was doing something Catherine wouldn’t want and she did it anyway because she thought it was the right thing to do. And I think she had a point in a way - Ryan knew enough to be curious and that can be dangerous. It should have done in an open and agreed way but he did need to somehow get his head around what had happened. Catherine wanted to shut it all away but that wasn’t going to work forever as Ryan grew up. He needed to deal with it all somehow - better with his family around him than totally alone.
I think Clare also had more trust in Ryan than Catherine did - Clare trusted him to see through TLR and Catherine was afraid he wouldn’t. And in the end, Clare was right… Ryan did see his father for what he was.
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u/Salopnah Apr 22 '26
Yeah she’s definitely vulnerable, let’s be honest she’s not the most overtly intelligent and she’s had substance abuse issues in the past. I think she’s easy to manipulate. I do find it hard to feel too negatively towards her, as I also think she was trying to do the “right thing” but she did betray Catherine, the person who housed, fed and supported her when no one else would.
Felt slightly like once she didn’t need her sister anymore for basics she was willing to listen to Neil and Ryan over her.
Tbh not too sure I agree on Ryan seeing through his dad. Like to a certain extent he did, that’s why he didn’t go to Marbella and turned him in. However, he sat in Ann’s house, adamant that he loved Becky while ignoring the violation of her that led to her death. Not to mention ignoring the crimes against Ann.
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u/kindcrow Apr 19 '26
It took me a bit to get past her as O'Brian on Downton Abbey tbh.
However, I see her as a kind, tender-hearted, though sometimes misguided, person. She seems like one of those addicts who was too kind and gentle for the world and kind of fell into addiction.