MUM'S THE WORD (SMOTHER, SERIES THREE)

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Boy, those Aherns.

They're more cunning than 'Fantastic, Mr Fox' and about as easy to catch.

For two series, the Co Clare family have managed to run rings around the Gardai in the RTE and Alibi drama 'Smother' after encountering a run of luck that's almost as bad as the Mayo Gaelic Football team.

They don't deal in drugs nor wield guns.

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The Aherns just get into difficulty in their personal lives and that often results in them breaking the law.

Series One of Kate O'Riordan'scdrama saw the Aherns having to deal with the clifftop death of the family patriarch, Stuart Graham's Dennis.

The follow up then saw them having to come to terms with the sudden arrival of Dennis' illegitimate son from Manchester, Dean Fagan's Finn.

(SPOILER ALERT!)

Not only that but their cover up of the circumstances around Dennis' death were exposed, with Justine Mitchell's Elaine being thrown under the bus and having to go to jail for manslaughter while the Aherns got a Garda caution for covering it up.

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Finn somehow survived being shot by Elaine's younger son, Elijah O'Sullivan's Jacob.

Onto Series Three which begins with a brief glimpse of Dervla Kirwan's matriarch Val in the dock for murder before skipping back in time to her wedding to a new man in her life, Jason O'Mara's psychotherapist Paul Madigan.

As the Aherns celebrate the wedding, we discover they have been touched by tragedy once again between the second and third series.

Seana Kerslake's fragile daughter Grace has lost her life in the sea off the Co Donegal coast.

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Tired of the constant drama around her family, Grace fled Co Clare at the end of the previous series for London after professing her love for Eanna Hardwicke's Garda Detective Joe Ryan.

We are told she subsequently ended up going to a retreat in Donegal where she met her untimely end.

Her sister, Niamh Walsh's Jenny is troubled, however, by the circumstances surrounding the death, sensing something fishy.

Meanwhile Elaine has been released on probation on the day of the wedding after spending a year in prison for the manslaughter of Dennis.

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Given her resentment at Val's betrayal and her fondness for vodka, the recipe is there for an awkward wedding.

We learn Jenny is now fully invested in a relationship with Finn who is focused on putting his troubled past behind him.

Her sister, Gemma Leah-Devereux's Anna is continuing to raise Elaine's gauche sons, Jacob and Brian McGonagle's constantly scowling Calum who hasn't quite forgiven his alcoholic mum for allowing their late father to take the wrap originally for Dennis' death.

Anna is also harbouring a guilty secret.

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Prior to Paul getting involved in a whirlwind romance and marriage to Val, she had a one night stand with him.

With Paul keen, as the series unfolds, to isolate Val from the rest of the family, will Anna fall out with her mum?

Will Elaine go through with her vow to avenge being thrown under the bus by Val by destroying the Aherns?

Can Finn start afresh with Jenny, especially with the sudden arrival of an old swaggering criminal associate from Manchester, Philip Hill-Pearson's Leon?

Was Grace really murdered and by who?

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And why does Val end up in the dock?

With Dathai Keane back on directorial duties, series creator Kate O'Riordan along with her fellow writers Sonya Kelly, Sinead Callopy, Nessa Wrafter and Marcus Fleming set out to answer all these questions and bring the whole 'Smother' saga to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.

Unfortunately, they fail on both counts.

Just like the previous two series, what you get is a rather disappointing, extremely convoluted thriller.

'Smother' has always suffered with an overabundance of contrivance and an addiction to skulduggery.

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That remains the case.

In fact it plumbs new depths this time, with Riordan and Fleming in particular concocting a frankly ridiculous climax to a consistently daft series.

And because the scripts are so riddled with flaws, the cast just flounders.

Kirwan, Devereux, Walsh, Mitchell, Hardwicke, O'Sullivan, Carrie Crowley as Val's sister Mary and Conor Mullen as Dennis' brother Frank are once again saddled with unconvincing scripts.

This time Kerslake is limited to brief appearances in video clips, while McGonagle seems almost relieved to be legging it after the first episode.

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Fagan's commitment to the project after series two is admirable and the same is true for Aoibhinn McGinnity who reprises her role as Garda Sergeant Aoife O'Rourke.

As for the new recruits, Irish stage and screen veteran Fionnula Flannigan is handed a one dimensional role as Val's mum but soldiers through it.

Hill-Pearson contributes typical Mancunian swagger to the proceedings but has very little else to offer.

O'Mara tries to keep the audience guessing about Paul's true intentions, hinting at something askew amid all the surface charm.

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But all his efforts count for very little in a show that has never really developed beyond hysteria.

A ratings hit in Ireland, 'Smother' has always felt a bit too soap opera to be taken seriously.

Its final run has not been helped by coming on the back of the finale to BBC1's 'Happy Valley' or by being pitched against that channel's next Sunday night primetime thriller 'The Gold'.

If Series Three really is the end, it's right that it goes now.

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Although arguably the time to wrap it up was after Season One.

'Smother' never really justified the hype it received in its native land.

It always wasted the acting talent at its disposal.

So good riddance.

Ireland's west coast can sleep soundly now that the Aherns have hung up their boots 

(Series three of 'Smother' was broadcast on RTE in Ireland from February 5-March 12, 2023)