Review: Hinterland Season 3

Richard Harrington in Hinterland

Hinterland (Y Gwyll in Welsh) season 3 sees Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington) come under suspicion of murder himself. The story takes us back to unraveling crimes that were first investigated in season 1. There are spoilers ahead, beware.

The earth has turned to late spring or summer and the countryside in Wales is greening up. Many beautiful scenic vistas are revealed as the police officers in the coastal Welsh village of Aberystwyth travel about solving crimes.

There are 4 episodes in season 3 of Hinterland, each 90 minutes in length.

Sian Reese-Williams in Hinterland
Well, hello there, Mr. Policeman.

Tom Mathias got conked on the head and his caravan burned to embers at the end of season 2. He moves into town, into an apartment. The owner of the apartments, Manon (Sian Reese-Williams) takes an immediate interest in Tom, and soon she’s sharing his bed.

The police investigate Iwan Thomas (Geraint Morgan) as the one who conked Tom. Iwan is a former police officer himself.

Iwan Thomas has been a recurring character since the first episode of season 1 when Mathias and his partner Mared Rhys (Mali Harries) investigated a crime in the creepy old children’s home near Devil’s Bridge.

During the first two seasons, we knew Chief Supt Prosser (Aneirin Hughes) had hidden some crime from his past. We got hints that it was related to the old children’s home. Iwan Thomas worked a case at the children’s home years ago. Prosser was his boss. Prosser fired him. Since then, Iwan Thomas kept looking into what happened at the children’s home.

Now, Thomas called Prosser to meet him at Devil’s Bridge. Thomas tells Prosser he has proof Prosser was involved with the abuse of children at the orphanage years ago.

Geraint Morgan and Aneirin Hughes in Hinterland
Prosser the tosser

Prosser tosses Thomas off the bridge.

Mathias gets blamed for Iwan Thomas’ death because Iwan recently conked him on the head and burned down his house.

Prosser tells his cronies who were in on the child abuse cover up what happened. They are Robert Owen (William Thomas) and Dr. Haydn Blake (Geraint Lewis). During the time the abuses took place, Robert Owen was Chief Superintendent. Blake was a doctor working at the home. They all want the abuse cover up to go undiscovered and want Thomas’ death to be ruled a suicide.

DS Sian Owen (Hannah Daniel) investigates Mathias for the murder of Thomas. The fourth main character on the police team, DC Lloyd Ellis (Alex Harries) helps everyone on the team investigate.

A special investigator from outside is called in on the investigation of Mathias, making life more complicated for Prosser. The outside investigator is Supt. John Powell (Richard Lynch).

Mali Harries in Hinterland
Uh, what are you doing here?

The minute Powell and Mared Rhys see each other we know they have history. In episode 2, we learn that Powell is the father of Mared’s 17 year old daughter Elin (Sioned Dafydd). He was married with a family when Mared got pregnant and chose to stay with his family. Mared raised Elin on her own.

Powell asks to see Elin. Mared tells Elin in episode 3 that her father is asking to see her. Elin says if he hasn’t shown any interest in 17 years she doesn’t feel the need to see him now.

Powell and Sian Owen investigate the death of Iwan Thomas as Tom Mathias and Mared Rhys are investigating other crimes. Gareth Thomas (Llyr Ifans), Iwan’s cousin, gives Powell a fat file folder Iwan built up pointing to Prosser, Robert Owen, and Blake in the children’s home abuse. Powell goes to see Robert Owen, who responds to the information in the folder by threatening Powell.

Tom and Mared’s first case of the season is the murder of a preacher. A preacher who turned out to be not a very good man of god. Many suspects were close by.

Next Tom and Mared investigate the death of a young woman who was sitting for an artist. They suspect the artist, his wife, and the boyfriend. Lots of suspects.

Richard Harrington in Hinterland
Why don’t you untie me from this stove so I can knock you out and save your son?

In the next case a man named Llew (Owen Arwyn) kills several people and kidnaps his son. In that case, Tom Mathias is in danger. When he finally catches up with Llew and his son, he and an innocent homeowner are held hostage by Llew. When Mared couldn’t reach Mathias, she realized something was wrong and dispatched cops, helicopters, and everyone else who could be summoned to find Mathias.

By the 4th and final episode of the season, or the 12th episode in the 3 season arc of the story about the children’s home, Hinterland didn’t even bother with a secondary plot. It was all about the abused children.

Another woman who had been in the children’s home killed herself. That led them to a man named Paul Webb (Aled Pugh). After saying he couldn’t remember anything about his time in the children’s home, he finally gave them the name Hugh Vaughan. Vaughan was doctor who worked at the home. Vaughan disappeared years ago.

Powell ruled Thomas’ death a suicide because of the pressure he was under. But he gave Iwan Thomas’ files to Mared. Tom and Mared finally talked openly about the child abuse case and said the name “Prosser” out loud to each other.

Tom and Mared told the whole team about the situation. The four investigated Robert Owen and their boss, Prosser. They looked for the missing man, Hugh Vaughan.

Prosser was coming unraveled. He knew the cover up was falling apart. In a confrontation between Prosser and Owen we finally learn what Prosser’s role in the cover up was and who the actual child abuser was. The disappearance of Vaughan is explained. I won’t spoil the ending, but something shocking happens between Prosser and Owen.

Justice is finally done for the abused children. Afterwards, things wind down, slow down. The tension is gone. The final scene is Tom Mathias standing by the ocean looking at a photo of his two daughters.

Is that the end of Hinterland? There could be many more seasons of Mathias and his team investigating crimes, but the long arc about abused children that began with the first episode 3 seasons ago ended.

If there is another season, I’ll be first in line to watch it.

The cinematography is beautiful in this series. The outdoor scenes showed Wales dressed in attractive green. The interior shots were dark and moody. There weren’t so many unusual camera angles with unique framing this season, something I enjoyed in past seasons.

The Aber police station is on the ocean front. You could hear the waves crashing, see the power of the wind off the ocean. You could almost smell the salt.

The characters talked more in season 3 than they did in previous seasons, a treat indeed. And Tom Mathias didn’t have to chase down a single fleeing suspect.

32 thoughts on “Review: Hinterland Season 3”

  1. christopher swaby

    after starting season 3, i stopped to go back to start the series over again. i like to think i’m a thoughtful viewer, but i really missed that the seasons are tied together by children’s home. i really enjoy this series, especially in the way it is different than American crime shows – this show doesnt insult the intelligence of the viewers, giving us a complex story with rich characters.

  2. Peaceful is the word first come mind to describe the series. Like so many other British tv products are, even when there might have some pretty terrifying things happening to and for the main characters. These type of series truly are like sunny Sundays in Summer compering american cousins high tempo disco pop (or what ev music it is these days) in Saturday night, where there are no time to just breath, barely can hear others speak, if they even do so. Have any kind of intelligent dialog between characters. The part do enjoy most in British and Canadian products. Yeah, me too will be there first on line watching if there ever be more of Hinterland coming in future (Highly doubt it there will though). And this is kind of funny, because my favorite thing is strong complex female lead characters on genre shows like Lost Girl and Dark Matter (both CAN btw). So, this tel a lot about this series. How good it is. Though with detective stories you can always trust British quality (The Fall, Happy Valley, Paranoid, River, Luther, London Spy, Foyle´s War, Broadchurch…and so so many other). In the end it felt that Mathias found peace of mind after how long time, year or so probably, and that is good. Audience can happily wait peaceful sleep after the series end.

  3. I really enjoyed this series. So well done and beautifully filmed. I didn’t want it to end. I would love it if there were another season.

  4. OK…I get the talk about the Welsh language, the drab scenery and buildings and the problems every character seems to have. But what about Mathias and DC Mared Rhys?
    After the first episode I was sure we were being set up for a relationship between the two. But apparently not. Or is that being saved for some future series episode?
    Call me a romantic. But it is a well-made series, despite some complicated plots.

  5. Kathleen Ramm

    Great series well photographed, great characters, typical high standards from the British, well done!
    Looking for more!

  6. Well, that’s the end of some of the finest detective TV I’ve ever scene. The natural progression would Mathias being promoted to Chief Super, so that would eliminate and footwork and kill his character. Shame really, but you rarely see a full loop storyline that good.
    Well done Wales for looking so bloody resplendent !
    Goodbye Hinterland and thanks for the memories.

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  8. I really hope we get to see a series 4, i love this show. I’d like Tom to shave and look a bit tidier. He lovely but quite sad and scruffy.

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  10. I was brought up in Borth but now live in Australia. I can’t thank this series enough for the wonderful sceneries used as backdrops to
    gripping story lines wonderfully acted in such a Welsh way. The DVDs I have of the whole series will be played regularly to remind
    me of what a wonderful country I left all those years ago. Diolch yn fair yawn.

  11. I’m just a good ‘ol Texas girl, but I appreciate the rich quality of this program from the characters to the scenery to the storyline. I wish there were more episodes.

      1. Thanks to Brexit there are no more series planned. Money for the series was made available by the European community and, apparently, without this the programme cannot be made.

  12. Loved the series! So moody and maddeningly sparse on the dialogue. A friend said today she couldn’t watch it any longer because she would watch while folding laundry and found she would miss a whole scene that had no words; just facial expressions. Brilliant and gorgeous to watch. Incredible stories; loved the twists and turns all woven together so magically. Love, from a Canadian whose relatives came to North America from Wales in 1636. Thank you!

  13. As a lover of “Shetland”, I hoped “Hinterland” would be similar. It fulfilled my expectations. I started watching when my husband was out of town for a week and I binged. Just couldn’t stop watching. My favorite characters are Mared and Lloyd. I have 1,5 episodes left and fervently hope the show will continue.

  14. Peter Savage, Victoria, BC, Canada
    Such a wonderful series. Brilliant acting and cinematography. The outdoor shots remind me of my trips to Wales when I was a boy and lived in Cheshire. My Dad’s heritage is Welsh and I love the Welsh accent. I would love to see the series in Welsh with English subtitles. Kudos to all concerned with this magnificent undertaking. Thank you. Diolch.

  15. Great series brilliant story and acting enjoyed the welsh speaking although i dont speak it myself hope the make another series it was a joy to watch such a class drama bravo.

  16. This is my second time watching Hinterland. I would love for the series to continue. I have binged every episode, late into the night, which for me, means that I value the series more than my sleep! Hoping another network picks it up, but sadly, probably not going to happen now. Thank you to all the actors for many hours of entertainment. Watching from PA in the USA. Not one American series can compare!

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