It makes no sense in this case. They are 100% the victims of a murderous pyschopath breaking into their house, perhaps with no qualms about killing the entire family. There is no jury that would send Charlotte to prison given the horrific events that preceded the stabbing......she has cast iron reasons to plead self defence.

Plus other things would be taken into account on this: Vivienne still has the bruises from the last time he beat her, plus the first beating was only two or three weeks ago so there'd still be a few marks from that. Plus Paddy has a lengthy history of violence and abuse against his family, plus he is a murderer on the run who has broken into the house of the family he has spent the last week or so terrorizing.

I'm with Eurostar on this. This part of the story is the part that makes the least sense. They built it up great, rushed the ending, and now this part makes no sense.

Also, the fact that Paddy is on the run and the subject of a huge manhunt means he can only have returned to wreak murderous revenge on the family. It would be a logical assumption for Charlotte to make that Paddy is in the house with the intention of killing her mother and perhaps the entire family.

I cannot see how any jury would come to the conclusion that Charlotte had used unnecessary force or overstepped the mark. If she had failed to stab him, there is every chance he would have killed her mother, and perhaps the entire family and then himself.

I didn't pick up on Charlotte's comments early on so will have to watch that bit again. I can see how she gave away important information without realizing it. I really felt for her...especially that scene with Zumo in the sitting room.

Wayne and Orla....yawn.

I think forensics may be the undoing of Vivienne. She should have been covered in blood and what happened to the knife.....presumably her fingerprints weren't on it?

I can't see how the cops would ever have believed Vivienne's story and the accounts of her children. It didn't add up and there's no way she would be able to make all the forensic evidence in the house match her version of events (not to mention why Charlotte's clothes were in the washing machine and why the machine was on).

Good acting by Charlotte, and it seems she's the only one who wants to do the right thing, unlike the other three who have reverted to their scheming, lying selves.

Eileen scares the bejeebers out of me!! Bob is a gossip.

I am likiing KerrieAnn.

I think it's Eileen who has more explaining to do.....how she raised a thug and a pyschopath and wasn't even aware of it.

Not impressed with Vivienne at the moment : she evidently believes she is above the law and can lie her way out of anything.

I know more than my share or dim people, but she has to be the least bright spark that I know off. Mondo is only after her for one thing and its not her brains. The actress is over playing the dimness.

I'm really liking the actress who plays Charlotte in this story. She's doing brilliantly.

Me too. I was just coming on to say the same thing. Thought the scene with Rachel, Charlotte and Paul was really touching.

I was surprised at Eileen's reaction to Charlotte's confession.

I don't think Eileen would do anything to hurt any of her Grand-children. If it was Vivienne that killed Paddy, that would be another thing with Eileen as she is not a blood relation. Family Blood means a lot to her. I can never remember her saying or allowing anything to be said about Paddy, even though I think she knew deep down what he was like.

She's doing brilliantly...she's a very good young actress.

Vivienne is doing herself no favours. Her daughter is going through absolute hell but "mom knows best" and is busy lying through her teeth and trying to pervert the course of justice (now we know where the Bishop boys get their deception and criminal tendencies from).

I'd suggest they got that from Paddy and being raised by Eileen, Eurostar

So are the Bishops all going then? I'm shocked at that. I mean, yes the most likely outcome would be that both Charlotte and Vivienne would leave but I don't want Zumo and Decco to go.

I got a feeling from the last scene that Decco was somewhat reluctant about their plans to leave. He might be one to stay; he has his company there as well.

I hope that's not the last we see of McCabe. I'd like to see her and Frank appear as recurring characters if and when needed.

Must say I never saw that one coming....the entire Bishop family being written out of the series in one fell swoop.

Sounds like RTE must have plans to introduce a new family or something.

I'm on Cuishla's way of thinking: I don't know if Decco will go. But it is a bit of a shock to have the rest all written out in one fell swoop.

They've made a bit of a hames of the Vivienne being let off part. What about the murder weapon and fingerprints and lack of any blood on Vivienne, Charlotte's clothes being in the washing machine etc?

There's no way the police would just ignore all this and not pursue it further, not in a major murder investigation.

The Bishops have done Charlotte no favours either. She has just committed patricide and yet is receiving no help or pyschiatric support (in other words, they're covering up the crime as if Charlotte had stolen something from a store, not stabbed her father to death).

Yeah, after the careful preparation and all the build up, things are still feeling very rushed now, with big plot points being ignored.

Vivienne and the boys are showing appalling ignorance in their handling of Charlotte. She has just killed her father (quite justifiably in self defence), but their instinct of trying to cover it up is the worst thing possible for her, as she has no proper outlet to grieve or to express her feelings of guilt and remorse, and is condemned to spend the rest of her life harbouring a hideous secret. The best thing they could have done was to tell everything to the police and ensure that Charlotte got the proper help and psychiatric support, but as ever, they seem to be a deeply dysfunctional family.

That's the crux of it, Eurostar: they are completely disfunctional. They grew up with a father that beat them, a mother that ran away, and a grandmother that worshiped her violent abusive son. I get the feeling that the only reason McCabe is letting the CID drop it is because she feels sympathy towards Vivienne and Charlotte: she knows full well that it was Charlotte that killed Paddy. I think that's why she told Vivienne to let it drop, and not to let it surface again in case people start asking questions about the 'official verdict'.

In any case, Charlotte would have been let off on that. Her mother was tied up by a violent double murderer, her older brother had been knocked out and said violent double murderer was about to kill said mother and brother. There isn't a judge/jury in the world that would convict her for anything. This why I dislike FC: they take the utter p*ss when it comes to the viewers' intelligence.

ooooh, I saw the girl who played Lucy in Dublin!

I can certainly buy the theory that Detective McCabe knows that Vivienne is lying through her teeth, and has decided not to pursue things further in order not to cause any grief for Charlotte.

Vivienne's stupidity is a bit grating though. Charlotte killing her father is a personal catastrophe which will have serious repercussions for her future mental wellbeing. Covering the whole thing up is the worst possible outcome for her.....she has to go through life pretending all is well with the world and that her father's death had nothing to do with her, when in reality she must be overcome with grief and remorse. People can't fully sympathise and empathise with her and give her the emotional and pyschological support she needs if they don't know it was her that killed her father.

I'm missing Lucy! It's about time she returned to Carrigstown

Haven't the Dillons already left? and now the Bishops too?!
Blimey, there'll be no families left in Carrigstown soon

Great points, Eurostar.

Mackson, have the Dillons actually gone though? They didn't get an off-screen exit did they? I feel like I'd remember if they got an on-screen one.

I'm not sure at all what's happening with the Dillons. Tommy and Caoimhe were in some recent episodes and Judith was in Thursday night's one, but I've no idea if the plan is to quietly write them out of the show.