By Will Barber – Taylor

With a fresh start in Chichester on the cards, will Michael see the error of his ways before it’s too late or will everything else convince him that he has to go? Meanwhile further trouble erupts in Marcus and Emma’s fractured relationship as the big day of Luke and Zoe’s wedding approaches.

Having built up episode after episode of story arc, everything gets nicely wrapped up in this final episode of Stella. The ‘will they won’t they’ relationship of Stella and Michael is handled excellently in this episode. The fact that Michael is only trying to do the right things adds to the tension and drama and makes us feel sympathetic towards him; he doesn’t want to upset anyone. This is played very well by Patrick Baldi who makes us feel even more sympathetic to the character by the little additions he gives to the character; his body language throughout the episode tells us as much about how he is feeling as the words he says.

However, the best part of the episode is the return of Julian Lewis Jones as Karl Morris. He brings a mad energy to the part and makes the comedy leap of the screen. His mad grin can’t help but make the audience laugh and his exaggerated macho walking makes him seem even more comical. Jones lights up the scene he is in and makes you want to see more of his character.

The more serious acting by Catlin Stewart and James Thorton is wonderfully done. They like Baldi add gravitas to the episode. The scene in which they realise their affair is doomed is wonderfully played by both and makes you feel genuinely sorry for these characters because they have simply made a terrible mistake.

All in all, the finale of Stella Series Three was skilfully done. It not only wrapped up the storylines that had been established in the first episode but also managed to open the door to further stories that we shall see with these characters.

Stella will return in the 2014 Christmas Special.