Sally Wainwright and her entire team deserve a round of applause for writing such a gripping drama. Series like Riot Women make you realize why it’s so essential to invest in writers, and why bad writing can’t be disguised using executional gimmicks. I mean, Riot Women’s story isn’t something out of the box, but it’s the characterization, the understanding of the world the characters inhabit, the culture, and the nuances that make all the difference. And the performers! I mean, I could go on and on about how brilliant Joanna Scanlan, Lorraine Ashbourne, Rosalie Craig, Tamsin Greig, Amelia Bullmore, Tak Atwal, Jonny Green, Ben Batt, and the rest of the cast were in their respective roles. So, let’s dive deep into the series and find out what these women were up to, and how courageously they took a stand against misogynists.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Beth want to take her own life?
At the beginning of Riot Women, we saw a middle-aged lady, who had made the decision to take her own life. But then something magical happened, because it was not in her destiny to pass away in oblivion, it was her time to shine. She had no clue that her good friend Jess, who ran a bar, was planning to form a band for a charity function at her grandkids’ school. Both of them were going to turn 60, and they needed to chase happiness, and even if what they did sounded absurd to others, they should go for it unabashedly. Beth got two calls after she put the noose around her neck, by which point she must have felt that it was divine intervention, and something was stopping her from taking her own life. Beth didn’t die that day, though she had made all the arrangements: she had written a letter to her son, Tom, and she had sold her mother’s property so that her medical bills could be taken care of. Beth knew how important it was to make sure that all her mother’s money was spent on getting her the best medical care possible. Beth knew how greedy her family members were, and how they would want to use that money for their own purpose. Beth knew how her mother had saved it up just to ensure that she didn’t have to depend upon anybody else when the time arrived. And now her own brothers wanted to strip their mother of her savings. They felt that Beth didn’t need to get her into such a posh medical facility that had a swimming pool and stuff, but Beth didn’t align with their views. Even Tom came back and tried to influence his mother’s decisions, but she told him that she had made her call, and she was not going to change it at any cost. The reason why Beth wanted to take her own life was that she had started to feel invisible of late. Her husband, who was a good man, had left her. Her son, Tom, had married a girl and he had his own independent life. Moreover, Tom visited his in-laws more than he did his mother, a fact that made Beth really insecure. She was in her menopausal stage, battling anxiety, dealing with occasional brain fog and feeling lost and invisible more often than not. She didn’t have anything to look forward to, which was why the band that her friend Jess was planning to form was something that gave her something to look forward to in her life. Beth postponed the idea of taking her own life, and just a couple of days after that, she met somebody who became one of the most important people in her life. At that point in time, she didn’t know how that woman was going to impact her life, but she took a liking to her instantly as if it was some divine connection.
What did Kitty find out about Tom?
Kitty, aka Katherine Eckersley, came from a crime family: her father, Keith Eckersley, was infamous for running all sorts of illegal rackets. Kitty had a troubled past, and she had served time for a couple of petty crimes. Kitty was in a relationship with a man named Gavin, but soon she realized that he had lied to her, he already had a wife and 2 kids. Kitty was the kind of person who didn’t shy away from creating a scene: she went to his house and destroyed his car, an act which was recorded by Gavin. Gavin didn’t press charges against her, because he knew that Kitty could reveal things about him, like his drug addiction, that could get him in trouble. Kitty then went to a convenience store where she drank too much and created a scene. Kitty was arrested by Holly and Nisha, the two people who were good friends with Beth and Jess and who were also a part of the band that Jess had formed. Then, a couple of days after the convenience store incident, Beth bumped into Kitty, and the former found her performing in a local bar. Beth was blown away by her voice and the aura she had on stage. She looked like a rockstar, and Beth knew that to make their little adventure of performing onstage a success, they needed to have somebody like Kitty in their band. Beth and Kitty spent a wonderful evening together, though Kitty got so drunk that she didn’t remember any conversation she had. Beth knew that Kitty had a troubled past, she was impulsive, at times a bit too much to handle, but she was the only person who had made her laugh in a long while. So Kitty became a part of the band and started spending time with the other members, i.e. Jess, Holly, Ivonne (Holly’s sister), Nisha, Beth, and Kam. Soon, Kitty got to know that Tom, Beth’s son, was adopted, and he was dropped at an orphanage just 2 days after being born. The details rang a bell in Kitty’s mind. That’s when we got to know that Kitty had been raped when she was 12, and she’d given birth to a boy, none other than Beth’s son, Tom. Kitty didn’t want to reveal that fact at first, but eventually everybody got to know about it. Beth made Tom meet Kitty when he had come to visit her. Tom was not prepared for that meeting, and moreover he didn’t want it to happen the way it did. Tom didn’t understand Kitty; he didn’t give her a chance to explain things to him for the longest time. He had made up his mind about her and the tragedy was that no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get him to like her.
Why did Kitty assault Tom’s in-laws?
Tom was already finding it very hard to understand his biological mother, her impulses, her past and make peace with it. He had gotten to know that she had come from a criminal family, and he judged her for that. He felt that she was equally responsible for what had happened to her, but what he didn’t understand was that a 12-year-old girl couldn’t be guilty for being raped. There was no excuse, no justification for what had happened to Kitty, and yes, partly of who she was was dictated by her childhood traumas. Kitty grew up in such an environment that she didn’t have anybody to confide in. She had only dealt with misogynistic men who treated women like objects. Even Gavin, the man she was in relationship with, was an abuser who deserved to be put behind bars. The man, after his wife left him, begged Kitty to come back to him. Kitty, in a moment of weakness, when she did not have a place to stay as Tom didn’t want her to stay at Beth’s, decided to go back to Gavin. It was a big mistake, and the man made her pay for it. He assaulted her and beat her up so badly that she bruised her entire body. Similarly, after the Riot Women’s first performance, Graham, Tom’s father-in-law, passed a lewd comment at her. He had a habit of doing so, and his wife knew about it. Kitty couldn’t resist her impulse, and she punched him on his face. Tom blamed Kitty for overreacting, and he didn’t believe a word she said. He had made up his mind that Graham could do no wrong until his own mother-in-law told him that he was wrong.
Tom had an argument with his wife after that, and he left his house. He came to Beth’s place, where once again he confronted Kitty. Tom was adamant to know who his biological father was and what had happened to Kitty back in the day. Kitty told him that one of her father’s associates raped her for months when she was just 12. She lied to him as there was not one, but three men who raped her multiple times. She didn’t know who among those three was the biological father of Tom, but she wanted to find him. Tom realized after that conversation that Kitty was also a victim, and that she was on his side. Tom kept asking Kitty if he reminded her of her abuser, but she told him that he was nothing like those men. Moreover, she joked how he had her features, and even a few of his mannerisms were just like her.
Will Nisha press charges against Rudy?
Nisha, the sweet and innocent girl, who worked as a police officer, was molested by one of her colleagues, Rudy, on a regular basis. The man touched her inappropriately and made it look like he had done nothing wrong. Nisha told all that to Holly, who had just retired from the police force. Holly’s ex partner was the police chief, and so she went and made a complaint about Rudy. Obviously, Rudy didn’t take it well, and he was hellbent on taking revenge on Nisha. One time, Nisha, while she was on duty, chased three hooligans as they passed really disrespectful remarks to her. That chase ended in an altercation, and those three misogynists who didn’t know how to treat a woman got the better of Nisha. They chained her hands to a bar, made her stand on a trash can, lowered her pants and thrashed her mercilessly. It was Rudy who found Nisha in that condition, and that perverted man took pictures of her in that condition instead of helping her out. Then he uncuffed her and let her fall from that can, because of which she suffered grave injuries. Nisha blamed Holly and told her that had she not reported on Rudy, nothing would have happened. Nisha told her that she knew that without any solid evidence, a department that was full of male chauvinists wouldn’t take any action. She knew that she would have to endure their insults and remarks and find a way to overlook them. But Holly was not somebody who stayed quiet and endured. She knew that men like Rudy needed to be taught a lesson. So she went online and gathered all the evidence she could. She gave that material to Nisha at the end of Riot Women, and from the looks of it, she will press charges against Rudy in the future. I believe if there is a Riot Women season 2, Nisha will muster the courage and go all guns blazing against Rudy, a man who deserved to be put behind bars.
Will Kitty Take Revenge On Her Abusers?
Season 1 of Riot Woman ended on a cliffhanger, and even if it wouldn’t have, I would have wanted the makers to come up with another season. That’s because it’s not often that you get to witness such engaging writing and such vibrant characters in a single series. So, coming to the future prospects of the Riot Women: I believe Kitty will go after her rapists. At the end of the Riot Women season 1 she got a call from her father, who was in prison at that time. Kitty had gone to meet him a day before and informed him that she was on the lookout for three of his associates who had raped her. The man was livid, as apparently, he had no clue about what had happened. Keith, I am presuming, would have made a few calls and found out where those three men were. He told Kitty that one had been stabbed to death, whereas the other two were still alive. One of those three men worked as a cop, and I feel he could be the one who was Tom’s biological father. Maybe he was posted in the city, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Holly and Nisha knew him already. As for Nisha, I believe she too will not let Rudy go free and press charges against him. Tom made an effort to mend his relationship with Kitty, and he came to her trial (where the case was dismissed since Gavin’s lawyer did not feel that they had a strong case) as he didn’t want her to be alone. I believe Beth will play a crucial role in helping Tom build a relationship with Kitty. Holly too needed to figure out a few things as her mother was suffering from dementia, and her condition was worsening every passing day. Maybe Holly will move in with her because she could trust anybody else with her. It would be interesting to see if the band members are able to deal with their personal issues while making sure that they were ready to perform on the big stage and make people know what the Riot Women were capable of.
