Vera's penultimate episode ended with a shock death - as fans fear for Brenda Blethyn's character. Tonight, ITV aired its second to last episode, which saw Vera and her sidekick DI Joe Ashworth (David Leon) tackle a difficult case. The pair ended up tackling two different cases at once when an ex-prisoner's body was discovered on the banks of the River Tyne.
At the shocking climax of the episode, Joe and Vera rushed to the cliff top where they came face to face with Imogen Langworth, who had killed her mother, and her father Lucas Corbridge, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife Marion. In huge scenes, Vera desperately tried to talk Imogen down and find out what really happened to her mum, but then Lucas appeared brandishing a bloody rock, which he had used to try and kill DC Kenny Lockhart.
As they all physically fought, Joe nearly ended up falling over the cliff, before Lucas got involved and somehow Imogen ended up falling to her death, leaving Vera and Joe visibly shaken and Lucas devastated to lose his daughter. As Vera criticised Joe for risking his life, she urged him to seek support over his father's death.
Earlier in the episode, Joe and Vera struggled with their professional relationship as it was revealed that Joe's family were at loggerheads, keen for him to get some help over the death of his father. "There's something up with Joe at the start of this series. He’s dragging his feet. Vera obviously has a soft spot for Joe. But she doesn’t carry people. Everyone has to pull their weight. And if there is something up, say what it is. Tell her what it is," Brenda said.
