The Virtues aired its second episode tonight as recovering alcoholic Joseph (played by Stephen Graham) arrived in Ireland to confront repressed memories from his childhood.
Joseph’s life begins to unravel following his ex Debbie’s (Juliet Ellis) decision to move to Australia with their son Shea (Shea Michael-Shaw).
As he battled hazy flashbacks, Joseph made the journey to Ireland and the episode tonight saw him have an emotional reunion with a family member.
After trekking across the countryside, Joseph is found lying outside a house as Anna (Helen Behan) and her husband Michael (Frank Laverty) can be seen trying to get their three children into the car for the school run.
Waking up, Joseph calls out to Anna but she fails to recognise him causing Michael to warn him off before Joseph explains that the last time Anna would have seen him would have been when they were children.
Anna then begins to break down in tears as she recognises Joseph and it is revealed the pair are brother and sister.
Viewers watching at home were left in tears at the scene and took to Twitter to comment on the emotional reunion.
One remarked: “Oh god I’m in bits, how emotional was that #TheVirtues.”
“Heart broken again 10 minutes into this
