Passenger Series 1 Episode 6 Recap
The finale begins at Jakub Makowski’s (Hubert Hanowicz) garage with him attempting to explain what happened the night of Jim Bracknell’s (David Threlfall) attack. Despite Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku) making it known that she will only discuss it at the station; he eventually manages to get his story out. According to him, both and Eddie Wells (Barry Sloane) are innocent, but claims he can’t say who it was. She tells him he’s wrong about that and orders him to get in the car.
A discussion between Eddie and Joanne Wells (Natalie Gavin) gives the impression that she is more upset with Eddie being falsely accused than he is. It is seemingly the irony of a lack of an apology, the missed time between father and daughters, and Jakub stealing Eddie’s garage that upsets her the most.
Riya and Ali Day (Ella Bruccoleri) officially question Jakub at the station, but he is clearly afraid of the real perpetrator. Throughout he justifies his silence by claiming he’s an outsider and his word stands for very little.
Upon returning home, Eddie appears to become frustrated with Joanne’s continued rants over his injustice. She finds a new outlet for her anger when she opens a letter, informing of her the Bread Factory’s closure.
Constable Linda Markel’s (Jo Hartley) meeting with the Best Kept Village Judges (Natalie Grady) at the Carvery does not go as intended thanks mob of indigent factory workers. Alone at the factory, Derek Jackson (Daniel Ryan) appears to be in the middle of investigating some type of disturbance when he is attacked from behind. He later wakes in a church where Melissa Dean (Nadia Albina) and Simon (Harry Egan) tell him about the factory closure and his wasted opportunity.
Jakub appears to be more forthcoming in the interrogation when he says that the attackers claimed the attack was part of something much bigger. Although he claims he doesn’t know what, he suspects it might have to do with shutting down the fracking site or getting rid of Jim. Riya continues to push and assures protection until he shares Tony Corrigan’s (Sean Glider) name. Riya doesn’t learn anything further from her later confrontation with Tony. She does punch him in the nose after he warns her that ‘they’ll’ come after Jakub for blabbing.
Still, at the church with Melissa, Derek pleads a case for the factory workers and his brother, Kane Jackson (Nico Mirallegro). Melissa doesn’t waste any time letting him know that he’s being blamed because he didn’t follow protocol. She says that had he followed protocol Mehmet Shah’s (Shervin Alenabi) body would have never been discovered. His claims that he was trying to use Mehmet’s body to shut down the fracking site appear to make Melissa madder, leading to her also blaming him for Jim’s attack. After a bit of pitiful groveling, she offers him one final opportunity to keep the factory open.
Ali and Nish Chowdry (Arian Nik) are waiting for Riya outside the boxing gym when she arrives to tell them Tony is ready to be escorted to the station. Much to their surprise, Riya claims the last five years of her life in Chadder Vale have been a waste and she leaving for her new posting at the Met early. Ali and Nish are even more surprised to learn that Riya no longer has an interest in tying up all the loose ends of the case.
Linda becomes upset and insults one of the content judges when she learns that Chaddar Vale isn’t even being considered for the competition.
Nish shares what he learned about the video with Ali at the station. According to him, its existence is so secret that it isn’t only limited to the dark web but it will take code to track it down. He claims to have discovered some of that code scattered amongst the Nina Karlsson (Synnove Karlsen) evidence but hasn’t had any success cracking it. She offers her help.
Katie Wells (Rowan Robinson) spends several moments at the bus stop with Lilly Wells (Matilda Freeman) before boarding her bus out of town. Elsewhere, Vicky Trowbridge (Gemma Wardle) attempts to wake an unconscious John Trowbridge (Jack James Ryan) at the hospital by telling him about her plans.
Ali and Nish dig into the dark web while Riya returns the car to Jakub and thanks him for all he’s done for her. Despite his attempts to convince her to stay, she gives the illusion that her mind is made up. At nearly the same time, Ali and Nish’s search has uncovered coordinates, leading to the bread factory. Despite the factory being empty, they manage to find an open door that eventually leads them to a hidden door with a Pangaea access panel. Using the codes from Nina’s notebook they gain access.
Derek visits Terry Jackson (Debbie Rush) at her lab where he professes his love for her recalling a memory from their wedding. Once he mentions the factory, its failure, and fears of embarrassment, it becomes clear that he is trying to make excuses for getting involved in whatever he’s involved in. Much to his surprise, this appears to irritate her and she points out immediately that he did what he did for himself, not her.
Riya has just finished her packing when Geoff Blakefield (Ray Castleton) arrives to take her to the airport. Her trip gets sidelined when their quick conversation leads to her discovering there is an angry crowd looking for Jakub at the pub.
Rushing to the pub, Riya passes by the Kid on the Wall (Luke Ayres), who appears to be at his regular spot listening to a man and woman arguing inside an apartment. Upon her arrival at the pub, Mike Barton (Neil Sandland) points her in the direction of the town referred to by the locals as, ‘Top of Chadder Vale.’ Once there, she discovers Eddie along with several other locals kicking the crap out of Jakub. After a tearful breakdown and taking the blame for Eddie’s imprisonment, she convinces them to leave Jakub alone and calls an ambulance.
While Ali and Nish watch what appears to be an induction video into the real-life ‘Passenger’ game in the factory’s basement, Derek sets the ground floor on fire. As the factory proceeds to burn, the Kid on the Wall goes inside the house, where the arguing man and woman are revealed to be a recording. He shuts off the recording and opens a hidden hatch that leads to what appears to be a monitoring system for the game that Ali and Nish are now part of.
Despite successfully reaching Riya on her mobile, Ali is unable to get much across because of the poor connection and her excited state over Jakub. The series practically ends with Riya trying to make sense of the call while seeing black smoke coming from the direction of the factory.
Passenger Review
Although I would have loved more of an explanation, I felt this was a very strategic/interesting way to close out what was a great series. I’d give the finale a 6 of 10 based on the performances and thoroughness of story closure. I can probably see a lot of viewers getting upset over how much was left open for interpretation but I kind of enjoyed that here. It not only leaves a level of intrigue but also over the possibility of a second season.
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Not sure what to make of the fact that the majority of the mysteries went unanswered. I would have liked to have seen a better explanation even if it meant ending on a cliff hanger for Ali and Nish.
I do give the network credit for trying on some fresh ideas. I’ve been complaining for a few years that most programming is just uninspired rip offs of each other. At least they tried something new.
Agree. It’s hard not to be sick of the same old British detective shows on repeat. Not necessarily the best ending, but a mostly interesting show.