As the final episode of Around The World In 80 Days begins, Phileas Fogg (David Tennant) looks at the postcard of the clock with coward written on the back. Journalists begin asking him questions about the journey and being brought back from the dead, but Abigail ‘Fix’ Fortescue (Leonie Benesch) quickly answers without giving him a chance. She becomes the star as they ask about her article on India and saying she didn’t need a man. Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) listens as she says she isn’t going to tell an American journalist about her private life. Phileas gets confirmation that everyone in the area knows the great Phileas Fogg is going to be in this station today. As he looks around for someone, the journalist reminds them they have a boat to catch. On day 70, the group rides a carriage through New York. Passepartout notices Fogg seems different as he clutches the clock passport.

When asked if everything is okay, Phileas says of course. The carriage and all their suitcases arrive at the Henrietta so they’re close to returning home and winning the bet. A group of shady looking Americans pays close attention to them as they walk toward the ship. Abigail and Passepartout sit down for tea as soon as they board the boat while Phileas heads elsewhere. Fix wonders if this is all becoming too much for Phileas as he gets closer to home. Phileas stands alone on the deck while looking at the flask that he received from Estella. We quickly see flashbacks of the assassination attempt, Fogg making the bet with Bellamy, and Phileas talking about finding real love. Although it is nearly time to set sail, Fogg tells Abigail and Passepartout that he is going ashore. Before he goes, he encourages them to leave without him if he doesn’t make it back in time.

Passepartout believes he is going to go stand under a clock and wait for a woman. After the intro, Phileas contemplates turning around and going back to the ship but continues to the clock. Passepartout joins Abigail on the deck and suggests Phileas is going to throw everything away. Abigail says he’ll make it back because he won’t let them down. Passepartout alleges that Fogg lets everyone down. She refuses to believe that Fogg is the same man they met before the journey. Phileas sits near the clock and waits for the woman to show up. Although it takes a while, Estella (Dolly Wells) finally arrives and begins attacking Phileas for leaving her on that ship many years ago. Phileas knows he ruined her life. He refuses to ask for forgiveness because it was unforgivable what he did to her. Phileas ruined his life as well. She offers to tell him how terrible her life has been so he says he has all the time in the world to hear it.

Abigail wonders whether Phileas was meant to end up in the arms of his lover all along. Although Passepartout doubts it since Phileas didn’t have the courage to be with Estella, Abigail says it might be a gigantic love story. Passepartout alleges Phileas is afraid of winning and returning to London to face Nyle Bellamy (Peter Sullivan). She hopes a man will look at her the way Phileas looked at her in India when he thought she was Estella. When she admits she changed due to the journey, Passepartout suggests her father will change everything for her. He elaborates on that by saying her life is already made for her. She will write some articles, meet a man with lots of money, and have babies. Abigail doesn’t think Passepartout knows anything about her, but she knows he wants a home where people will love him. They get into an argument as Abigail says she wants nothing to do with his life.

Meanwhile, Estella tells Phileas that she saw the beautiful world before ending up in New York penniless. She worked at an Italian restaurant where she met the owner’s son named Fabio Rossi. He made her laugh again and they eventually got married. Unfortunately, Fabio died a few months ago. She goes on to say Fabio was funny, passionate, and infuriating. He was always the light and soul of any room he entered. Estella never knew what he was going to do from one minute to the next. He was a wonderful father, beautiful husband, and she loved him. Once Phileas says she had a good life, Estella insists she had a life with some sad moments and some astonishing moments. As for Phileas, he says he hasn’t done anything with his life. After leaving the train, he went to the Reform Club, sat at his usual table, had lunch as usual, and talked to his usual friends.

Estella knew it. She explains she thought about Phileas on the day that her husband died. Phileas was different. While he was potentially brilliant, he was afraid of life. Abigail is told it is a good idea to get on the boat. Phileas only has twenty minutes and the Henrietta isn’t going to wait for anyone. Estella knew Phileas was under a lot of pressure especially from his so-called friends. She believes Bernard Fortescue (Jason Watkins) was likely fair, but not Nyle Bellamy. She reveals Nyle came to see her the night before they were supposed to leave for France to tell her he was utterly useless and would never come on the journey with her. She told Bellamy he was just jealous of Phileas who was a thousand times the man he’d ever be. Although Phileas says he was right and she was wrong, Estella refuses to accept that. She says she didn’t believe it then or now before reminding Phileas he needs to go. After he asks what type of life they would’ve had if he got back on the ship, Estella says she thinks it would’ve been a wonderful life.

She believed they would travel the world together and eventually settle down in a little cottage somewhere in Devon away from London and his friends. She insists they would’ve had brilliant children and Phileas would’ve been a brilliant father. Although it is too late for them, it isn’t too late for Phileas. She said it back then and still believes it today, but Phileas’s biggest obstacle is still waiting for him. Phileas is warned that Bellamy will try to humiliate him and bring him down. If he lets Bellamy win, he is going to win forever. When she asks if he understands, Phileas says Bellamy was wrong and she was right. He says he loved her before pleading with her to never doubt that. She never has. He almost leaves but returns to hug her and ask her to forgive him. Passepartout joins Abigail outside as they realize that Fogg is quickly running out of time. He apologizes for lashing out at her when he was upset that Fogg had left them. She knows he wants them to finish this together.

He repeats what she said about letting her experiences influence and change what she believes. Abigail didn’t want things to end like this. Bellamy talks to bank manager Hughes (Jeff Rawle) about his debt. He is reminded he promised he’d come into a large amount of money on Christmas Eve. Bellamy admits it was a bet and argues that all forms of investment banking are bets. Bellamy is supremely confident his friend is going to fail as Phileas rushes to find a cab. As Phileas rushes toward the Henrietta, he is grabbed by Thomas Kneedling (Anthony Flanagan). Thomas pulls him aside and puts a knife to his throat. Phileas learns Bellamy is bankrupt so he has to win the bet, but he doesn’t think Nyle would want him killed. A gang leader (Ty Tennant) and his men approach and tell Thomas that this is their part of town. Thomas takes Fogg to a nearby warehouse to get away from the gang. Once the gang follows them to the warehouse, Thomas begins fighting them with his knife drawn.

Phileas gets angry and starts swinging a bag around while asking the gang members if they ever spent a term in an English public school. As the fight continues, Thomas is kicked from behind. When he falls to the ground, the knife goes through his stomach or chest. The gang members find out what has happened so they decide to flee. Phileas offers to get a doctor to help Thomas, but he claims it is too late for him. He gives Fogg a piece of paper. Abigail and Passepartout they’ll have to get on now or they’re going to be left behind. They hear Phileas in the distance as he rushes toward them. He says they started this together and they’re going to finish it together before they board the ship. On the ship, Phileas finds a private place to check the paper Thomas gave him and finds out that Bellamy paid Thomas to stop him from boarding Henrietta. Roberts (Leon Clingman) serves Bernard and tells him everyone is cheering Phileas on, but he doesn’t have any telegrams for Nyle. Bellamy is still confident that Fogg isn’t going to make it and Bernard hopes he is right for his sake. Back on the boat, Passepartout joins Abigail who is busy writing about Fogg and Estella. Another passenger believes Passepartout is working there. He is surprised to learn that he has a first-class ticket. They’re told to scrub the dirt off their skin if they’re going to be in first-class. Abigail calls it ignorance and says Passepartout should ignore it. However, he says he knows how to deal with it since he has done it his entire life.

He walks over to the band and tells them something. Then, he returns to Abigail and asks her to dance. The male passenger gets upset only for his friend to stop him from doing something stupid. Phileas walks onto the balcony above and watches them dance together. One passenger with the angry man seems transfixed with Passepartout as he dances with Abigail. Abigail asks whether everything is going to change, but Passepartout says not tonight. When the group arrives in Liverpool, they begin planning their last leg of the trip. The customs official (Dominic Carter) lets Passepartout and Abigail pass, but Fogg is arrested because of the warrant in Hong Kong. They plead with him to send a telegram to the Governor’s office in Hong Kong because they’ll explain everything. He doesn’t do that. Instead, they’ll have to get Barry to do it and he doesn’t start work until 8 AM. After Fogg says they can’t wait that long because they’ll lose the wager, the customs official says he should’ve thought about that before getting arrested in Hong Kong.

Passepartout calls the country stupid since they’re doing this to a hero like Phileas Fogg. Regardless, nothing they can say is going to change the man’s mind. Phileas makes a run for it only to be arrested within seconds. While Phileas sits in a cell, the customs official tells Abigail that the line to Hong Kong is still down so there is nothing they can do. He threatens to have them arrested if they don’t stop harassing him. They look at the clock and realize it is nearly over. Phileas does the same from his jail cell. On Christmas day, Abigail says this will devastate Phileas as Passe blames British bureaucracy. When she asks where he is going to spend Christmas, Passepartout says she doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. She asks what happens if she wants to worry about him, but he claims her life is waiting for her. She accuses him of being a coward for pretending it is noble to leave her alone because he is afraid of caring for someone. He insists what they had can only make sense in this great adventure. Abigail says they’ll have to find another great adventure.

He asks him not to slip away pretending that would make her life easier. He promises. The customs official finally lets Fogg out of his cell on Christmas day. Fogg says it was always going to end this way and foolish to think otherwise. He shakes the man’s hand and tells him merry Christmas. Passepartout and Abigail try to cheer him up outside, but that isn’t going to help. They go to Phileas’s place to get something to drink. Once they sit down, Grayson (Richard Wilson) begins explaining that they still have time to make it to the club. Fogg thinks about it and realizes he is right. It is actually Christmas Eve and Fogg can still make it. They begin running toward the club while Bernard tells Nyle he still has time. Fogg is surprised by the people standing outside and stops. He is worried about going inside. Passepartout says what Estella said about him losing forever. Abigail insists Estella was right all along. Phileas runs up the stairs and enters the room in time to win the bet.

Bernard tells him he did it. Phileas says it was never in doubt with his remarkable daughter by his side. She is reunited with her father who says he is so proud of her. Passepartout decides to leave as Abigail tells her father there is someone she wants him to meet. Nyle pretends they were never doing this for the money. He tells Phileas in his ear to agree with him or he’ll destroy him. Fogg says he knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it back at all so he asks Grayson to bring a check to the club. Roberts shows them the check and says he was supposed to keep it until Christmas Eve. If Fogg wasn’t back, he was asked to give it to Nyle. Fogg offers him the check since it would cover his bankruptcy. However, Bernard says he can’t accept it because he’d lose all honor. Phileas says he can’t lose what he never had.

Bellamy takes it and tells Fogg he is the most tremendous fellow. Bernard tells Bellamy to go because he shames them all. He tells them Merry Christmas and refuses to pay his final bar bill. On his way out, he causes a scene. Once Fogg closes and locks the door, Abigail finds out that Passepartout didn’t run away after all. She says he was right behind her all the time. He says always. Phileas begins pouring drinks for all three of them as the others bang on the door in hopes of getting back in. He lights Passepartout’s cigar before they toast to friendship. They laugh at the fact that he mislaid an entire day. Abigail finds an article in the newspaper about something attacking shipping. The British think it might be a giant narwhal, but the Americans say it is a squid. The French claim it is a mechanical war machine. Fogg admits it sounds interesting and asks where it is supposed to be happening.

Once the others burst through the door, Fogg leaves with his friends.

 

Around The World In 80 Days Review

Around The World In 80 Days had several decent episodes and a few good moments even in weaker episodes. Nevertheless, it was impossible for the show to match the quality of the original source material. Not only did it miss the mark, but it missed by a wide margin. The series obviously had an agenda designed to cater to the ideologies of certain groups while irritating others. It is understandable why viewers would be angry about this considering it deviated so much from the source material.

It was likely trying to be something new and original. It wasn’t because all productions seem to be required to follow these trends right now. Honestly, Around The World In 80 Days had bigger issues. For starters, the show was surprisingly violent considering the route it decided to take. It is silly to consider the characters were involved in assassination attempts, gunfights, and even murder.

Despite traveling around the world, the scenes felt confined and a bit dull honestly. The finale was rushed and sloppy. It is surprising they decided to stick so close to the original story’s twists and turns since they changed everything else. The finale should’ve been Fogg’s time to shine, but he once again took a backseat. It still had some good, heartfelt moments although I am not sure a second season is needed or justified.

The finale scores a 6 out of 10. All recaps of Around The World In 80 Days can be found on Reel Mockery here. Have our recaps helped you? If so and you’d like to support the Reel Mockery project, be sure to find out how to support us here.