The episode begins with Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke) saying Dr. Margot Bamborough (Abigail Lawrie) saw Steve Douthwaite (Jack Morris) weekly for six weeks. Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) informs DI George Layborn (Samuel Oatley) that DI Bill Talbot (Morgan Jones) linked Steve to the death of a married woman, Joanna Hammond, that he was having an affair. She says her death was ruled a suicide by ingestion of an industrial weed killer. She suggests the bruises on her neck may be evidence that someone forced it down her throat after she was unconscious. George questions why none of the detectives investigated the bruises. She informs him of Joanna’s husband abusing her.

Cormoran says Talbot believed Steve was also connected to Julie Wilkes’ death. He informs George that Steve changed his name to Steve Jacks after Margot had been missing a year, at which time he started working for Baxton’s holiday camp. He says soon after Julie began dating Steve, her body was discovered in the camp’s pool. He suggests Steve may have changed his name again after he vanished. Robin tells him that the staff at Dr. Gupta’s office believed Steve sent Margot a box of chocolates. She says Gloria Conti (Jessica Impiazzi) allegedly saw the unopened box on Margot’s desk about 30 minutes before she left the office. George questions if Steve tainted the chocolates with drugs.

Robin tells George that witnesses who reported the altercation between two people are credible. Cormoran says they are going to interview Dr. Gupta’s staff because Steve attended the Christmas party as someone’s guest.

Janice Beattie (Anna Calder-Marshall) describes Steve as a “gorgeous” man always with a joke. She says people thought Steve killed Joanna, a married woman, with three children, who committed suicide. Cormoran asks what state was Steve in when Margot disappeared. After claiming he left without warning, she says he enjoyed drinking.

Irene Hickson (Carol MacReady) tells Robin that Steve was a flirt. Robin asks if Margot ever received any gifts from Steve. Irene claims Margot tossed the box of chocolates in the bin like she was too good to accept them. She says Margot was a “hypocrite” because she’d toss something and retrieve it when no one was looking.

Janice admits to believing someone else sent the chocolates. She claims Margot threw them away when they arrived. He asks why she did it. She suggests Margot was showing them that she’d never accept gifts from patients.

Robin asks Irene if she thinks Steve had a crush on Margot. She says yes before explaining how Steve rushed out of the office without speaking. In a flashback, Irene Hickson (Tony Peach) suggests Steve just received a herpes diagnosis. Back to the present, she says he was rejected by Margot.

Janice claims Margot believed Carl Oakden (Phil Cornwell) was “dodgy” when his mum who was recovering from an operation fell down the stairs. After telling him that Carl inherited his mum’s house, she says he told her that they were working together. He suggests she not allow Carl inside her house before denying that they work together.

Robin asks Saul Morris (Jonas Armstrong) why he charged for three dinners while doing surveillance. He tells that Cormoran put him back on the case before leaving. Cormoran informs Robin of Carl telling people that they’re working together.

Cormoran asks Carl why he visited Janice. Carl claims to be working on a book. Robin asks how he located Steve. He tells her that a friend saw him at Baxton. Cormoran asks why Steve would change his name. Carl says he wanted to get a fresh start. Cormoran suggests he’ll need to do better if he plans to write a book about Margot. Carl admits to writing a book about him before asking what the 70s did to women. He says Margot left her kids with the nanny, Cynthia (Mary Roscoe), while Leda Strike (Kierston Wareing) was running off after a rocker. Robin warns Cormoran that he’s being set up. As they walk away, Carl says his dad, Al Rokeby (James Corrigan), and mum had sex in front of 50 people when Cormoran punches him.

Cormoran tells Robin that Rokeby’s children want him to see him. He claims Leda took him to the recording studio when he was seven. He says when the manager and Leda got into an altercation because they showed up uninvited, Rokeby make an appearance. He tells her that Rokeby looked at him with snot on his face and said, “This was a fu**ing accident.” She assures him that he’s a good person regardless of his parents. While he pours her another drink, she informs him of her plans to return home tomorrow before asking how she looks. He says, “Beautiful” when Saul drops off some documents.

Linda Ellacott (Suzanne Burden) and Martin Ellacott (Joe Johnsey) talk about how nice it is to have a baby in the house again while Robin prepares food.

Max Priestwood (Syrus Lowe) asks when Cormoran plans to ask Robin out before warning him that he’s a getting a cold. Cormoran doesn’t give a definitive answer.

Pat Chauncey (Ruth Sheen) finds Cormoran in bed with a cold when dropping off some essentials. He gets sick after eating chocolate from a Christmas gift.

Robin scolds Saul for sending her a dick pic. He suggests she made a big deal about not shagging Cormoran in his flat. He pleads with her to not report him. She agrees to not say anything because Cormoran had a bad year before demanding he only sends her case reports.

Lucy Strike (Sarah Sweeney) suggests Cormoran go to sleep.

Cormoran informs Robin of his locating Steve under the alias, Steve Diamond.  Robin calls the guest house that Steve’s running claiming to have a delivery.  Steve’s wife, Donna Diamond (Tracy Wiles) informs her that he’ll be back in an hour.

Steve claims his last name is Diamond, not Douthwaite. His wife tells them that he was Jacks. Robin informs her of their being hired to investigate the disappearance of Margot. He assures her that he’s done nothing wrong. Comoran asks if sent Margot a box of chocolates. Steve denies the allegations. As they prepare to leave, he asks if they’re going to share his address with anyone.

Cormoran and Robin agree that Steve’s concerned about someone coming after him. He says even when Carl exposed Steve, he didn’t run until Julie Wilkes was reported deceased. He suggests the killer has six victims, including Margot.

When Saul grabs Robin from behind, she pops him. He claims it was only a joke to smooth things over. She asks if he’d treat Cormoran in that manner or send him a dick pic. He calls her a “bit**” before reminding her that she promised to not say anything. She tells him that he’s fired. After a bit of back and forth, he storms out of the office. Looking at the knife in Robin’s hand, Pat says she’d swear it was self-defense if she’d stabbed him.

George interviews Steve.

After entering Janice’s apartment, Cormoran dials Beth Spencer. A phone rings in the background. He says she’s a social worker for Samhain Athorn (Dayo Koleosho). She admits to helping Delia Athorn (Claire Dunbar) and Samhain keep their flat.

George claims they’d been out drinking when Julie left for her chalet. He tells George that he wasn’t with Julie when she was supposed to have fallen into the pool and drowned. He admits to believing until Janice visited him. George asks if Margot ever spoke of Janice. He says she warned him about eating the food Janice makes him. In a flashback, Steve emerges from Margot’s office and walks directly out the door. Back to the present, he admits it finally hit him that monster was in his life.

Cormoran opens the kitchen door to see Janice spice his tea. He slaps the cup out of her hand when she tries to drink it. He says Margot didn’t think Carl murdered his grandmother. She tells him that she’d changed her appearance before going to Baxton only to find Steve killing Julie. She admits to holding a drunken Julie’s head down in the water. He tells her that he figured it out like Margot who accused her of putting Imotil in Dr. Brenner’s tea. He says she’s poisoned Irene for 50 years. She tells him that she poisoned Steve so he wouldn’t feel up to going out. He reminds her of Margot nearly getting fired after she assessed Kevin without her consent.

In a flashback, Kevin Beattie (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) tells Margot that mum’s drinks make him sick. After telling him that Steve left when Kevin threw a tantrum, she admits to gradually poisoning him. Cormoran points out that she didn’t kill him. She says after Steve left there was no use in it. He informs her that Kevin’s agreed to testify against her. She asks how he knew she killed Margot. He says Margot wanted to keep the poisoned chocolates away from the staff. He admits to getting sick after eating chocolate from a Christmas gift. She warns him that it would only take four or five to kill him. He accuses her of poisoning a donut that Irene picked up for Margot. She admits to putting Nembutal sodium solution in Margot’s donut.

In a flashback, Janice watches Margot become ill while walking to the Three King’s pub. She pulls her into Gwilherm’s flat.

Robin visits Samhain and Delia.

Janice says she stayed in touch with Delia and Samhain because she proposed it’d be exciting to kill an entire family. In a flashback, Janice pulls Margot’s limp body into the flat while Gwilherm was passed out on drugs. Back to the present, Janice claims he’d let her inject him in exchange for some uppers.

Robin asks if the ottoman opens. Delia says it’s locked. Robin lures them out of the room with some biscuits.

In a flashback, Janice suffocates Margot with a pillow.

Robin and George try to open the ottoman.

Cormoran says she sent Anna Phipps (Sophie Ward) a locket similar to the one Margot was wearing. She says it was meant to deter her from snooping around. In a flashback, Janie tells Gwilherm that he must have killed Margot with magic. He asks when did she finally kill him. She admits to poisoning him with pseudoephedrine six months later to make it look like an overdose.

Robin and George open the ottoman lid to see what looks like fingers sticking out of the content.

Cormoran tells Janice that Margot’s in the ottoman. She tells him that she’ll enjoy telling Steve that all this is his fault. She admits it would have been nice to kill him.

Cormoran and Robin inform Anna and Roy Phipps (Michael Byrne) of Margot’s case being solved. They watch a video of Margot and Anna when she was a baby.

Robin suggests Matthew Cunliffe (Kerr Logan) wanted their divorce to be final before Sarah had her baby. She assures him that she’ll never forget how he was there for her. They embrace before he leaves.

When Ted Nancarrow (Ian Redford) suggests seeing Rokeby, Cormoran says he was never his father.

Robin receives a text from Cormoran asking her to meet to discuss a case.

Cormoran gives her a carousel balloon while asking if he can buy her some perfume. She thanks him for the gifts. He admits she’s his best friend before giving her a hug. She kisses him on the cheek as the episode comes to an end.

 

C.B. Strike Troubled Blood Finale Synopsis

Talbot believed Steve was responsible for the death of a married woman named Joanna Hammond. He was having an affair with her at the time of her death. The coroner ruled her death a suicide by ingestion of weed killer, even though bruises covered her neck and face.

Steve was dating Julie Wilkes when she died of an accidental drowning. Following her death, Steve changed his name to Steve Jacks.

The story focused highly on a box of chocolates that Robin and Cormoran believe were a gift from Steve. Janice and Irene claimed to have seen Margot chuck the chocolates into a waste bin. Irene said Margot later retrieved the chocolates. Both women agreed that Margot’s actions were hypocritical because she was too good to accept gifts from patients in front of people. Gloria reported seeing the chocolates in an unopened box on Margot’s desk 30 minutes before she left for Three King’s Pub.

Unbeknownst to Cormoran, Robin fires Saul for sending her a picture of his penis.

Cormoran receives a box of chocolates for Christmas. He gets ill after eating just one.

Steve changed his name to Steve Diamond before marrying Donna. He continued to deny any connection to the death of Julie, Margot, and Joanna.

Cormoran links the death of six people back to Janice. When he confronts her, she tries to poison him by spiking his tea.

Janice explains how and why she killed each of her victims. She was infatuated with Steve but he had no interest in her. She went to great effort to lose weight before visiting Steve in Baxton at a camp. When she arrives, he’s kissing Julie. She tracks an inebriated Julie to the camp pool where she drowns her.

Janice later admits to poisoning her own son, Kevin because he interfered with her relationship with Steve. She stopped poisoning him after Steve relocated to Baxton.

Margot suspected Janice of poisoning Steve. She warned him to never eat any food she prepared. He fled to Baxton to get away from her. She wanted to keep the tainted chocolates from the staff. Janice poisoned Margot’s donut with Nembutal sodium solution. She watched as Margot became violently ill while walking to the pub. She abducts her and pulls her into Gwilherm’s flat after she knocked him out with drugs. She seals Margot’s body in a slab of concrete inside an ottoman. Later, she convinces Gwilherm that he killed her with magic. Six months later, she kills him with pseudoephedrine.

Janice sends Margot’s daughter a necklace like the one she was wearing on the night she disappeared.

Robin and Matthew’s divorce is final. Cormoran treats her to a carousel balloon and perfume.

CB Strike Troubled Blood Review

The one thing, the only thing that could have possibly saved the season didn’t happen. Fans had hoped this would be the season that Coroman and Robin would become official. Even with Robin’s divorce, nothing more than a kiss on the cheek transpired between the two private detectives. Fans can only hope BBC will commission the show for a sixth season. Otherwise, what you see is what you get.

The investigative work was a mere case study with a few interviews sprinkled in. The cast featured some amazing actors who barely graced the stage.

While the physical investigation was lacking, the premise was quite intriguing.  The finale deserves a 6. Get more CB Strike Troubled Blood Recaps here. With your support, we can deliver yet another season of unbiased reviews from the latest TV series.