As the finale of Crossfire begins, Jo (Keeley Hawes) talks about the things they don’t tell you and things that you don’t even think about. You hate everyone who doesn’t understand, but you hate yourself because you don’t understand either. She doesn’t know why she didn’t appreciate ordinary life and didn’t realize how fragile it all was. A picture of Jo is shown on the front of a newspaper that calls her a hero. After the intro, a helicopter flies over the hotel. Joe and Amara (Shalisha James-Davis) wait on the rooftop for the gunman to come. Police officers get off the helicopter after it lands. The other gunman tells Bea (Alba Brunet) that she is the boss here so she will decide who gets shot first. Bea won’t say who should be shot. Jo encourages the gunman to down his gun. The gunman asks Iker (Guillermo Campra) if they should tell these people how they got in.

He tells them that Iker gave them the key because he hates them as you as he does. The gunman threatens to show them one-by-one, but tells Iker to go because he isn’t as bad as them. Jo ends up shooting the gunman when he raises his gun. She begins comforting Amara while telling her it is over. Police reach the rooftop seconds later. The other gunman makes Bea come over to him and get on her knees. He begins ridiculing her and saying that she loved giving him orders. The police walk by outside. Abhi (Anneika Rose) distracts the gunman so the police have time to shoot and kill him. Outside, Jason (Lee Ingleby) gasps for air and opens his eyes. Mateo (Hugo Silva) drops his gun as he begins falling asleep. Jo makes sure Amara makes it outside and tells her to meet with Kim and the others.

Jo sends her out because she has to go back and help someone. Abhi makes it outside to Ben (Daniel Ryan) and the kids. He tells her about getting separated from the kids while he was helping someone else. Miriam (Josette Simon) insists it’ll be okay because they can find them. Mateo notices that Iker is packing his stuff. Iker tells him that he isn’t going to jail for what they did. When Jo enters, she tries to keep Iker calm. She tells him that he can go. Once Iker runs out of the room, Mateo tells Jo she needs to go after him and stop him. Ben tells Miriam that he has to find those kids if they’re still out there. He runs into Amara seconds later. He tells her that he lost Kim and Sunil. Bea learns about Mateo’s injury as she begins looking for him. Ben and Amara decide to split up so they can search for the kids. While looking around, Amara manages to find Kim and Sunil.

Jo eventually runs into Iker and tells him to put his hands up. When Ben arrives, Iker runs at him and stabs him in the stomach. Police arrest Iker while Jo tries to tend to Ben’s wound. Later, Jo goes to Chinar’s funeral. After the funeral, Jo goes out to her car where she cries alone. In a possible flashback, Jo meets with Miriam and Ben. Jo leaves them. Ben and Miriam talk about Christmas and staying in their dressing gowns all day. Jo visits Jason at the hospital and pulls his wheelchair outside. They talk about the kids and Amara wanting things to go back to normal as soon as possible. Jo asks him about being home in a few weeks, but Jason says the physio wants to see if he is okay with stairs first. She also wants to see him do a clear week on just the stick. After cursing the idea of getting a stair lift, Jason says it is a shame the way things turned out.

If they had gotten him and Abhi instead of Chinar, it would’ve left the field clear. Jo goes to a petrol station where she sees the paper with her picture on it. She remembers everything that happened and throws the newspaper stand around. Paul shows up later and learns that they wanted to call the police. He tells her that she is a hero whether she likes it or not, but Jo doesn’t want to be one. She complains it is her fault they were even at the hotel. Jo says it wasn’t heroic to shoot that boy. Paul says she was in an impossible situation and had to make a call. At home, Jo hears a report that investigators are still looking for a motive in the attack. The boys’ father is serving an eight-year prison term for murdering their mother. There were allegations of theft involving the older brother. Amara interrupts so Jo turns off the TV. She tells Jo that Adam was a bit clingy and the teacher came out.

Amara says she is going to have to face the moms at some point. She is leaving because she promised to help Abhi out with Chinar’s things this morning. Amara gets into the car with Miriam and admits she didn’t tell her mom that she was taking her. They talk about how everyone is finding it hard in different ways. In a flashback, Jo meets with Adam, Miriam, and Abhi who is happy to hear that the other kids are okay. Abhi asks about Ben and Chinar. Jo starts by telling them about Jason being badly injured. In the present, Paul finds Jo standing outside  in the rain after she left the front door open. Abhi looks through her clothes at home. She gives Miriam a police evidence bag and says this is the one she needs her to do. Abhi asks her to open his phone and delete anything I wouldn’t want to see and don’t tell me anything about it. Paul tells Jo that he has some news for her. Amara joins Miriam as she finds the texts between Jo and Chinar.

Amara is shocked. They begin arguing before Amara says she is out of here. Abhi hears what is going on as Amara storms out of the house. Paul tells Jo that he doesn’t have one and he is a serving officer. She insists she can’t accept it before Amara interrupts to complain about Jo sleeping with Chinar. Amara claims he would’ve deleted them, but he didn’t get the chance because of Jo. Paul says he came here to tell Jo she is going to be recommended for a commendation from the Chief Constable. They argue more before Paul decides to leave. Amara curses Jo and storms out too. Later, Jo calls for Amara to come down so she can tell her more about her relationship with Chinar. He picked up her scarf. It was about the attention because Jason would’ve never noticed something like that. She meets with him after that to make sure the holiday plan is actually a good idea. He thinks it is.

Chinar just wants to see the swimsuit. Once she gets into her vehicle, he sends her a text saying he is getting hot thinking about it. Jo tells Amara that it was only texts and pictures. It was never an affair or sleeping together. Amara argues that wanting to is having an affair before telling Jo that Miriam knows since she saw the pictures. Jo decides to visit them moments later. She tells Abhi she wishes she could take it back. Jo apologizes and says it was only flirting and stupid texts. Abhi believes that is why they were all on holiday together. She asks Jo how she could be so selfish. Abhi says what they were doing is trivial and she isn’t here to make Jo feel better about it. Miriam tells Jo that nobody is responsible except the men who decided to do it. She should take responsibility for her actions and nobody else’s. Jo mentions that nobody is talking about their bravery.

Abhi doesn’t think that was bravery, but she thinks she is being brave now. Jo tells them how the pictures of what happened come out of the blue when you’re not even thinking about it. Abhi can hear Chinar with the boys sometimes, but then it is gone. Jason returns home later. He knows he’ll have to help her since she won’t be able to guess. Jo admits things haven’t been good between them, but she is here and she isn’t going anywhere. She wants to help each other get through this. They end up holding hands. Jo says the attack didn’t stop time because it always moves forward relentlessly. The only option is to move with it no matter how hard that might be. As Jo gets dressed, she notices the shoes she was wearing at the resort and they cause a quick flashback. Jo goes to the meeting to receive the commendation.

The audience is told about the courage it takes to tackle a determined gunman when you know your family is at risk. Jo tells everyone how she was a police officer many years ago and how she is proud to be standing here with her former colleagues. She claims she doesn’t deserve the commendation because she killed a boy out of fear for her life and her daughter’s life. They’ll never know if he was out to shoot them because she killed him. Jo begins talking about everyone who died that day including Chinar and Ben. Then, she says she’d like to acknowledge some of the people who should be getting a commendation with her. She says the names of Miriam, Abhi, and Mateo. She goes on to say her husband, the hotel staff, and the other guests. Jo will accept the award on behalf of all the people who deserved them but didn’t get them. She tried to turn down the applause, but it only got her more.

Once people have decided that you’re a hero, anything you do just makes you more heroic. She wonders where the applause is for the day-to-day stuff. Everyone gathers and takes pictures before Jo sits down next to Miriam. They talk about Jo’s speech and the fact she doesn’t think they’ll want her back now. Although she hasn’t decided yet, she is thinking about going back to being a police officer. Miriam admits she still struggles with the idea that Jo was with Ben when he died while she wasn’t. It hurts that it wasn’t her. When they go inside for food, Paul asks Jo what the Chief Constable is saying. She wants Jo to go in next week for a meeting. Jo says she needs to do it for the right reasons. Amara interrupts to see how she is doing. Bea and Mateo hang out on the beach together. Jo confesses that everything is different now and there is no getting back to normal, but you somehow find a way.

For Jo, that means no more excuses. She gets dressed in her police uniform just before the episode ends.

 

Crossfire Review

It is hard to be thrilled about the finale of Crossfire for a number of reasons. The series started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Early in the finale, the gunmen were quickly eliminated in the most anticlimactic fashion. The officers at the scene did nothing to get the situation under control and allowed potential victims to roam the hotel freely. Previously, it was mentioned that there could’ve been five or six shooters so it is unfathomable to believe the police would stop after two were incapacitated.

Everything that came after that felt a bit pointless since it was already difficult to cheer for many of the characters. There was likely an underlying message here, but it wasn’t conveyed in an effective way. Instead, it seemed like it was showcasing the journey Jo had to go through to get back into the police force.

There were so many ways Crossfire could’ve ended and unfortunately this was likely the worse possible ending. Many viewers will probably be disappointed with the way Crossfire wrapped up. The finale deserves a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Crossfire can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent entertainment website by following this link.