Culprits Series 1 Episode 8 Recap
A Forest – The episode opens 24 hours after the heist in Las Vegas where Joe/Muscle (Nathan Stewart-Jarret) meets Jules (Kevin Vidal) at the hotel bar. Jules offers to buy him a drink and reveals that he is in town for a conference that was just canceled. Joe says he suspects Jules won’t have a hard time keeping himself entertained. Two months after the heist, Vincent Hawkes (Eddie Izzard) is shown entertaining several London, England business associates before retiring to the restroom. He’s escorted by a guard (Christian Greenway), but left alone inside, allowing Dianne Harewood (Gemma Arterton) to capitalize on the oversight. Holding him at gunpoint, she doesn’t bother hiding her identity as the engineer of the heist. She practically boasts about it before asking how he’s been supporting his lavish lifestyle. She proposes returning the key if he’ll go public with his wrongdoings. He claims there is nothing to admit to before reminding her that the key is worthless without the box. After some back-and-forth arguing, she orders him to turn around and vanishes.
As The Intermediary (Juliet Cowan) escorts Muscle to a present-day meeting with Dianne, she confirms that he understands his role. He assures her he does but claims he will need a weapon if he is to kill Dianne. Although she orders one of the guards to give him a pistol, he removes the clip. Seconds later, he’s dropped off in front of a palm reader’s shop called “Future Now” where he is given a roll of duct tape, a car key, and the clip to the pistol. After locating his vehicle, he drives to a nearby fashion billboard advertising a sale and uses the tape to shape a triangle.
The following day at a park, he’s surprised by 5 men in suits, who remove his weapon and escort him to a waiting vehicle. Instead of Dianne, he’s greeted by Fixer (Karl Collins), who reminds him that he was supposed to leave the States after the heist. When Muscle tells him about being hunted and his meeting with Fuse (Mark Field), Fixer says that’s all the more reason for him to leave the States. Before the guards forcefully remove Muscle from the vehicle, he claims he has a message for Dianne from Fuse. He refuses to give it to anyone other than Dianne. After being bagged and restrained, he’s taken to meet Dianne. He shares that he knows the location of the box, but refuses to give it until she tells him what’s going on. She reveals Hawkes as a ruthless and corrupt businessman who cares about nothing but his money. She says the key provides access to a crypto account that is far more valuable than the cash they got from the heist. Although he shows her the supposed location of the box, she claims it would take at least 48 hours to put together a team to do the job. He pleads with her to move sooner, claiming that Jules, Frankie (Maria Nash), and Bud (Baeyen Hoffman) won’t last that long. When he volunteers to help, she shares a story about how Hawkes was the majority owner of a car company (Eden Motors) that knowingly released a faulty vehicle that led to the death of her sister. She wraps the story by claiming she’ll need at least 2 more people to pull the box job.
The mention of 2 additional crew members causes Muscle to remember the day Officer (Kirby) gave him her Las Vegas ticket and put him in touch with her moneyman to help transfer the heist money. As he leaves her to recover in the hotel, he gives her the SIM card that she used earlier to contact him.
Muscle meets with Officer in a present-day pub and shares his meeting with Dianne. She’s not happy to learn that he’s volunteered them for another job that’s going down that very night. In a joking manner, she makes him beg for her help. Several minutes later they track Azar Mizouni’s (Tara Abboud) phone to a local park. Although very little of their conversation is revealed, the trio of Officer, Azar, and Muscle are shown minutes later meeting with Dianne. Several seconds after that, they are gearing up and en route to the job. Dianne appears to be the only member of the crew to wear a disguise. Stopping in a tunnel, Azar gets out and picks the lock to a service door that leads to a subway. After following the tracks for several minutes they overhear 2 guards conversing. Dianne tells Officer and Muscle they are up. Taking a wedding dress and wineglass from her backpack, Officer plays the role of a drunken bride to allow Muscle to get the jump on them. At another service door, the team splits with Azar and Officer en route to activate the lifts. In the opposite direction, Muscle and Dianne head towards the box.
At the ticket terminal, Dianne and Muscles spend several minutes trying to find the box. During the search, Muscle stashes his pistol in the ticket booth and removes another from under his Kevlar vest. They eventually find the box tucked inside an old cigarette machine, but Dianne never gets the chance to access it because Muscle holds her at gunpoint. After a quick struggle, he holds her at gunpoint and calls for Hawkes. Officer and Azar are led in at gunpoint by several additional guards. When the commotion settles, Hawkes enters and tells Dianne it took a while but he figured out who she was and why she was after his money. He also claims that he’s never intentionally killed anyone unlike her. After some back-and-forth, Hawkes turns his attention to Muscle and asks for the key. Muscle gives him the cylinder and makes his way to the pistol he stashed earlier. Muscle shoots several of the guards and takes Hawkes hostage. Hawkes soon orders his guards to drop their weapons as Muscle pleads with him to call off the people chasing Jules. Hawkes doesn’t make any moves but promises to and offers money as well. Although shocked, Dianne, Azar, and Officer have started making their way to their feet and collecting weapons.
Muscle ends up destroying the key, against Dianne’s wishes. Dianne kills Hawkes and as she turns her weapon on The Intermediary, she says she can stop the people after Muscle’s family. After she makes the call, Muscle says goodbye to Dianne and asks Officer if she is going to leave with him. As they make their way out and Officer is about to reveal her real name, Azar shoots her from behind. After yelling at Azar, he makes his way out alone while Geneva’s “Closer To The Stars” plays. A montage of all the deaths throughout the series along with footage of Azar burying Officer plays out on the screen. Dianne is also shown visiting her sister’s grave.
In Canada, Jules receives a call from Joe informing him that he and the kids are safe and he’s outside. Jules joins him but alludes to the children that he’s taking out the trash. Outside, Joe apologizes and tells Jules that he can go on with his life. Jules says it might be right for Joe to let him and the kids go on with their lives, but asks what Joe wants. Joe says he wants to marry him and be a father to his kids. The series ends with Jules extending his hand and Joe taking it.
Culprits Review
Not a bad finale at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with it, and have to say that it is one of the more creative I’ve seen in a while. It wasn’t that the Eden Motors Company revelation or ending was completely mind-blowing or unexpected. For me, it was the mixture of sadness over Officer’s death meshed against the happy reunion of Jules and Joe that I enjoyed the most. Although the crypto wallet theory is a bit hard to grasp and some scenarios were horribly scripted, I enjoyed the series. I didn’t really expect the Eden Motors spin either but wasn’t completely mind blown by it. It fit and for that, I’d have to give the finale an easy 6 out of 10.
In addition, I’ll give the actors their due, especially Jules and Joe. They did a good job of making their relationship realistic and believable.
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