Ah, There You Are – As the finale of Insomnia begins, we see a flashback featuring a car crash. Caroline Mitchell (Lyndsey Marshal) visits Robert Averill (Tom Cullen) and asks if the birthday girl is in. Caroline explains she just wanted to drop off a cake for Emma and wish her happy birthday. After Robert says Emma isn’t in, Caroline introduces herself. Robert learns that Emma supposedly came around Caroline’s house last night. He invites her in. They talk about last night before Robert asks about Caroline’s mom. Caroline says she died today. Robert tries to convince her to stay for dinner. Emma (Vicky McClure) remains at the hospital with Phoebe (Leanne Best). The doctor tells Emma she can go home and get some rest, but Emma decides to stay anyway.
Caroline eats with Chloe (India Fowler) and Robert. Chloe says Emma never mentioned Caroline. Robert mentions the hit and run. Caroline thinks they should have some cake. Phoebe wakes up and tells Emma that her friend was at St. Agnes. She explains that Emma’s friend pushed her into the pond. Emma begins remembering pieces of the incident. Chloe and Robert eat some of the cake, but Caroline doesn’t because she’s diabetic. Emma asks Phoebe if she’s talking about Caroline. In a flashback, a young Emma is introduced to Caroline and her family. Phoebe can’t provide more answers so Emma leaves. Chloe says she’s going to go to bed. Emma tries to call Caroline but she doesn’t answer. Robert tells Caroline he’s feeling tired and wants to go to bed. Caroline begins cleaning up. He tries to show her to the door but nearly collapses.
Robert asks for Chloe as Caroline tries to help him lay down somewhere. Chloe messages Amy or Julian asking to meet at the end of the road. Then, she falls asleep. Robert says he can’t feel his legs. Caroline tells him it’s just a sedative. Emma calls the Orchard Blossom Care Home to try to speak to Caroline who isn’t there. Julian calls Chloe who is unable to answer. Caroline begins drinking. She sits down and tells Robert she thought Emma would be more like her after everything that happened. Caroline believes Emma has it so perfect. She runs a bath for herself. After a bath, Caroline begins looking through Emma’s clothes. Emma goes to Caroline’s house where she finds her mother dead. She remembers a flashback with Caroline who pushes her into the pond. Emma finds the drugs in Caroline’s house.
Emma gets in her car and rushes home. Julian Sandford (Dominic Tighe) gets tired of waiting so he decides to approach the Averill residence. Inside, Caroline gets romantic with an unconscious Robert. Julian throws rocks at the window to try to get Chloe’s attention. He sees Robert passed out on the couch before Caroline approaches him. She calls herself a family friend. Julian says he wants to speak to Chloe. Caroline breaks a glass and stabs Julian in the neck. Emma tries to get in touch with someone at home. Will gets out of bed. Caroline moves Julian’s body to the pond. She goes back inside and locks the doors. Emma calls 999 to report Caroline. Meanwhile, Caroline hears something inside the house and finds out that Will has gotten out of bed. She looks outside and sees a vehicle pull up.
Emma tries to unlock the door but she can’t get inside. She breaks a window after setting Rob passed out. Once she gets inside, Caroline pulls a knife on her and yells that the kids are okay. She insists she didn’t want to do any of this. Caroline tells her that her mom never talked about her. One day, Caroline saw her at the hospital and knew it was her. She told them that she didn’t need a sister. Caroline feels she wasn’t enough for her parents. She also blames Emma for the crash that killed her father. They were coming back from St. Agnes after seeing Emma. In a flashback, Caroline kicks the back of the seat and yells that she doesn’t want a sister. Alan gets distracted and crashes. Caroline says she spent many years caring for her mom. Now, she’s exhausted and alone.
When she saw Emma again, she knew she had to get to know her. She wants Emma to see her. Caroline made sure Emma hit her and she dropped her pass on purpose. Caroline admits Emma did exactly what she thought she would. For a little while, Caroline actually liked her. Caroline asks about Phoebe. She reveals Phoebe came to her house and she was worried about her. Caroline knew Phoebe would recognize her so she had to do something about it. She claims everything wrong with her started with Emma. Caroline admits to killing Emma’s mother. Once Emma left the hospital, Caroline smothered her mother to death with a pillow. Emma agrees it’s all her fault before apologizing and going for a glass of wine. She knows they’re both screwed up. Caroline thinks they understand each other like old friends.
She gets up and tells Emma that she doesn’t believe her. Emma grabs her hand and tries to control the knife only to get stabbed in the side. Caroline says she couldn’t stand those noises. In a flashback, she’s shown smothering her father to death with her frog toy. Her dad knew something was wrong with her. That’s why he wanted Emma. Caroline looks around and finds Will hiding. She tells him to go back to bed. As she takes him upstairs, Emma gets up. Emma gets a weapon. Caroline grabs a pillow and it looks like she’s going to smother Will to death. Emma makes it upstairs in time to hit Caroline with her weapon. Police arrive outside as Emma checks on Will. In a flashback, Patricia panics when she finds out what she nearly did to Phoebe. After a time jump, Emma returns to the home which has been sold.
Emma tells Phoebe that the new firm should let her work from home a lot more. Chloe finishes packing the records. Emma tells Phoebe she was thinking about their mom’s numbers when she was in the hospital. When she first woke up, it was 1, 0, 1. Just before she passed out, it was 2:33 on Will’s clock. She shows her a video of Caroline lighting the candles at 1:55. At 2:10, she comes back inside. Emma believes they were all doing the same things at the same time. She doesn’t think any of this was random. They discuss whether it could’ve been a premonition. Emma believes that is the only explanation. Phoebe says they would’ve never been sent to St. Agnes if their mom hadn’t been driven mad. Emma would have never met Caroline. Phoebe shows Emma her ouroboros.
She explains it’s a constant loop. Phoebe believes Emma broke the cycle. Robert joins them moments later before leaving with a box. Will is shown writing numbers on the wall.
Insomnia Review
The finale of Insomnia was okay although it didn’t hit the target as often as it could have. In a way, it feels like the numbers, the sleepwalking, and all that stuff were just red herrings that got thrown in again at the end. The finale tried to put it all together in the last few minutes, but it wasn’t very successful in that regard.
As for the rest of the finale, it may be successful depending on the viewer’s feelings toward Emma and her family. The performances here were strong, but I can’t say I was emotionally attached to Emma or any of the other characters. As a result, there really wasn’t a sense of concern for Emma’s safety. It could also be the fact that Emma was likely going to survive regardless and we knew it.
After finishing the finale, the story doesn’t seem all that impressive. It’s really just by the numbers and doing things that have already been done before. Nevertheless, the series had some strong points, especially the performances along the way. The series was watchable and even bingeable now that all episodes are available, but viewers should go into this with the right expectations.
At the very least, the series is striving to be entertainment and it’ll be a sufficient way to waste six hours or so. The finale scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Insomnia can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
