Ludwig Series 1 Finale Episode 6 Recap

As the finale of Ludwig begins, we see that Holly Pinder (Sophie Willan) has been stabbed in her apartment. When police reach the scene, they see Lucy Betts-Taylor (Anna Maxwell Martin) holding the knife. DCS Carol Shaw (Dorothy Atkinson) visits John Taylor (David Mitchell) at home to tell him about Holly’s death and Lucy’s arrest. At the station, DI Russell Carter) says it must be a mistake, but he won’t let John/James see his wife. In private, Russell tells him that Lucy was found with a knife. Russell asks DC Simon Evans (Gerran Howell) to get someone to pick Henry (Dylan Hughes) up from school. Then, Russell speaks to Lucy and tells her she’ll need to answer some questions. Lucy immediately denies killing Holly.

In a possible flashback, Lucy retrieves a knife from her home. She tells Russell that Holly called her to say she wanted to talk. Lucy claims Holly was like that when she got there and she died in her arms. Russell stops the interview before telling Lucy that James is the most brilliant man he’s ever met. He admits he can’t let James speak to her. When Lucy is alone, she calls John using the phone Russell left. She urges him to get her out of there because they cannot trust anyone. Simon hands Russell the coroner’s report. Russell is surprised it came back in just two hours. John and Lucy argue about her decision to go see Holly. John opens the door and Alice checks on him. Lucy says it has to be someone in the building. Russell tells Alice Finch (Izuka Hoyle) and Simon that the postmortem confirms Lucy’s knife was used to kill Holly.

Simon believes there’s something he needs to say. John tells Lucy it would be best to come clean. Lucy believes the same person killed Sinclair, Bowen, and Holly. Russell returns and tells Lucy she’ll have to return to the holding cell. Henry is brought to John. Chief Constable Ziegler (Ralph Ineson) says he wants a media blackout on this. He orders Shaw to do it to avoid losing the public’s trust. Russell takes Simon to Shaw because Simon has something to say. Henry expresses his concerns to John. Russell interrupts to say he needs to get an official statement from James. When they leave, Shawn speaks to Henry in private. She asks him to stay in the family room because they can’t have him wandering around the station. Russell asks James about his relationship with Holly. Shaw goes to the crime scene with Simon and Alice.

Russell asks John if he has ever been sexually involved with Holly. John says he doesn’t know. Simon and Shaw talk about whether James had an affair with Holly. Once they go outside, they find out that Holly’s boyfriend, Adam Newsum, is there. Adam tells Shaw he saw Holly last night. He learns about Holly’s death. Shaw and the others find Holly’s wall covered with pictures and information about James. They learn that James is a twin. Shaw says Holly’s murder is not the only crime that has been committed there. John tells Russell that he’s not James. Russell brings Lucy back to the interview room. When she sees John, he tells her that they know. John is taken to a holding cell. Shaw tells Alice and Simon to forget everything they saw. Alice knows Shaw’s name was on one of the folders. Shaw tells them to maintain plausible deniability.

Russell tells Shaw about James. They also learn about John who is Ludwig. Simon suggests Holly and James didn’t have an affair. Instead, Holly was testing him to see if he knew. Shaw worries about the recent cases being reopened. She tells the others they still have to solve a murder. Shaw approaches Henry and talks to him about the truth. She offers to arrange somewhere safe for him to stay. Russell, Simon, and Alice talk about the evidence and suspects. Russell tells Alice and Simon it’s time they go home. Then, he confronts John. Russell says they don’t think James and Holly were involved romantically. John is adamant that Lucy is innocent. Russell gives him information that might help solve the case. Shaw tells Henry she believes James disappeared because he’s a good man. John looks at the crime scene photos and tries to figure out what happened.

When Russell arrives, John asks him how Lucy entered the flat. Russell says Lucy said the door was open. John wants to get Adam to the flat because his reaction will be important. He also wants Lucy and Shaw there. Russell wants to know what he spotted in the evidence. John believes he can prove Lucy’s innocence in a controlled environment and in front of witnesses. Shaw believes John is playing the odds because he doesn’t know who to trust. Everyone is gathered and John begins talking about the crime. John insists the killer didn’t know Lucy was coming. He suspects the killer barged in when Holly answered the door. The killer heard someone else enter the flat and quickly hid in the kitchen. Lucy entered and put the knife down on the stool. John suspects Lucy went around the back and the killer came around the front.

While Lucy was on the floor with Holly, the killer swapped the knives and put Lucy’s in the knife block. The killer left and Lucy picked up the murder weapon. Simon grabs the evidence. John points out the knife that Holly brought from home. He asks Adam if he’d like to confess to save them from checking for fingerprints. Adam admits it’s possible that his prints are on the knife. He wants to make a deal. Simon arrests him. John is taken back to his cell. Soon, he learns that Shaw wants to see him. Alice tells him that was good work today. Simon asks if he can sign a puzzle book for his mom. Then, Shaw tells John that Adam was not Holly’s boyfriend. She paid him to do grunt work. Holly was acquiring and selling information to whoever would pay the most for it. She’s been leaking information for a long time.

Roger Sinclair was a regular client and a conspiracy theorist with a long reach. Everything Roger put out there has vanished from the Internet. Within 24 hours of the discovery of Roger, Shaw was told a specialist team was being brought in. James and his partner were off the case. James didn’t stop. He got the amended report and said it was all lies. Holly knew everything he was accessing. James was going to be her next victim. She never got that far because James disappeared and John arrived. Holly was going to blackmail John and Lucy. That’s why Holly wanted to meet Lucy. Adam found out that their 50/50 split was anything but on the same night. Shaw says all the evidence was sent to Scotland Yard, but the van arrived empty. James was never going to win the fight and he would end up losing everything.

Shaw shows John his brother’s resignation letter. She wants John to sign it and date it on James’s behalf. Then, John will be able to go free and return to his own life. John tells Russell he signed it as he leaves. Russell gives him his belongings back. When John leaves, he gets a message. Ziegler approaches him to say he wants a full report. John tells him that he just quit. He turns in his badge before leaving in a taxi. John listens to a voicemail message from James. James admits John going undercover was never part of the plan. He never fully factored in Lucy. She was always John’s best friend. James wants John to tell her the truth because he’s been lying to himself more than everyone else. Something is wrong in Cambridge and James threw himself into it. He disappeared from his family’s life weeks before he disappeared from home.

He told himself he was doing so to search for answers, but he was looking for anything to pull him away from a life he was unhappy with. James says they’re identical, but he takes after their dad and John takes after their mom. James is the Bowerbird. John returns to Henry and Lucy. Another car pulls up and Russell gets out. He gives John a contract to put him on a retainer. They want to put John on the payroll as a consultant. Once they go inside, John tells Lucy he’s not going to take it. He’s going home and he thinks Lucy and Henry should come. John tells Lucy that his brother left her. Lucy doesn’t want to believe it. John says he is leaving him massages. John tells them about the Bowerbird. Lucy says James never used metaphors. John realizes something and says he’s a complete moron. He says his brother knew anyone could listen to that message.

James was giving them an out and a clue. He gets the book that their dad left them and says the text is a clue. It’s the source code for solving the cipher. They solve it and get an address. They go to the address and find a storage container. When they open it, they find all of Sinclair’s research. John believes there should be an important story among all the conspiracy theories. John suggests he can get through it quickly. Henry suspects that means John is staying. They begin moving boxes to the car while James watches from nearby. Russell, Alice, and Simon work on a new murder. John is there to help them.

 

Ludwig Review

Ludwig started out as something unique thanks to the interesting way John solved murder cases. His brother’s disappearance was a somewhat effective way to maintain interest from episode to episode. The finale really threw all of that in the garbage. Since the third or fourth episode, the problem-solving was no longer compelling.

It was more effective the first time around. James’s disappearance had potential, but it really fizzled out in the end as well. Ultimately, it turned into a nothing burger. James just decided to leave for whatever reason and Neville didn’t seem to matter either. Obviously, the team wants to drag this out for another season because that’s the only goal of modern television.

The problem with that is that the finale was the weakest episode of the season. The bulk of the episode was Lucy and John being interviewed with not much else happening. Then, John just happened to get the crime scene photos and solve the case. Holly’s murder was also a nothing burger.

It pertained to nothing. The corruption in the police force really fell flat too because the culprit was killed by someone introduced in the last episode. The whole murder scenario was a bit silly as well, but that’s been pretty common in this series. The series would’ve been much better without the disappearance of James or without James period. Instead, it needed more problem-solving and puzzles.

While watchable, the series finale definitely made it all like it was all for naught. The finale scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Ludwig can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.