Departure – As the finale of The Midwich Cuckoos begins, Jane Colter (Marianne Oldham) finds Susannah Zellaby (Keeley Hawes) in the cellar and frees her. Susannah runs home to check on Cassie (Synnove Karlsen) who is curled up on the floor foaming from the mouth. After a call from Susannah, an ambulance rushes to the scene. Dr. Zellaby is unable to tell the paramedic what her daughter took last night. Susannah sits with her daughter at the hospital. Zoe (Aisling Loftus) watches through the window as Curtis (Lewis Reeves) leaves in a taxi. Hannah (Georgia Thorne) enters to tell her mother that they need to talk about dad. Curtis goes to his trailer where he purchases a handgun from a man in a vehicle outside. Cassie reminds her mother that she was supposed to come home by 10. She refuses to believe her mother got locked in at the school and accuses her of lying all the time.

When she needs Susannah, she is not there. Susannah walks into the hallway where she tells Paul Haynes (Max Beesley) that her daughter is okay. Bryony Cummings (Cherrelle Skeete) tells her that Bernard has gone to Winthorpe to prepare for the children’s move. Susannah would like to speak to Paul alone, but Bryony knows something is wrong so she wants to hear what she has to say. Susannah asks about the Nordosk file before Bryony gives it to her a bit later. She looks through it and learns there were no survivors from the prior incident. When Sam (Ukweli Roach) returns home, Hannah tells him that Mr. Haynes went to the school last night and they think he told him to go there. Hannah asks whether he is trying to hurt them. Sam changes the subject when he notices that Ellie isn’t in her playpen.

Hannah uses her powers to lock the door as Ellie (Etta Edward) plays by the swimming pool outside. She demands answers while asking whether Paul went to the school with Dr. Zellaby. Once Sam admits it was her, Hannah unlocks the door allowing Zoe to grab Ellie before she can fall into the water. Susannah urges Bryony to remember what happened at Winthorpe that day. She remembers going to sleep in the testing room. Evie looks through the window toward the soldiers. She isn’t sure whether Westcott fell asleep, but she doesn’t think so. When she woke up, she heard a gunshot that the others heard as well. Evie (India Watson) visits Cassie at the hospital to ask where Granny is. When asked by Evie, Cassie confesses she hurt herself. Cassie says she is okay now before they hug. Susannah urges the others to contact London to tell them what is going on.

The children have taken over a squadron of soldiers and Westcott is going to help them. Joe (Jude Muir) interrupts to ask Dr. Zellaby what she is doing. She claims she is just talking to Paul about her daughter before Joe urges her to come with him. Evie asks her mother what granny told her and whether she told her what she saw at the school. Cassie promises she didn’t tell her anything. When Paul tells Joe not to touch her, he is slung against the wall. As Susannah goes outside with Joe, Bryony tries to get Paul to wake up. Joe wants to know what she saw at the school, but Susannah changes the subject by pretending to be his friend. He follows her and insists she is lying to him. He begins breaking the overhead above them until Curtis shoots him several times. He kills a guard who comes out to see what is going on. Once there is another shot, Jodie (Lara Rossi) calls for Nathan.

When she finds him, he cowers in a corner like he is afraid of her. The other kids begin panicking as well. Blood begins streaming from their noses as Cassie asks Evie what is wrong. Evie says she has to go. Cassie pleads with her to take her along. Curtis makes it to David (Dexter Sol Ansell) and puts his shoes on so they can leave. Paul grabs a gun from one of the dead guards just before Curtis makes it outside with his son. Susannah approaches Curtis and calls his name. He tells her that he is taking his son away. Susannah doesn’t think he’ll make it because the kids won’t let him leave. He is warned that they’ll kill him and David. When he sees two kids in opposite directions, he accuses Susannah of bringing them here. Hannah shows up behind Susannah who argues that he brought them here.

The kids try to make Curtis shoot David, but Paul shoots him before that can happen. The kids surround Joe’s body in a circle before walking away. Once Susannah makes it back to the ward, she learns that Cassie has disappeared. She calls her phone which is sitting nearby. As she searches the house, she gets a call from Evie who says Cassie is where she wants to be. Although Susannah argues she needs medical supervision, Evie says she is coming with them to Winthorpe. An army bus will travel from Winthorpe to pick up the kids tomorrow morning and Cassie will leave with them. She’ll be safe as long as Susannah does what they say and doesn’t cause trouble. After the call, Susannah gets a message from Earth Monitor encouraging her to stop them. Paul meets with Jodie who tells her about Nathan leaving. She shows him a drawing Nathan left that has “help me” on the back.

Jodie doesn’t believe he wants to be one of them and can’t understand why he went with them. Paul believes he is scared. She pleads with him to find Nathan and bring him back. He instructs Jodie to go to his house and stay there. He rips out the note before leaving. Zoe and Sam go to the ward where they find out what has happened. They learn from the others that their children have left too. Jane overheard Bryony saying the children have locked themselves in the school. Mary-Ann argues that the kids need to know they had nothing to do with the shooting. They question Bryony who doesn’t seem to know what is happening. More soldiers arrive. Major Craig Seymour (Bo Poraj) bursts in to say he has authority under the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004 to take command of the Ward 300 operation. He implements a full curfew for tonight and urges everyone to wait at home. Jodie is shocked when soldiers break into the home while looking for Paul.

Paul finds out what is going on so he sneaks to Susannah’s house. Paul says the soldiers from Winthorpe have blank faces with nothing going on. They’re just obeying orders. Paul wants to speak to them at the school, but Susannah warns him they’ll do to him what they did to Curtis. She argues that the kids cannot leave Midwich because they’ll control another platoon if they reach Winthorpe and the whole army. She believes their best chance is when the children take the military bus in the morning. Susannah has to try to prevent Cassie from going with the children. Paul gives her the note Nathan left him. Nathan uses pain to block the hive and doesn’t want to be part of them anymore. Paul pleads with Susannah to get Nathan out of there. When Susannah goes to the school, she is confronted by Olive (Kimia Lamour) who won’t let her in.

She claims they’re all Evie, but Susannah refutes that. Cassie and the others watch as Susannah approaches Evie to say she wants to come with her. It wasn’t her intention to cause trouble, but they lied to her about Mr. Westcott. They never told her he was the only survivor from the first landing. Susannah also tells them that she knows about the Winthorpe platoon. They’ll either have to take Susannah with them or kill her. Bernard Westcott (Samuel West) comes out and says it seems she knows about him. She understands that they’re important to him because he has been alone for 40 years. Bernard explains that 40 years are nothing when you’ve lost everything. His hive was burnt alive by her bombs. Bernard argues that the children are a superior evolution. They are still children so they need his protection.

Susannah thinks they need her protection, but he believes she is a threat. She tries to convince the kids that she loves them even more than Bernard. He says she is human and they cheat and deceive. The kids learn that Mary-Ann is approaching the front gates. Cassie tells her mother that she doesn’t want her here. Susannah warns her that they’ll kill her if Cassie rejects her. Mary-Ann tells Lily (Natalia Harris) she just wants to say goodbye with one hug. After Lily hugs her, she tries to convince her mother to leave. When Mary-Ann tries to take Lily home with her, the other children make one of the soldiers shoot her.

Evie claims they had no choice. Susannah says she knows before reminding Evie that she is on their side. She knows they’re better than them because they don’t hurt each other. They’re not angry or jealous either. Susannah knows humans are flawed and they’ll never change. She pleads with the children to let them help her. Evie agrees to let her come with them. Later that night, Paul sneaks into the ward to steal Curtis’s keys. The kids take Susannah and Cassie underground where they’ll be safe. Susannah manages to get Nathan to tell her that it is going to be a blackout in the town. She asks him to warn his dad. Paul goes to Curtis’s shop where he begins creating bombs. He tapes a phone to the bomb while most of the kids begin walking away from the school.

Nathan calls Paul to tell him that he needs to get himself and Jodie underground now because there is going to be a blackout. After the call, Nathan joins the other kids outside as they form a circle and hold hands. Paul calls Sam to tell him to get underground. They break into another house nearby and go into the basement. Once Paul gets underground, Jane collapses at the church. Jodie falls to the floor at home. Susannah tells Cassie it is a second blackout to make everyone forget the kids were here. If Midwich forgets, no one will ever know that the kids exist. Evie let it slip when she said no one would miss them. The soldiers begin taking down pictures, removing belongings, and getting rid of all traces of the children. Susannah believes some part of Evie loved Cassie although the hive will do anything to survive.

Cassie thinks she has been such a fool, but her mother says there is nothing foolish about loving your daughter. When Cassie asks what they’re going to do now, Susannah instructs her to escape. Susannah is going to stay here for a while so they don’t panic. She assures her daughter she knows what she is doing. When Sam wakes up in the morning, he tells Zoe that they need to go. They check the house and learn that everything regarding Hannah has been taken. Zoe thinks the blackout was meant to make them forget that Hannah ever existed. Susannah and Cassie watch as one of the military jeeps drives away. They take Nathan to see Jodie who can’t remember anything about him. Paul watches them leave moments later. Hannah visits Zoe and Sam next. Zoe and Sam pretend they know nothing about Hannah.

As Hannah walks away, Ellie runs out and says hello to her. Paul sneaks into one of the military jeeps and kills a soldier to take his clothes. Bernard tells Bryony that the children will travel in the coach while they will travel in the lead vehicle. Bryony notices that Paul is dressed as one of the soldiers but says nothing. Sam tells Zoe it is time to go. As they load the car, Hannah walks toward them to ask her mother what she has done. Hannah stops when she sees Ellie in the doorway. Evie tells Susannah and Cassie to get ready because they’re leaving soon. Nathan returns to tell Susannah that his mom doesn’t know him although his dad did. Susannah urges him to take Cassie and run away from the others. She tells Cassie she’ll see her on the other side before they leave. Paul takes the bag full of bombs onto the bus and sits it down.

The kids notice that Nathan is missing so they send a handful of soldiers to track him down. Cassie and Nathan run past a sign that warns of traps. Nathan runs over one of the traps and gets his foot stuck. As they hide behind a street, Nathan tells Cassie to leave the trap. When the kids say they’ve lost him, Susannah pleads with them to cut him off because they don’t need him. She says she can be the only hostage they need and Cassie won’t say anything. The kids use their powers to cut Nathan off from them. Moments later, Evie tells her granny that it is done.

The kids begin getting on the bus. Paul looks at Susannah and shakes his head, but she nods at him before getting on. Paul rides in a jeep behind the bus full of kids. As the bus leaves town, Paul grabs his phone to trigger the bomb. Evie tells Susannah she is glad she is with them because she would’ve missed her. Susannah says she would’ve missed her too. The other soldiers find out about the soldier Paul killed. Westcott orders them to stop the bus since there might be an infiltrator. Bernard gets out while the others suspect the infiltrator is in the rear of the jeep. Paul triggers the bomb. Susannah tells Evie it is all going to be okay just before the bomb explodes. Cassie hears the explosion from nearby.

Sam and Zoe stop their car to watch the smoke rise. Paul walks away from the fire. Nathan tells Cassie they should go.

 

The Midwich Cuckoos Reviews

Although The Midwich Cuckoos had moments here and there, it is hard to argue that it was anything other than a mediocre modernized version of the story. Solid acting from the main characters was marred by a weak script and dialogue. It was odd that the characters never learned from their prior experiences. Most of the scenes revolved around the adults trying to keep things hidden from the children even though they knew they’d find out at some point.

At times, it seemed like the finale had been written at the last minute and cobbled together. Paul building a bomb using Curtis’s materials was a good example of this since there was no mention of anything like that previously. Viewers will likely be perplexed by Susannah’s decision to get blown up on the bus with the children since it wasn’t explained. While the show tried to vilify Curtis from the beginning, he turned out to be the wisest character in the end.

However, I question the decision to make the finale so gun heavy considering the politics surrounding that topic. Regardless, I’d suspect many viewers will be left disappointed after the somewhat anticlimactic finale. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Midwich Cuckoos can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support us at this link.