As the finale of The Tourist begins, Kosta (Alex Dimitriades) talks to an older Dimitri on the phone. Kosta refuses to believe it because he saw his brother get shot by someone, but Dimitri says he eventually woke up and paid a doctor to sign his death certificate. He knew it was time to escape that life so he did. When Kosta asks his brother to prove it, Dimitri begins telling him about the time when they were begging on the streets of Omonoia when they were seven. A man grabbed Dimitri’s hand and tried to pull him away, but he didn’t know his older brother was around. Kostas remembers his brother fracturing his jaw and breaking his kneecaps. He grabs the bag and moves away from the others. Luci (Shalom Brune-Franklin) tells Elliot (Jamie Dornan) that he needed his brother when he was a kid so he still sees him for that reason and because of the LSD. Elliot doesn’t seem to understand and quickly experiences a sequence of quick flashbacks.

He remembers Lena Pascal (Victoria Haralabidou) telling him that he doesn’t remember her. Luci tells Elliot this is the reason Kosta regularly talks to himself. Kostas asks how his brother could leave him alone for so long. His brother responds he didn’t know how to reach out and he knew Kosta was lost in the world. He was concerned there was no coming back for him. Elliot doesn’t like the fact that their fates depend on Kosta’s phone call with a reformed gangster although Luci says it could be much worse. Dimitri begins telling his brother about Victoria visiting his retreat and how they started talking. Dimitri didn’t know what kind of woman she was and didn’t hear from her again until today. As Dimitri tries to convince his brother to give up this life, Victoria tells Elliot about plan B which is to hit the cop with a rock and take his gun. While Kostas begins seeing a young Dimitri (Alex Andreas), Elliot and Victoria try to get Lachlan Rogers (Damon Herriman) to shoot Kostas and end everything.

Rogers claims he doesn’t have a choice. Young Dimitri tells his brother this is a waste of time so they should kill everyone and get it over with. Kostas gets angry and refuses to believe his brother on the phone. He turns his ire to Victoria who says she was going to get on a plane and leave but didn’t since she is tired of making that choice. She encourages him to turn his life around like his brother. Kostas looks at his brother, says no, and believes his brother has always been there with him when nobody else was. Plan B begins so Elliot hits Rogers and they end up turning the lights off. Several shots are fired during the chaos. When Rogers turns the lights back on, Victoria is shot in the stomach and Kostas is shot and left lying on the ground. He tries to get Kosta to call his people and release his wife. When that doesn’t happen, Rogers leaves with his phone and says he is going to find his wife. Kosta tells his brother he is coming to join him and imagines he is holding his hand until he dies.

When Elliot finds out Victoria has been shot, he decides to rush her to the hospital. Before they go, she forces him to get the bag full of money. Soon, they’re in a vehicle trying to rush toward Cooper Springs to save Luci’s life. She admits she was tired of running and thought she could get the psycho off her back for good. She also thought they could do something together. She freaked out when he said he was going to the police and lied about him killing someone to stop him. He urges her to keep talking so she doesn’t fall asleep and die. To keep her talking, Elliot asks her to tell him something true although that isn’t her thing. She tells him about her father walking out on her. Before her dad (Aubrey Garden) walked out on her, he said he was going to get onions. They begin laughing at the fact that she claimed her father died of colon cancer before. She believes her father said that because onions are supposed to make you cry but they never did her.

Then, she begins telling him about the first time she saw him for the second time. It threw her for a loop when Elliot decided to come back to Burnt Ridge for her. She didn’t know what to think and believes it was somewhat his fault she decided to blow up the diner. She explains she thought Marko are going to show up at the diner and she didn’t know if she could trust him. Her dad was a chemistry teacher so she decided to create a bomb and prepare for the worst. Since she saw a family coming into the diner and Sandy was outside, she detonated to bomb to prevent a potential catastrophe. She couldn’t risk the bomb going off by itself. She says she has never made a relationship last for more than five minutes. She pushed everyone away and she wants Elliot to promise he won’t do that.

He doesn’t want her to talk like that because she is going to live. If someone reaches out to him, Victoria wants him to let them. She believes that is the only thing they have stopping them from being the worst versions of themselves. When he says he gets it, Victoria says she is just going out for onions. He looks back and has to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a kangaroo. He gets out and checks on Luci only to discover that she is dead. In town, Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald) dances with Ethan Krum (Greg Larsen) while Diego gives them pointers. She gets a call from Ethan asking for her help so Ethan takes the phone and tells Ethan that Helen wants nothing to do with him. She wants to call back to find out what is going on. Ethan warns her that they’re finished if she does. Helen says he wouldn’t have to keep threatening her if he loved him like he claims. She goes on to say he doesn’t know her anymore because she isn’t the same person she was before she met Elliot.

When he says people will think she is having an episode, she finally tells him to go screw himself with something big. She calls Elliot back and learns that he is going to need her help. She asks where he is. Then, we join Lachlan who calls Kosta’s guys and asks to be allowed inside so they can talk about the money. He is allowed inside and promptly searched. They find the colostomy bag before the conversation turns to the money. His wife attacks one man before he slices the other guy’s throat. He shoots the other guy using his friend’s gun. They embrace before we return to Elliot who has more flashbacks about Luci and Lena. Helen rushes to reach him. Rogers returns to the station where he tells his boss what happened. He claims that Rodney Lammon (Kamil Ellis) showed up wanting to help, Helen took his gun, and Helen killed Rodney. He insists he didn’t have any idea Elliot and Helen had been working together.

They made him put Lammon in his trunk and everything turned to chaos when they got to the stone men. He claims it turned into a blood bath, but he managed to get away. We see police officers with several body bags. When told Helen has a different recollection of the events, he says she stayed behind at the stone men to lie her butt off. He asks whether she said anything about her relationship with Elliot. He shows them a video of Helen and Elliot having dinner together and insists it wasn’t a hostage situation. Rogers doesn’t think they should believe a hick out of Cooper Springs over him. When he finishes talking, his boss says he is sorry he had to go through this. While Elliot waits for Helen, he hides the bag full of money. Helen stops at a gas station and goes inside to buy a few items. She sees a news report about herself and Elliot being on the run together. Lachlan is shown on television telling the media about Elliot and Helen who are being compared to Bonnie and Clyde.

When she reaches Elliot, she learns about Luci’s death and tells him about the news. After he learns that they’re wanted for murder, Elliot offers to take the blame for everything although Helen doesn’t think it’ll be that easy. He is worried he is never going to reach Adelaide and find out what Lena knows about him. She learns about Elliot working for Kosta. She says he must’ve had his reasons. He responds it’d be nice to know what they were. Once she says she needs to report Luci’s death, they agree it will be unfair for them to take the blame for what someone else did. She doesn’t like unfairness. They drive away from Luci’s body and agree to report it when they get further away. After that, Helen says they’ll have to find a way to prove that Lachlan is lying, but she is still working on that.

Elliot asks if she thinks she is a good person because he believes so. She has repeatedly helped him although he keeps dragging her down. Helen isn’t sure about that since she’d still be getting married if she never met Elliot. She claims it is a new chapter and a new her before they spot a police car with its siren on behind them. Elliot again offers to take the blame, but Helen refuses and speeds forward. They speed by a sign that says, “Welcome to Devil’s Rock” as Lachlan gets a call telling him about their whereabouts. He wants everything on it to prevent them from getting away. Once Helen and Elliot find themselves surrounded by police officers, Helen asks him how fast he was going when he came out of the Dusty Moon Hotel with Lachlan. He believes they went left and they were going fast. She thinks she has an idea, but they’ll have to stall for time. Elliot looks at Ronny’s restaurant and tells her she is going to think he is mental.

She drives them over to the restaurant before they run inside. They quickly take the guests hostage and threaten to shoot people dead when police officers approach the entrance. When Lachlan learns, he tells them that Helen and Elliot are dangerous so they should shoot if they get a clear shot. He intends to rush to the restaurant. While more police officers surround the restaurant, Helen calls someone and asks how fast they can get it to her. She is hoping she is right about this. Snipers prepare to shoot Elliot while Nathan Wong (Max Brown) calls the restaurant in hopes of negotiating with Elliot. Wong asks if he has seen the news. Elliot says he hasn’t unless it is the one where they get to leave unhurt and get a reward for a gross miscarriage of justice. Elliot gets stern with Wong although they don’t have a plan. Helen reminds him they’re going to need more time. Elliot tells Wong over the phone that he wants him to find and bring Lena to him.

Before the call ends, Elliot threatens to start shooting people if they begin moving around. Helen is worried they’re scaring people, but Elliot says they have to because they’ll leave otherwise. He doesn’t want to kill anyone although he’d shoot them in the legs if necessary. They wait a bit longer before Lachlan Rogers arrives outside. Helen is confident that her friend will call her back soon enough. Elliot tells Helen he remembers more from the Dusty Moon but is interrupted. After Elliot tells an officer to get a clear shot and fire, he calls Helen using his phone so they’ll have a private line. When Elliot takes the phone, he learns from Rogers that they’ve already found Lena and she is coming. He asks Lachlan if he really thinks people will believe he is a victim. Then, he questions how he can live with himself. Rogers doesn’t think he is a bad person and is only doing what he must. Elliot says he might as well get covered in it if he is going to step in it.

Lachlan says you’ll do what you have to for the people you love. He goes on to say he thinks he is going to win because Elliot is going to spend his last moments in a wings shop. Freddie sends a picture to Helen’s phone. Elliot responds he doesn’t think he wins and hands the phone to Helen. She tells Rogers she got Freddie to send her something from an object that shoots but never kills. She asks him to turn on his speaker and check his messages. She knew there would be a speed camera out there and it snapped a picture of Lachlan driving with a handcuffed Elliot in the passenger’s seat. Helen explains she used Elliot’s information to get that evidence. She says he lied because his version of events doesn’t match the photo. Helen has sent the photo to every department in the state leaving Rogers screwed. At the police station, Helen visits Elliot who is locked in a cell. Elliot confirms he told them he made her do everything. She says he’ll be out after his bail hearing. Since Lachlan is the big fish here, he can likely get off with a suspended sentence. The body they found in Murray Waters had Billy Nixon’s DNA all over it so he is clear there too.

She asks what he remembered about the night they were together. He reveals they kissed although they didn’t have sex. Helen gives him a phone that already has her number programmed in it in case he wants to contact her later. She says this is one of those days when you do things you never thought you would do. She leans through the cell bars and kisses Elliot. Before Helen leaves, she tells Elliot that Lena is there and she is coming to see him. Lena approaches the cell and eventually asks if it is true what the police said about him losing his memory. He can still understand the other language even though he isn’t sure how. She is going to show him who he is. She lifts her shirt and shows him a large scar going from side to side. She still has problems with it and claims it has been every color of the rainbow. She doesn’t think the man he paid to cut into her knew what he was doing. He was a butcher who sliced her open with a dirty knife to search for the drugs wrapped in plastic.

Elliot says this can’t be true. Lena admits she was lucky since Mila and Angelika died after he loaded them up with 65 little bags of heroin each. As they went to the plane, he made them smile back at him like they were going on a holiday. He always made Lena smile when she entered a room because she was practicing pretending nothing was wrong. The drugs must’ve been wrapped too loosely because they burst inside of Mila and Angelika. While Angelika died in three minutes, Mile lasted a bit longer and a stewardess tried to give her mouth to mouth. Everyone on the plane was screaming. When Lena got back, Elliot couldn’t wait for her to poop out the drugs so he decided to cut her open to retrieve them. She tells Elliot that this is who he is. She says he is the man who showed her what hell is like. He apologizes and promises he didn’t know, but she says he does now and he’ll have to live with it. She leaves seconds later. When Elliot is released, he asks the officer if they’re going to release him despite what he did to Lena.

When they spoke to Lena, she said Elliot had her mixed up with someone else so they can’t hold him for that. He can’t even get himself arrested for the horrible stuff he has done. When he leaves the station, he calls Sue (Genevieve Lemon) to tell her where he hid the money. Then, Elliot intentionally crashes his car in hopes of killing himself or losing his memory again. However, he ends up being okay in the hospital and remembers everything. He gets a visit from Helen who knows what he allegedly did to Lena Pascal. Elliot says she knows that isn’t him. She wants him to say it is a big mistake and he doesn’t believe it. Elliot confesses he doesn’t know if anything he remembers is real, why he was working for Kosta, or how he met Lena. Helen insists there is no reason on Earth to make something like that okay. She can’t believe he had to turn out to be that guy. Elliot reminds her that she is his only friend in the world. Helen tells him goodbye and leaves.

Later, Freddie (Maria Mercedes) joins Helen at the table with a mango crazy and says it makes men go crazy. She knows Helen is still thinking about that bloke. Elliot returns to a room he has likely been renting before placing a paper bag and his phone on the bed. Helen admits she can’t understand how a guy who would do something that awful would save her life and give Sue all that money. Freddie says she came home 20 years ago and found a man going through her underwear and sniffing them like they were roses. He was a lodger studying entomology so he was a total freak. Regardless, the man is David who she ended up marrying. She explains that love doesn’t happen like it does in the movies because real people make mistakes. They deserve a second chance. She says Helen and Elliot could be the love story of the century. Helen isn’t sure since he can’t forget who he was now. She can’t either.

Elliot is shown drinking alcohol. Freddie asks whether she can’t forget that or can’t forget him. Elliot removes a pill bottle from the paper bag and dumps a bunch of pills into the palm of his hand. He takes them with alcohol and manages to get them down. Freddie says people change as Helen asks for a Bloody Mary. Freddie leaves to get them drinks. Elliot is shown face down on the bed while his eyes open and close. When Helen sends him a message, Elliot’s eyes open. He checks the message and finds a burrito emoji. He smiles before the episode ends.

 

The Tourist Review

Despite some interesting moments throughout the series and finale, The Tourist never reached its true potential. At times, it felt like the series didn’t know what it wanted to be and struggled to maintain consistency. The finale likely would’ve been better if it had ended 20 minutes early before Lena ever got to flip the script on its head.

Even then, it would’ve felt like a bad teenage rom-com, but the last 20 minutes possibly made the finale a bit worse. It tried to recreate a Tony Soprano like character twist by convincing viewers to fall for Elliot only for them to hate him after the drug smuggling revelation. Unfortunately, it was ineffective because it was so difficult to connect with any of the characters in the first place.

While The Tourist was far from being the worst show I’ve watched in the last few months, I still believe it could’ve been so much better. The finale was a mishmash of cliches and plot twists in hopes of finding something to stick to the wall. Regardless, Jamie Dornan is fascinating as a man trying to reclaim his memory. As for Danielle Macdonald, she did well with her respective role although they should’ve removed her chastity belt much sooner.

The finale had some genuinely good moments, but the yarn was spun a bit too long. It scores a 6 out of 10. All recaps of The Tourist are available on Reel Mockery here.