The will-they-or-won’t-they romance between Tommy (Josh Dylan) and Tuppence (Antonia Thomas) has been simmering all season, but before these two can figure out their feelings for each other, they have one very big mystery to solve. With Aunt Ada (Imelda Staunton) dead, a serial killer still on the loose, and a decades-old cold case involving three murdered children, the finale of Agatha Christie‘s Tommy & Tuppence has plenty of unfinished business. And while the mystery of the missing children finally comes to a shocking conclusion, the future of Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives — and its romantically challenged partners — is anything but certain. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Tommy & Tuppence Episode 6.
Is Sir Philip the killer?
It’s Halloween, and Ada’s ominous voice warns of the horrors ahead as Tommy and Tuppence continue their investigation into Sir Philip Starke (Nicolas Farrell), who they suspect is responsible for the children’s murders.
While Tommy distracts the caretaker Amos (Gerald Kyd), Tuppence sneaks into Starke’s mansion, where she finds Philip, who mistakes her for a nurse and insists on playing chess. But when she brings up his wife’s affair with artist Boscowan (Adrian Rawlins), the game comes to an abrupt end.
Meanwhile, Tommy calls Detective Draper (Callie Cooke) for help, only to be knocked unconscious by a mysterious figure. He awakens in a shed and manages to escape, just in time to see the Rolls-Royce Phantom driving away. Inside the mansion, he finds Tuppence tied up, but the two make an important discovery: a painting of Philip’s wife Julia as Waterlily, the role Mrs. Lancaster told Tuppence she once danced.
Their suspicions are confirmed: Mrs. Jane Lancaster (Alice Krige) is actually Julia Starke. Her husband has faked her death and locked her away in a nursing home where no one will believe her stories. But why? To hide his guilt? To keep her quiet? They needed to find her.
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The pair confront Vicar Bly (Poppy Miller), who reveals that Philip is her brother and she’s been helping him. Draper arrives and arrests the vicar for attacking Tommy and imprisoning Tuppence. With the case seemingly solved, Draper and Tommy share a tender moment, and she asks him to call her by her first name, Clementine, or Clem. Tuppence doesn’t seem particularly thrilled about that development.
There’s still one problem, though: They have no proof Philip murdered the missing children.
What happened to the missing children?
A clue involving the Apothecary’s rose, which is also known as the House of Lancaster rose, sends the detectives back to Boscowan’s painting. The artwork was completed in January 1989, yet the roses depicted in it don’t bloom until June. It appears they were added to the painting later.
Tommy scratches away the flowers to reveal three sets of initials: SC, NN, and HL, the initials of the missing children! It appears that the painting is a map that reveals where their bodies are buried.
The trail leads to the Red House, where the pair discover Philip’s abandoned car and receive alarming news: Little Hattie (Alara-Star Khan), the daughter of bartender Fran (Alexa Davies), has disappeared.
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Inside the house, music coming from the chimney leads them to a secret passage and a hidden bedroom containing Hattie and Jane Lancaster, both seemingly drugged. Tuppence manages to carry Hattie out, but the door slams shut, trapping Tommy with Jane.
And that’s when the real horror begins.
Who really killed the children? And how is it related to Aunt Ada’s passing?
It turns out the sweet, helpless Jane Lancaster is the monster they’ve been hunting all along.
Julia admits that Boscowan was obsessed with her as Waterlily, and the two used the Red House for their romantic encounters. When young Susan discovered them, Julia murdered her to keep their secret.
“It was like that rush you get on stage,” she recalls of the killing. “Suddenly, it was just so very easy.”
She then killed Nicolas and Helen for the thrill of it, with Julia admitting that she enjoyed killing them. When Philip discovered the truth, he faked her death and hid her away, keeping her far from any children.
But Julia wanted revenge on Philip. Knowing the nurse Philip hired would report any truly terrible behavior, she poisoned Ada’s flask, setting the entire investigation in motion. She even planted clues to lead Tommy and Tuppence to the truth, not because she wanted justice, but because she wanted recognition.
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Why? Why did she do all this? “What is the point of going to my grave a no-one when I can finally be somebody,” she explains.
Her plan nearly works. With Tommy suffering from a concussion and drugged by Julia, he begins to pass out, allowing Julia to finish her work. But Philip arrives and reveals he’s set the Red House ablaze. He intends to die alongside his wife, and the two drink poisoned milk together.
Fortunately, Tuppence manages to escape with Hattie before returning to rescue Tommy. She drags him out as the house burns, leaving Philip and Julia to perish inside.
The decades-old case of the missing children is finally closed, and Ada’s murderer is brought to a fiery end.
Do Tommy and Tuppence finally get together?
With the case solved, there’s still the matter of Tommy and Tuppence’s relationship.
Tuppence finally tells Julian that she won’t be moving to Los Angeles with him. “I can’t keep avoiding things because they are scary and hard,” she admits, explaining that she wants to stay and continue being a detective. Julian takes the news surprisingly well.
Meanwhile, Tommy is nursing his broken heart with Albert when Draper arrives. One thing leads to another, and the two are kissing when Tuppence walks through the door. Awkward!
She announces that she’s staying and wants to continue Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives. Tommy agrees, but their reunion is clearly strained, with plenty of unspoken feelings still hanging in the air.
Before they can address the elephant in the room, Constance arrives with a surprise. After previously telling Tuppence how proud she is of her detective work, she’s now offering the pair a new assignment.
“The government needs your services,” she announces. “I have a mission for you, should you choose to accept.”
And just like that, Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives is back in business, with another mystery on the horizon. But as Ada’s final narration reminds us, while there are new mysteries to uncover, the future of Tommy and Tuppence’s relationship remains to be seen.
Even after solving a cold case with a serial-killing ballerina, these two might discover that matters of the heart are an even tougher mystery to crack.
Tommy & Tuppence, Now Streaming, BritBox
