New Netflix limited series Bodies has proved a hit on the streaming service since its release earlier this month, with a dramatic finale.
The show, starring Stephen Graham, is set across multiple timelines as four murders are investigated.
A synopsis of the show reads: “When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London’s East End in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate.
“As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play?
“To solve the mystery, our four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years.”
Here’s an explanation of what happens at the end of the show: warning, major spoilers ahead!
What happens in Bodies?
Bodies begins with the discovery of a murder in Longharvest Lane, London, with Detective Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) finding a naked man with a whole through his eye.
The same corpse is then found in the same spot in 1980 by Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller), Detective Charles Whiteman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) in 1941 and Detective Iris Maplewood (Shira Haas) in 2053.
As the show unfolds, a conspiracy stretching back decades is revealed, with all the murders and timelines intertwining.
Who is Julian Harker in Bodies?
Julian Harker, a member of the London elite, is key to the story of Bodies. He died in the Burmese War in the 1800s, and his identity is stolen by Commander Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham, who travels back to 1889 from 2053 in order to make a plot to attack London.
Harker/Mannix then carries out the bombing in 2023 in the form of his future self, named Elias, and kills half a million people.
Who is the body in Bodies?
The body discovered by the four detectives is that of Gabriel Defoe (Tom Mothersdale). Defoe runs a group called Chapel Perilous which is dedicated to stop Mannix’s plot. He’s joined in the plan by Detective Hasan, whose son was killed in the 2023 bombing.
Defoe is a time-traveller, and helps Hasan work out how to stop the bomb from going off. To do this, he kidnaps Maplewood – an employee of Mannix’s – to tell her about the plot and show her the time-travel device.
Mannix then shows up, and Maplewood shoots Defoe as they jump into the time-travelling device, known as The Throat. His body ends up in four different years because he is shot by Maplewood as he is splitting into different timelines.
In the end, Maplewood saves Defoe’s life by instructing half-brother, Alby (Edwin Thomas), to build a piece of headgear to aid his recovery. He ends up surviving the bullet and is found in Longharvest Lane by Maplewood and Alby.
What happens at the end of Bodies?
Hillinghead has confessed to Defoe’s murder, and is put in a cell next to Maplewood, who has shown up naked in Longharvest Lane and is arrested. Hillinghead then tells Harker/Mannix that he knows about his plot, and Mannix starts to worry whether he is doing the right thing by carrying out the bombing. He has Hillinghead killed but begins to question his decision to bomb London.
He ends up in an unhappy marriage with Polly, who he confesses everything to and which she resents him for. She does, though, encourage him to continue with the plan. Mannix records a message to his future self instructing him how to carry out the attack, but then secretly re-records another message in order to try and make things right.
When Harker/Mannix is confronted by Whiteman, who has come to kill him and Polly, he asks him to take the re-recorded message to Hasan in the 2023 timeline. He is then shot by Whiteman, but not after he agrees to pass on the message. Whiteman is then also shot to death by Hayden.
Hillinghead is then transported to 2023 via The Throat by Hasan, and to the day of the bombing. It is then revealed that Harker/Mannix’s re-recorded message is of him telling Elias – his future self – not to carry out the attack.
He decides not to proceed, and tries to reconnect with his mother Sarah Mannix (Natalie Gavin), who gave him up as a baby. He then quickly realises that his fate is to sacrifice himself in order to save all the victims of the bombing, and ceases to exist in the 2023 timeline.
