After the Flood series 2: Did ITV crime drama REALLY just kill off one of its main characters!?
Did that really just happen?
After the Flood has just aired the most heartbreaking scene of series 2 – and series 1 for that matter – with one of its main characters brutally attacked, but is Pat really dead?
The ITV crime drama just broke our hearts in a thousand ways as Jo’s husband Pat was left for dead in the closing minutes of episode 5. And viewers will be baying for Sergeant Phil Mackie’s blood right now. As villain’s go, he’s up there with The Walking Dead’s Negan, Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones, and Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.
Like the brilliant BBC drama Happy Valley before it, After the Flood wasn’t afraid to kill off a popular and inherently decent character without warning. [Fans of After the Flood actress Sophie Rundle will know that her Happy Valley character Kirsten McAskill was in fact one of the characters to be killed off].
The scene in After the Flood episode 5 even trumped The Night Manager’s bombshell twist earlier this month, when villain Richard Roper was shown to be alive – despite viewers having seen his dead body several episodes before.
Here’s what we know about After the Flood’s dramatic cliff top scene between Sergeant Phil Mackie and Pat Holman – and what we know about whether Pat is really dead.
***Warning: spoilers from episode 5 of After the Flood series 2 ahead***
What happened in After the Flood series 2 episode 5?
In the latest episode of After the Flood series 2 (Sunday, February 01, 2026), viewers saw controlling Sergeant Phil Mackie start to fray around the edges. First of all, he had Jack Radcliffe on his case. After being screwed over by Mackie and Benson in series 1, Jack is demanding compensation for the money he lost on his development Uplands – or he’ll go to the police with what he knows about Mackie. After all, Jack has nothing to lose at this point. But Benson refused to cough up any cash – leaving Mackie with no money to silence Jack and in a squeaky-bum situation.
Secondly, Mackie’s estranged wife Sarah told him their marriage was over and she wanted a divorce. But it was Pat Holman’s actions that really pushed Mackie over the edge. Which is exactly what Mackie ended up doing to Pat later that day.
Pat had been gathering evidence against Sgt Phil Mackie. And in episode 5, he finally got enough to bring him down. Pat tracked down one of Mackie’s former foster kids, who agreed to testify against him. But Pat’s small victory didn’t last long.
When Pat messaged his wife Jo to tell her about his success, he told her: “I think we’ve got him.” However, in a gut-wrenching twist of fate – or rather damn good writing – Mackie intercepted the message…
Who was Saskia Bale?
During his investigations into Mackie, Pat had come across a historic case which raised his spidey antenna. Years ago, a woman called Saskia Bale had some criminal charges against her dropped and brushed under the carpet. Pat soon made the connection that, like Lee Ellison in series 1, Saskia had been one of Mackie’s foster kids.
He eventually tracked her down, and begged her for information about her relationship with her “foster dad”. Like Lee, she’d been manipulated and used. In ‘return’ for fostering them, Mackie then made them feel indebted to him, and asked them to do things for him. In Lee’s case, killing anyone who stood in Mackie’s way. With Saskia, she was asked to act as a honeytrap in high-end car thefts. Saskia told Pat: “Who was going to believe me over Phil Mackie?”
After meeting with Pat, Saskia agreed to help him. She contacted several other foster kids who were also abused by Phil Mackie who were also willing to talk.
However, Mackie knew the net was closing in, and was planning his next devastating move.
Pat Holman and Sergeant Phil Mackie in terrifying confrontation
Having stolen a look at Jo’s phone and intercepted her message from Pat, Mackie knew they were on to him. Posing as Jo, he replied to her saying: “Go to our place, I’ll go straight there.”
Of course, from his snooping around in Jo’s house, Mackie had discovered that Pat and Jo had a ‘special’ seat in the woods. Having tricked Pat into meeting him, Pat went there with no idea the danger he was walking into.
And, in fact, what we expected to be an epic denouement was actually horrifyingly quick. A furious Mackie launched himself at Pat with his baton. And he didn’t stop until Pat was a bloody, unconscious mess on the ground. In heart-stopping scenes, Mackie then pushed Pat over the edge of the ledge of a steep cliff. Pat, barely conscious, was unable to protect himself or put up a fight.
Is Pat really dead in After the Flood?
Tragically, we fear Pat IS dead in After the Flood series 2. Although he could have survived the beating with hospital treatment, here’s no way anyone could have survived that fall. It’s a truly shocking and catastrophic way to die – at the hands of the man who had already “ruined him”.
Episode 6 must surely show the discovery of his body, and Jo’s realisation that Mackie killed her husband. It’s set to be a dramatic finale, and we’re all rooting for Jo to nail Mackie to the cross.
Of course, fans unwilling to wait could head over to ITVX to discover Pat’s fate in the series ending.
Read more: Graham Norton book about woman ‘living with a killer’ gets an all-star TV adaptation
