Summerwater on Channel 4 ending explained: Who started the fire and why, plus identity of man in the woods
A shocking and devastating conclusion to the TV dramaSummerwater on Channel 4 delivered a devastating and shocking ending with a heartbreaking final episode.
The six-part series, which is available to stream in full on Channel 4 now, and set in a remote loch-side Scottish holiday cabin park, weaved together the lives of the holidaymakers and a family who worked at the nearby hotel.
Everyone there had their own demons and secrets. Ever since the first scene though the big questions were: who started the fire? And who was the corpse being carried out in a bodybag?
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Sarah Moss, Summerwater kept you guessing until the very final moments.
Here’s who started the fire, who died in it and what happened to Annie (wonderfully played by Happy Valley‘s Shirley Henderson).
*** Warning: spoilers from the ending of Summerwater on Channel 4 ahead***
Summerwater ending explained: What happened to Annie?
Annie was suffering from dementia and in episode 5 she told her doctor husband David (Dougray Scott) that she wanted him to help her end her life. She produced a vial of lethal drugs and asked him to give it to her in her tea. We saw her sip her tea, but in the last scene of episode 5 we discovered that he didn’t put the drugs in her drink.
In the final episode of Summerwater, Annie obviously found out that David broke his promise as she wasn’t dead. She was furious. Annie said she was not changing her mind. David broke down and said he couldn’t live without her. He said he was not asking her to change her mind but he couldn’t kill her tonight.
“Remember how we used to dance,” she said. “Poorly as I recall,” he replied. “We could again if you like,” she said. “Let’s get our glad rags on,” he said.
David and Annie then headed over to the party. David had been vile at times. They both had affairs. But in the final episode, despite everything, we saw a kind of peace between them.
Who went to the tragic Summerwater party?
The whole series has revolved around the holidaymakers complaining about the loud music from the cabin of Alina (Anna Próchniak) and Marijonas (Arnas Fedaravičius). They lived with their daughter Violeta and Marijonas’s mother, Rasa.
Steve (Daniel Rigby) headed over to the party with his daughter Lola (Emily Briscoe) to complain about the noise. His wife Justine (Valene Kane) watched on. But his mood softened when Marijonas asked him to join the party. Steve said he would have one drink.
Alina took Lola upstairs to Violeta’s room. Violeta (Anika Boyle) wasn’t thrilled to see Lola which wasn’t surprising as she was mean to her. Alina warned the girls not to lock the door on Violeta’s bedroom as it jammed. This turned out to be crucial to the story.
Ian (Jamie Sives) and Rachel (Shauna Macdonald) also decided to head to the party. They left a note in their cabin for their children, Alex and Becky. Millie also turned up but announced Josh wasn’t coming as he was boring. But eventually he did show up as well. David and Annie also headed to the party.
What happened to Maya’s passport? And who was the mystery man in the woods near Summerwater?
A major subplot of the story was Justine stealing her work colleague Maya’s passport. This also tied into the mystery of the man in the woods, who spied Justine hiding the passport in episode one.
Maya won the job Justine believed she had deserved so she stole her passport. She also keyed Maya’s car. We often saw Justine on the edge and flicking her lighter, making us wonder if she might have been the one behind the fire. The mystery man in the woods had also been another chief suspect for the fire. Throughout the series he lurked in the forest at his camp looking angry. After spying Justine trying to dispose of the passport, he took it to his camp.
Teenager Becky got to know the man in the woods and she found the passport. The mystery man let her have the passport.
Justine’s husband Steve had been worried sick about her. The police wanted to interview her over Maya. Justine told him that she tried to burn the passport in the woods but it wouldn’t light. So she buried it but thinks someone might have heard her.
So Steve couldn’t believe his luck when he found the passport at the party. He grabbed it and went to the bathroom where he spied some candles. He considered whether to flush the passport down the toilet or burn it.
It was never made clear how Steve got rid of the passport. However, in the Summerwater ending final moments Steve reassured Justine that the passport had gone and that there was no evidence against her. Meanwhile, we learnt the mystery man in the woods was ex army. He was estranged from his daughter and wife. Ultimately, he proved to be a hero as he headed into the flames in the final episode to try to save people. His name, although not mentioned throughout the drama, is Gavin and he’s played by James Harkness.
Summerwater ending explained: Who died in the fire?
Upstairs in the cabin, Lola said to Violeta: “Are you not going to talk to me?” Lola then huffily left the room. Meanwhile, Alex (Calum Ross) was out in the woods. He was relieved to get a text from Kayleigh. It looked like she would forgive him for his cruel comments about her dad.
Back at the party, Alina asked Marijonas if he could smell smoke. She went upstairs and to her horror saw flames in her bedroom. Alina went to get Violeta but the door was stuck. She also feared Lola was trapped. Steve and Marijonas ran upstairs to help.
David cleared downstairs and said they needed to call the fire and ambulance services. Everyone started choking from the fumes. Millie saw Justine and said Lola was trapped. But Justine said her daughter was fine and with her.
From outside Alex saw Violeta hammering at the window. He heroically headed into the fire. Alina also headed back into the blaze and told Steve that Lola was safe. But Violeta was still trapped. They managed to free Violeta. Outside doctor David took a look at the child and she seemed alright.
The mystery man from the woods – Gavin – arrived along with Becky. Becky believed Alex was at the pub but we knew he was in the flaming cabin. Inside, with the flames licking around him, Alex hallucinated that he was seeing Kayleigh as he became overcome by smoke.
Alex’s dad Ian and the man from the woods plunged into the fire. They managed to get Alex out. David started pumping his chest. Justine rushed to get the defibrillator. She eventually returned with it and David shocked Alex. David then frantically started CPR again.
But Alex was dead! Alex was the person carried out in the bodybag. His family was devastated.
Summerwater ending explained: Who started the fire? Was it deliberate or an accident?
Lola started the Summerwater fire deliberately! It was hinted it could be various people and until the final scenes it looked like the identity of the person responsible for the fire would never be revealed.
Towards the end of the final episode, Lola’s father Steve viciously accused Marijonas and his family of being responsible for the fire. He blasted: “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Candles. People smoking. And now someone is dead.”
But this could have been because deep down he suspected his own daughter. Shortly after the tragedy, the family drove away from Summerwater but Steve stopped the car. Justine got out and was sick.
Justine clearly also suspected Lola might have caused the fire. She remembered Lola’s odd behaviour on the night of the fire. She asked if Lola was upstairs right before the fire started. Steve said she was and wondered why Justine asked this. Justine then asked Lola if she was ever in the room where the fire started. Lola said she wasn’t.
In a flashback, though, to the fire, we saw Lola lock the door to Violeta’s room. We then saw her go to another bedroom and grab a candle. She took a lighter out of her pocket and lit the candle. Lola then stood at the doorway and watched as the bed covers caught light. Lola knowingly started the blaze.
Back in the present, Steve clearly covered for his daughter, saying he told the fire investigator that he saw the grandmother with a lit cigarette in the bedroom. Steve asked Lola if she saw the same thing and she nodded.
The final words of the moving and gripping series were said by the mystery man from the woods.
“Everyone who comes here comes for a reason. People come here to confront something within themselves.”
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