The Ex-Wife series 2 ending explained: The consequences of Tasha 'facing her monster' Jack, and if there'll be a series 3
Tasha and Jack went head to head in a dangerous showdown
The Ex-Wife series 2 has come to a satisfying ending, with “monster” Jack dealt with in the only way that was ever going to give Tasha, Jen, and Emily any peace. By that we mean, disposed of. Forever.
The latest episodes started three years after the dramatic events of series 1 in 2022, with Tasha and daughter Emily on the run in Cyprus and safe from ex-abuser Jack’s grasp. But, of course, that didn’t last long at all.
In brief, Jack was released from jail and wasn’t about to become a jolly nice bloke. He’d spent three years in jail obsessing about his wife Tasha, and ex-wife Jen. Only the two women (and Tasha’s friend) Sam knew that Jack had actually been imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. He wasn’t responsible for killing his daughter by dangerous driving – her death was faked. But he WAS guilty of spousal abuse, violence, coercive control, and gaslighting.
As series 2 took off, Jack proved that he wasn’t a changed man at all. He pursued Jen, believing her to be “the love of his life”. But she’d moved on with fiancée Connor, and smartly got a restraining order against Jack. Who then promptly turned his attentions to Tasha….
Here’s what happened in the climactic ending of The Ex-Wife series 2 on Channel 5. Note: Tasha and Emily were living in Cyprus with new identities, now called Serena and Lucy. But for the purposes of clarity, we’ll be calling them Tasha and Emily throughout this explainer.
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of The Ex-Wife series 2 ending ahead***
What happened in The Ex-Wife series 2 ending?
The penultimate episode of The Ex-Wife series 2 ended dramatically, so we knew we were in for a thrilling ride.
In episode 3, Jack emotionally blackmailed Jen into revealed Tasha’s whereabouts in the cruellest of ways. He feigned suicidal thoughts and pretended to try to jump off a building. In a moment of pure emotion and fear – and 100% still being manipulated by her ex-husband – Jen blurted out that Tasha was in Cyprus.
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Once he had the information he needed, he boarded a flight to torment Tasha further. Of course, all this was under the guise of giving her a divorce and handing over half of his assets to her. Oh how foolish she was to believe him!
As soon as he’d handed over the paperwork, Tasha truly believed she was free of him. But of course Jack wasn’t going to let her be happy. In front of a horrified Sam, a car ploughed into Tasha – leaving her for dead. Of course Jack wasn’t driving, he was still pretending to be a changed man in front of Jen. But we all knew he has paid a local to harm Tasha.
At the airport, both heading back to the UK, Jen burst Jack’s bubble. She insisted she loved Connor and didn’t ever want to get back with Jack. However, everything turned on its head when Jen accidentally dropped her bag, allowing a picture of Emily to fall out…
At that moment, Jack that he’d been duped, and his daughter was not dead. And that’s where the final episode kicked off …
Did Jen and Tasha manage to stop Jack?
Yes, Tasha and Jen finally managed to stop “psychopath” Jack for good. But not without an epic fight.
Episode 4 of The Ex-Wife started with Tasha in hospital, knowing damn well Jack had tricked her and then tried to have her killed. But if she went to the police, the truth about Emily and her faked death would come out. It was looking like a fight to the death situation. Tasha slipped out of the hospital doors without being discharged and prepared for battle.
Meanwhile, Jack was heading towards Tasha and Emily like a revenge-seeking missile. Of course at this point Emily was being looked after by Tasha’s new friend Maria. Despite everything that had happened in her past, Tasha was the luckiest woman alive having met Maria – a former Cyprus army guard, nifty with a gun, who had a huge house Tasha and Emily could stay in indefinitely… Why doesn’t that ever happen to us? (And let’s not mention how quickly she bounced back from being knocked over, just call her Rubber Bones Tash).
Of course, Jack found out where Tasha and Emily had been hiding, and arrived with malintent. He attacked Maria, grabbed Emily, and made a run for it. Of course, at this point, Jack was confident his hired hitman had killed Tasha…
Could Jen save the day?
As soon as Jack got his hands on his daughter, he immediately began to manipulate her and try to turn her against her mum. He also called his shady associates to get a passport for his daughter…
But Jen and Tasha, having found Maria injured but luckily not dead, had one last shot at getting Emily back. Jen, knowing she was Jack’s weakness, believed she could “get to him”. Basically, she offered to manipulate him the same way he’d manipulated her for years.
Could Tasha trust her though? After all, we all knew that Jack could get into her head… Having discovered where he was staying, Jen told Jack everything he wanted to hear – that she loved him, she wanted to be a “perfect family” with Emily, and that they had a future together.
And the deluded narcissist sucked it up. However, as they left the hotel for the airport, her phone beeped with a message. Ever the control freak and not so stupid that he trusted her completely, Jack demanded he see the message. Of course, it was from Tasha demanding to know where they were, and if Emily was safe.
That was how Jack discovered that Tasha was still alive. Realising she was following them in a car, he lured her to a dangerous quarry where he attacked her. Although at one point it looked like he would kill her, perhaps he didn’t have it in him to kill. He simply told Tasha to leave Emily forever. He said: “She needs a real family. One that can take care of her.”
Did Jack die in the ending of The Ex-Wife series 2?
But we all knew Tasha wasn’t ever going to give up her daughter willingly. She leapt past Jack, only for him to lunge at her. And that was when Jen picked up Maria’s gun. The very gun Jen had taken with her for protection, but it had been knocked out of her hands during the scuffle.
Jen pointed the gun at both Tasha and Jack, and neither knew who she would shoot. Of course we did. There was no way on this earth that Jen was going to shoot Tasha. Of course, she made the right choice. She said “I’m finishing this” before shooting Jack dead. Not bad for a woman who had probably never picked up a gun before.
With Jack dead, Jen and Tasha told police that Jack was deranged and that Jen had fired in self-defence. Which was only half a lie. Jack’s phone confirmed that he was a shady git who had hired a man to kill Tasha. However, the phone records also showed that Tasha had lied about Emily’s death, a criminal offence. But, by this point, she was prepared to face the music.
The series skipped to six months later, when Tasha was freed from her time in a Cypriot jail. Emily and her “daddy” Sam was waiting for her. Maybe not a “perfect family”, but not far off. We can only assume that this meant that on-off boyfriend Sam was finally on, possibly for good. And new friend Maria was along for the ride too. The mother-figure Tasha lacked.
Meanwhile, a messed up Jen needed time to sort her head out, and decide if she really wanted to marry Connor.
‘You have to face your past’
During the final moments of The Ex-Wife series 2 ending, Tasha’s voiceover summed up her journey perfectly. She said: “You can never be free if you’re still running away. You have to face your past, face the monsters.”
She added: “And when you do that. When you walk through the fire, you’re finally free.”
And, yes, Tasha was finally free to live her life with her daughter Emily. Any way she wanted. And she didn’t have to run anymore or be looking over her shoulder. Now that’s a happy ending.
Will there be a series 3 of The Ex-Wife?
Both Paramount+ and Channel 5 show The Ex-Wife, but neither have confirmed if a series 3 has been commissioned. But we think it’s unlikely.
After all, Jack was very much dead at the end. Or at least we think he was – we didn’t see his dead body close up! Although we’d watch a third series just to see Jack’s frightful sister Hayley get put in her place!
Watch this space for more news about The Ex-Wife if and when we get it.
