The Rapture on BBC One: Ending explained including who really killed Carys Krall and if Bethany's visions came true
It concluded with a message of hope and courage
The Rapture wasn’t just your average BBC One crime drama, as it tackled important themes alongside a whodunit, and the ending finally revealed if Bethany Krall killed her own mum.
The five-part series introduced troubled teenager Bethany. She had been sectioned in a psychiatric hospital after being convicted of brutally murdering her mother Carys. All the while, she proclaimed her innocence, while also feverishly drawing pictures of events that eventually came true.
The case shocked the nation, not least because Bethany’s father Leonard was the charismatic leader of the Faith Way, a happy-clappy spiritual movement with millions of online followers.
When psychologist Dr Gabs Fox was assigned to Bethany’s case, she slowly began to believe in her innocence. So much so, she subsequently helped her escape the institution in a bid to find out the truth about Carys’ murder.
Could convicted murderer Bethany be innocent after all? And if she didn’t kill Carys Krall, who did, and why? All was revealed in The Rapture ending on BBC One.
***Warning: spoilers from The Rapture ending on BBC One ahead***
What happened in The Rapture ending on BBC One?
Temperatures rose in the final episode of The Rapture – in more ways than one. It was time to find out if Bethany was a manipulative psychopath or if she was really innocent of killing her mum. And it took all of our favourite characters combined to come together and expose the truth.
In the penultimate episode of the intense thriller, Gabs had helped Bethany escape the psychiatric hospital. The final episode began with Bethany on the loose, having failed to meet up with the Climate Front in the designated meet-up spot. But Bethany wasn’t stupid – she saw the future after all – and didn’t trust the activist group… With very good reason it turned out.
In the electric ending of The Rapture, Carys Krall’s death was revealed to be part of a huge conspiracy involving big shady corporations with greed, corruption, and fraud right bang in the centre of everything.
Did Bethany kill her mum?
Nope, Bethany did not kill her mum. Of course she didn’t! She was quite annoying, admittedly, but not a killer. It was all a set-up. And one her creepy dad had been complicit in. No wonder she was in therapy. Someone had stabbed Carys Krall through the eye with a screwdriver. And when Bethany had been found sitting beside her mum’s body, covered in blood, she was the obvious suspect. The fact she’d drawn a picture ‘predicting’ the act not long before added to the evidence against her.
Bethany was banged up in a psych ward, where her violent outbursts only helped make her look like a psychopath. But she had every right to be angry. Someone had framed her for her mum’s death, and kept her locked up for two years. That is until her new psychologist Gabs Fox wheeled into the hospital. Due to her own traumatic past, she was more willing than most to listen to Bethany. And soon began to realise Bethany was telling the truth.
What was Endrion Technology?
The villain in The Rapture was shadowy businessman Max Leland, played by Stephen Campbell Moore. Anybody else notice how Stephen is fast becoming the go-to guy to portray baddies? Just see Little Disasters for further evidence.
Max was the puppeteer behind Endrion Technology, The Faith Way, Trenmoor, and even local MP Caroline Wren for a time (until she saw sense). Even Oxsmith, the psychiatric hospital, was paying lip service to the company via Leonard Krall. Everything led back to Max Leland, Endrion, and Trenmoor. Even Gabs’ boyfriend Frasier, who’d been blackmailed for information by Max.
Endrion was a powerful tech firm, who basically created Leonard Krall’s Faith Way. Although Leonard claimed they were a grass roots movement rooted in community funding, that was a lie. They received corporate funding from Endrion Technology. In turn, Trenmoor paid Endrion to do their dirty work. Although Trenmoor Energy pretended to care about the climate crisis by funding wind farms, they also wanted to make money – even if it risked the safety of the planet.
And Endrion would do anything – yes, including kill – to keep making money, and protect their clients, including Trenmoor.
The Faith Way was simply a “marketing machine funded by oil”
In the denouement, Leonard revealed that Faith Way was nothing more than “an algorithm”. He explained: “Endrion created me. They own me. I was a minister in a Cardiff church when Daisy Stokes first approached me. I was flattered. They wanted me to build a new religious movement aimed at the young. They knew they’d be the perfect fit.”
However, Endrion had greedy and selfish motives. Over time, they began pushing Leonard to openly criticise activist group Climate Front. The end goal? For The Faith Way to shift public opinion, undermine climate activism, and distract everyone so Trenmoor – Endrion’s client – could keep making money out of fossil fuels.
The Faith Way was a big con. Leonard Krall’s so-called spiritual movement was simply a “marketing machine funded by oil”. He was a puppet. And, disgustingly, stood by as his daughter was wrongfully imprisoned for her mum’s murder.
The Rapture ending on BBC One: Who killed Carys, and Daisy?
It was Max Leland’s “cleaner” Bob who killed Daisy, and likely killed Carys too. Either way, Max was behind both kills, even though he did not do the dirty work himself.
Carys was “heartbroken” when she found out that Faith Way was paid for by “oil money”, in direct opposition to their morals. She threatened to turn whistleblower, and was silenced. Max Leland paid someone, most likely Rob, to kill Carys and set Bethany up. Endrion tampered with the CCTV so that there was no sign of Rob in the house. Of course, the tech firm was also behind the smear campaigns on Gabs, and Dick Carwyn.
Daisy Stokes, who later ended up dead before she could talk, was the Senior Data Analyst for Endrion. Max paid Daisy to build his empire. But, when she knew too much, Max silenced her too.
Sadly, at the end of the series, Max was still free. Although Gabs believed there was enough evidence into his complicity to get him punished in the end. Of course, Max’s henchman Rob had been killed in the car crash that nearly killed Bethany too.
Thanks to Leonard seeing sense and finally admitting the truth, more than 16million followers heard the truth during Faith Way’s national Day of Hope. So although Max was ‘free’, he did have a lot of answering to do.
Could Bethany really see the future?
Although it wasn’t explained in the drama, Bethany did see visions of the future. She predicted her mum’s death, drew Gabs before she’d met her, and foresaw catastrophic weather events. Her drawings did come true.
Some things in life are unexplainable, and this was one of them. Whether you believe in prophesies/soothsayers, or not. The writer of The Rapture clearly did.
Of course, there is no scientific proof that anyone can see the future. Some people, however, believe that 16th-century French astrologer Nostradamus predicted major world events in his book of poetic quatrains Les Prophéties.
What else happened in the ending of The Rapture on BBC One?
Gabs had been suspended and was “taking a break” by the end of the thriller, but she was happier for it. She’d been courageous enough to believe Bethany and help her, instead of towing the party line. She split up with engineer Frasier, and continued her friendship with Bethany. Although felt a bit like a mother and daughter bond to us.
Meanwhile, journalist Dick was back on top, having been at the centre of quite the scoop.
Will there be a series 2 of The Rapture?
BBC One has not confirmed a series 2 of The Rapture. And, sorry to say, it’s unlikely. The thriller was based on the book of the same name, and there is no sequel to the 2009 novel.
However, that said, there have been series which have continued past its origin novel. Take The Handmaid’s Tale, for example, which went on for six seasons in total, way past the original material.
And, we have to admit, we’re not sure we’re ready to say goodbye to Gabs and Dick just yet. They are the double act we didn’t know we needed, and surely deserve a spin-off?
Read more: BBC One reveals juicy update on Shetland series 11, including guest stars and future of beloved character
