Winter on ITV ending: Vital clue in murder of Ethan's fiancé Simone revealed in cliffhanger finale and series 2 news
There's plenty of loose threads for more series!
Winter on ITV came to a tense cliffhanger ending, with a new clue about Ethan’s murdered fiancé Simone Edwards left dangling tantalisingly for a possible series 2.
After 10 years of his own dogged – but lonely – investigations, Dr Ethan Winter finally had help. And it looked like his working relationship with DI Lauren Bell would finally bring him some answers… But not yet.
ITV described the six-part series as a “stylish, dark and original forensic crime drama with an incredibly unusual personal story”. And it was certainly slick.
Alongside a complex stand-alone crime in each episode, there also ran a deeply personal unsolved historical murder… One that blighted every day of Dr Ethan Winter’s existence.
Here’s everything we learnt in the Winter ending on ITV, including the brutal murder of Ethan’s fiancé Simone Edwards, the meaning of that gruesome bloody triangle, and the identity of Ben Batt’s character Joseph Seaton.
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of Winter on ITV ahead***
What happened in the ending of Winter on ITV?
ITV crime drama Winter introduced “brilliant” forensic pathologist Dr Ethan Winter as he worked alongside DI Lauren Bell and DS Ellis Daldry.
Together, the team cracked a series of twisted and compelling murder cases. With his unflinching eye for detail and deep knowledge of the human body, Ethan Winter saw what others missed.
In Winter episode 1, viewers discovered that beneath Ethan’s charm and cool exterior, a traumatic event 10 years earlier had changed his life and continued to torment him…
This was the main storyline arc of the series. Who had brutally killed Dr Ethan Winter’s fiancée Simone Edwards, what was the meaning of the triangle etched into her thumb, and what was Pegasus?
In the final episode, a woodland car crash hid a darker crime. As Winter uncovered a young woman’s tragic past, a breakthrough in the Triangle case led him and Bell to a shocking discovery…
Who was Simone Edwards?
In episode 1 of ITV1’s Winter, Dr Ethan Winter teamed up with astute DI Lauren Bell after police found a frozen body in the back of an articulated lorry in Bristol.
Although Ethan and Lauren solved the troubling case by the end of the episode, viewers discovered that Ethan was hiding a huge secret of his own.
Throughout the first instalment, we’d seen Ethan share romantic moments with a beautiful woman. Of course, we assumed this was his girlfriend, although there seemed to be an unusual tension in the air.
At the end of the episode, Ethan came home to his stunning Bristol flat and found Pet Shop Boys’ Always on my Mind blaring from the stereo. As he and the mystery women began to dance together, it was a rare insight into Ethan being silly and having fun. However, in a shocking reveal, we discovered that the woman was actually dead, and living only in Ethan’s memory.
Simone Edwards was a 34-year-old photojournalist, who was engaged to Dr Ethan Winter. Not just engaged, they were madly in love. When he returned home to find her murdered in their Bristol home, he cradled her dead body in his arms and never got over it.
What did the bloodied triangle mean?
Simone Edwards’ killer had left a clue… They had etched a triangle into her thumb. And she wasn’t the only dead body found with the bloodied inscription.
A triangle symbolises strength, balance, and the power of the number three across various spiritual, cultural, and mathematical traditions. It can also represent the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And Mind, Body, and Spirit.
When three bodies are linked – all with the unusual triangle symbol cut into their thumb – Dr Ethan Winter realised there was a serial killer out there.
Although Dr Ethan Winter did not get to the bottom of the bloodied triangle in the ending of the ITV crime drama, he did get a step closer to the killer.
Winter on ITV ending explained: Who killed Simone Edwards?
Ethan and Simone’s “obsessed” neighbour Robert Parker had been found guilty of Simone’s murder. The case was closed, and the ‘killer’ put behind bars. But when more cases turned up with the symbolic triangle etched into their thumbs – including ones that took place when Robert was on remand – it became clear he wasn’t the killer.
In episode 6, we learnt that Robert Parker was appealing to overturn the conviction for Simone’s death. Which was only right, as he clearly wasn’t the culprit. So who was the serial killer behind the murders of photojournalist Simone Edwards, teacher Phillip Jensen, and former head of a children’s home Rosemary Lockheart?
In the closing moments of ITV’s Winter, DI Lauren Bell told new bestie Dr Ethan Winter that she was going to lead the team looking into the “Triangle murder” of Phillip Jensen. That also meant looking at the links between Simone and Rosemary.
As well as the gruesome triangle, there was another link. Both Simone and Phillip were engaged to be married, and had bought their engagement rings at the same jewellers. However, when the duo arrived at the shop, it was abandoned. But they found photographs of Simone, Phillip, and Rosemary’s dead bodies. Crucially they weren’t the crime scene photos that the police took. Only the killer could have taken them.
Although Ethan and Lauren did not discover who killed Simone Edwards in the ending of ITV crime drama Winter, they were one step closer… We have to assume that the owner of the jewellers is the killer. And that they were preying on happy couples who visited his shop to buy an engagement ring…
What was the meaning of Pegasus?
In the abandoned jewellers, Ethan also found a scrapbook of the killer’s crimes, including one of Simone’s photographs. The picture was of a police riot in what looked like a European city. In the picture was a statue of Pegasus, a famous winged horse from ancient Greek mythology.
Legend says that wherever Pegasus struck his hoof into the ground, a water spring burst forth. One such spring, Hippocrene, was sacred to the Muses and became a symbol of artistic inspiration. Today, Pegasus represents freedom, high-flying imagination, speed, and divine or artistic inspiration.
Of course, we knew that Simone’s last words were Pegasus. So what is the meaning of the clue? How is her death linked to the photo she took of Pegasus? Only a potential series 2 will tell us.
Winter on ITV ending: Who is Ben Batt’s character Joseph Seaton?
Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed something interesting about Dr Ethan Winter’s potential new love interest Maya Washington. When Ethan went to the pub to speak to her, he apologised for being so aloof. He had been emotionally unavailable, but promised to be better if he was given another chance.
She agreed, but she was clearly enjoying a drink with another man who she appeared to be close to… Played by Ben Batt for a fleeting few seconds, the credits named the man as Joseph Seaton. Now you don’t get Ben Batt in to be an extra for a blink-and-you-missed-it scene. Which means the character is important. He also gave Ethan quite the stare when he turned around.
Owner of the jewellers maybe? Hence the possible killer?
What else happened in the ending of Winter on ITV?
- DI Lauren Bell’s marriage was in tatters after she discovered her husband’s affair with a male colleague. For a detective, she was slow to realise something us viewers had worked out from episode 1. Like Winter, Lauren wasn’t afraid to break the rules to get things done, and she used police resources to track his car. In episode 6, Lauren’s husband Anthony moved out, and their marriage was officially over.
- Meanwhile, Dr Ethan Winter looked ready to move on. But can he trust Maya Washington?
Is there a series 2 of Winter?
ITV has not yet confirmed if there’ll be a series 2 of Winter on ITV. But there’s plenty here for another series or two. In fact, there’s no reason why this crime drama can’t run for years and years like Silent Witness before it.
The ending of Winter series 1 on ITV left several threads still hanging. Although each individual, episodic case was resolved, the overall mystery – who killed Simone Edwards – was not. But there were several clues
We need a series 2 for DI Lauren Bell and Dr Ethan Winter to hunt the serial killer, and avenge Simone. Watch this space for more news when we have it, but we’re 100% convinced a series 2 of Winter will be announced any day now.
