Who Dies, Who Kills and Who Plans the Coup?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Hostage.”

The “Hostage” crisis has ended, and so has UK Prime Minister Abigail Dalton’s (Suranne Jones) no-good, terrible, very very bad week.

The Netflix limited series, which stars the “Gentleman Jack” actor alongside Oscar nominee Julie Delpy (the “Before” movie trilogy) as French President Vivienne Toussaint, has been a thrill ride of twists, turns and upending conventions.

The limited series was a breathless roller coaster of a ride for PM Dalton and her family. First her husband Alex (Ashley Thomas), a worker with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), and his team were taken captive in French Guiana — just as President Toussaint was in London for a summit to discuss much-needed medicines being sent to the British people.

Vivienne was a challenge to get on board with helping the hostages — especially after she was blackmailed over her fling with stepson Matheo (Corey Mylchreest). But once Abigail and Vivienne became a team and the hostage crisis ended, it was hard to know what the series would do with the rest of its episodes.

Not to worry: There was still a bombing, political intrigue, Abigail’s being removed from office, a secret investigation with loyalties tested, the demise of Vivienne in a heroic move, and yet another hostage-taking.

So how did it all wrap up? Not quite in a happy, neat bow — there were casualties of more than one kind in the fifth and final episode. Let’s see who lived, who died, and who will bear the scars.

Do Abigail, Alex and their daughter Sylvie survive on ‘Hostage’?

Good news: Yes. Bad news: not without some damage.

The episode begins in the immediate aftermath of the 10 Downing Street explosion. The culprit? Saskia’s (Sophie Robertson) conveniently “left behind” laptop, brought helpfully to the building by Matheo. Angry ex-military man John Shagan (Martin McCann) detonates the laptop.

What does Saskia have to do with this? Turns out Saskia — posing as Matheo’s girlfriend — was formerly a corporal in the Highland Guards. Her battalion was shut down by Abigail Dalton in an initiative to fund health-related initiatives. John is a retired Highland Guard captain who decided to plan a coup against the prime minister and recruited the likes of Saskia to carry it out (more on that later).

In the blast, Vivienne perishes while alerting the room to the peril.

Alex races in to help his wife, pulling her from the rubble. The Daltons (along with teen daughter Sylvie, played by Isobel Akuwudike) embrace and phew, that might seem to be the end of it. Dalton has been voted out of office by her ministers in a no-confidence vote, and now perhaps she’ll be able to rest easy and leave politics behind.

Er, no. There’s still much of the episode to go! So with John and Saskia on the loose, Dalton sends her family to a safe house Matheo recommends, and all three (plus security) head out to the countryside and a beautiful mansion to rest and recover.

Who dies at the safe house?

Almost immediately, Saskia and John figure out where they believe the Daltons have holed up. Saskia pins down Matheo and Sylvie with a gun, while John scuffles with Alex, slashing his stomach with a knife. John forces the disabled Alex to call Abigail and get her to the house — without backup.

Abigail arrives downstairs as Matheo, upstairs, dials the equivalent of a 999 call in secret. When Saskia finds out what he’s doing, they struggle and she loses her weapon. He lets her escape (well, they were once lovers) while Sylvie picks up Saskia’s discarded gun.

The teenager goes to find her parents, hearing them in a heated moment with John. Trembling, she turns the gun on John. But her parents urge her not to fire — they seem to be well aware that if she kills John, she’ll have to live with it for the rest of her life. John, clearly knowing this is his endgame, lets Sylvie know he’s responsible for her beloved grandfather’s murder and — blam. John goes down. Sylvie, it seems, is a very good shot.

Who’s behind John’s plot, and why was he so focused on Abigail?

We’ve been getting bits of information about John throughout the series. Early on, he tells Alex that he once had a daughter himself.

As we learn, an invasion years ago by Guatemala into Belize (a former Crown colony, now independent) led to Abigail (then a governmental minister) to make a heartbreaking choice between getting British citizens and troops out of the country, or saving locals.

(The invasion is fictional, but the story echoes recent American policy during the Afghanistan evacuation.)

But John had been in love with one of those locals left behind — and she was pregnant when the invaders shot her.

He wasn’t alone in being furious with Abigail, though.

In yet another betrayal, John is linked to General Livingston (Mark Lewis Jones), who’s got his own bone to pick with the PM over her military spending cuts. He never wanted her dead, just “out of the way,” but John had his own plans.

Abigail and her team figure out that Livingston and John served together, and after some ranting and raving in the war room he’s set up, the general is arrested and marched out.

Does Abigail retire from politics in the end?

In the final scenes, the Daltons are gathered at 10 Downing Street as Abigail prepares for a press briefing outside. Sylvie looks chastened, cuddling a cat. They all agree with Abigail’s plan, whatever it is — and she pauses on her way out to gaze at a portrait of the late Vivienne.

Outside, we learn that Abigail is now back in power. Her speech underscores that she plans to be truthful and honest with the press and the public going forward.

“It’s the least you deserve,” she says.