Crossfire ending explained: What does Jo do next?

While some viewers may have been left disappointed by this narrative shift, and the reveal of the motive, at least the BBC One drama – in which Keeley Hawes’ mother-of-two turns gun-toting heroine when a family holiday resort comes under a terrorist attack – ensured that few questions remained unanswered.

What happened to the culprits?

Well, it’s fair to say that things didn’t end well for them. The younger of the two gunmen, Flavio (Pol Sanuy), had ample opportunity to surrender during the rooftop standoff with Hawes’ former copper Jo. The latter, however, had no option but to fatally shoot when she saw that the trigger was about to be pulled on her.

Just minutes later, older sibling Gerardo (Pol Toro) is also killed in the kitchen when brave Kate (Anneika Rose) distracts him long enough for the long-overdue armed response unit to hit their target. Iker (Guillermo Campra), the waiter who gave the duo access to the complex and later leaks his hostage group’s plans, does make it out alive. But he’s immediately arrested after stabbing Ben (Daniel Ryan) in an altercation which could have been completely avoided.

What motivated them?

Although you might have expected all the bloodshed to have been caused for political purposes, Flavio and Gerardo weren’t part of a militia group. Making the tragedy even more senseless, their motive was simply one of petty revenge.

In a news report later played in the background while Jo is carrying out mundane chores, we learn that Gerardo had been fired from the same holiday complex on suspicion of theft and had previously threatened to kill his colleagues as payback. As shown in a brief flashback, Flavio had simply been manipulated into becoming his accomplice (“If it wasn’t for me, he’d have beaten you to death a long time ago”).

The man referenced here turns out to be their father, who, as revealed in the same bulletin is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence for murdering their mother when they were aged just 10 and 12.

Who did they kill?

Although their indiscriminate firing at a packed family holiday complex resulted in the death of multiple anonymous tourists, Gerardo and Pol’s random spree only kills one member of the main cast. The unfortunate victim was Chinar (Vikash Bhai), who's fatally shot following a basement scuffle which allows his kids to escape.

There is one other major death, of course, but that occurs when a ridiculously hesitant Ben fails to get out of the way of the knife-wielding Iker. Despite suffering a major fall from his upper-floor balcony, Jason (Lee Ingleby) gets to travel back to England with his entire family in tow, albeit in a wheelchair. And although things didn’t look good for wounded hotel manager Mateo (Hugo Silva), he too makes it out with his life intact – we later see him on the beach playing with his wife and kids. Everyone else given the luxury of a name returns home more emotionally scarred than physically.

What happened between Jo and Chinar?

Perhaps the biggest twist in the final episode was the revelation that Jo and Chinar weren’t in the throes of a full-blown affair after all (well, not one that had been consummated anyway). Their extra-marital dalliance had been restricted to saucy texts and the odd brushing of hands, although whether that would have stayed the case had Chinar survived the massacre, who knows?

That perhaps explains why grieving wife Kate acts relatively forgiving when she, Jo and Miriam (Josette Simon) finally get together for a makeshift therapy session. She also seemed to anticipate that her late husband had a dark secret, asking Miriam to go through his phone and delete anything incriminating rather than do so herself.

Jason’s more affectionate interactions with Jo, meanwhile, hint that he’s also prepared to put all the messages he discovered during the siege behind him and give their faltering marriage another go.

What does Jo do next?

Jo spends much of the third episode battling her conscience, constantly replaying the moment she pulled the trigger on Flavio in her mind and dismissing the idea that she’s now a national hero. However, after reluctantly receiving a commendation by her old police force for her bravery, Jo appears to gain a new-found sense of confidence.

Having previously abandoned her cop career over fears she wasn’t good enough, Jo is seen in the last shot putting her police attire on, suggesting she’s overcome her demons and is now back on the beat apprehending criminals of a hopefully less homicidal nature.

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