Summary
Fittingly, “Brechtje en Roos” delivers a last-minute surprise, but it also provides closure and a neat ending for almost everyone involved, impressing as a finale.
This recap of The Twelve season 1, episode 10, “Brechtje en Roos”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
And here we are, folks. The Twelve episode 10, the finale, brings matters to a close, and while it has been a long – perhaps too long – road to get here, the journey has for the most part been worth it. As “Brechtje en Roos” opens two years ago, with Britt preparing to record her video, it’s clear that there is more to still be revealed.
First, the aftermath of Delphine’s struggle with Mike. She phones Noel, for lack of any better options, and it leads to Mike being led away in handcuffs, which he richly deserves. Noel himself arrives and puts the kids to bed for her, and possible addictions are smartly left at the door.
Back in court, and with a final, impassioned speech from Frie, matters are adjourned so that the jury can reach a decision. This is what the entirety of The Twelve has been building towards, and “Brechtje en Roos” gives it the momentous treatment, as it should.
This is, of course, not a decision to be taken lightly. None of the jurors treat it as such either, which leads to a problem – there isn’t a majority vote, which is what’s required. Thus, the decision falls to the court. In some sense, is this absolving the jury of their responsibility and an example of the show slightly chickening out of its central premise?
Between the jury and the court, though, a decision is made: Frie is found guilty of murdering Britt, but not Rose. It’s the home video footage that swings the vote, despite Stefaan’s overwhelming suspiciousness, and as Frie is being led away she’s sure to cast further aspersions on him. Margot later does the same. But it’s up to a tried-and-true flashback to reveal the truth of the matter in The Twelve episode 10: Stefaan did indeed leave the movie screening before the end, but not to kill anyone. That part of his story is true.
As it turns out, Stefaan didn’t kill anyone – Frie did. It’s the gloves and Britt’s necklace that eventually give her away. After an entire season of red herrings, shady behavior, and a whole litany of potential suspects, it was the accused who was guilty after all.
To what extent this constitutes a satisfying ending will probably be determined by personal taste, but I think by any metric it constitutes a ballsy one. Comparatively, the jurors have a much neater time in their own stories. Yuri confesses, with support from Holly. Delphine leaves Mike, with support from Noel. The series’ theme of growing relationships and parallel stories, while not always perfect, worked well enough in the end.
If some questions still remain about Frie’s precise motives, they make for ambiguous grace notes to a season that otherwise ended quite conclusively. Given how neatly The Twelve season 1, episode 10 tied everything up, a second season would need a new case, and new jurors, but I think the overall concept has plenty of legs.
