Summary
Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials ends more or less as expected, but its finale provides decent payoff and is an adroit setup for a second season.
At just three episodes, Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials doesn’t have the most complicated mystery in the world. Truth be told, you can probably figure out the ending – who’s involved, what their motive was, everything – pretty early, which means that Episode 3 is more about connecting the dots than revealing anything of considerable substance. And, of course, it’s also about setting up Season 2, since if nothing else, Chris Chiball’s Netflix series is a fine advert for the long-term franchise value of Mia McKenna-Bruce.
There is, however, still a fair bit to discuss and unpack, since there are multiple key players involved and at least one secret society to unmask. Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent’s investigation into the death of her long-time friend and potential beau, Gerry, takes her to some surprising places, and most of what happened comes to light on a picturesque train journey, replacing the classic locked parlour or library reveal that is a standard feature of these Agatha Christie stories.
Here’s what went down.
Who Killed Gerry and Stole Matip’s Formula?
It was obvious that whoever stole Dr. Matip’s formula was intimately connected to Gerry’s death, since Matip was dosed with the same sleeping draught that killed Gerry. When Loraine makes off with the stolen formula, Bundle thinks she’s a pretty sure bet for both crimes and chases her to a train.
With Jimmy and Bill accompanying her, Bundle pursues Loraine through the carriages until Bill, who’s armed with a gun he took from the estate, manages to corner her. In this time, Jimmy has already started working on convincing Bundle that Bill and Loraine are in cahoots, which is always a surefire sign of guilt. But more on that in a minute.
In the meantime, to be clear: Yes, it was Loraine who killed Gerry, dosing his drink with the draught throughout the party at Chimneys, and it was also Loraine who stole Dr. Matip’s formula for strengthening metal into an indestructible compound. However, she wasn’t working alone…
Loraine’s Accomplice and Ronnie’s Death
Loraine turns out to have secretly been working with Jimmy, not Bill, which he reveals by pulling a gun on Bill and Bundle. It was Lorraine who killed Gerry, but it was Jimmy who staged the crime scene, putting the clocks – which he knew that Ronnie and Bill had hidden as a prank – on the mantelpiece to divert attention to the Seven Dials. He also shot Ronnie when he got too close to the truth, which Ronnie used his dying words to share with Bundle. She just didn’t understand what he meant at the time.
Jimmy had faked the attack on himself by shooting himself in the arm – he’s left-handed – and then throwing the gun through the open window onto the lawn. His motives are uninteresting, though. He was just after money, since he’s in inescapable debt and has no way of clearing it.
Jimmy is also not working alone. He directs Bundle to the front of the train, where the person behind the conspiracy is waiting to receive the formula. Bundle knocks Jimmy out and makes her way there for the next big reveal.
Who’s the Real Villain?
The real string-puller is revealed to be Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham, a fact perhaps revealed by the starry casting of Helena Bonham Carter. As it turns out, even her motives were obvious all along.
Lady Caterham never got over the deaths of her husband and son in World War I, which she blamed on the country as a whole. She believed they were thrown to the wolves in a meaningless battle, which didn’t determine the outcome of the war in the slightest, and since then, not only has she been wracked by grief, but she has steadily become penniless, unable to afford the upkeep of Chimneys.
Lady Caterham threw the party to gather intelligence about Dr. Matip’s formula, and enlisted the help of Jimmy and Loraine to help pull off the heist. She didn’t intend for Loraine to kill Gerry, but she wasn’t exactly devastated to hear about it. A devastated Bundle doesn’t shoot her, but she doesn’t let her go either, handing her over to Superintendent Battle, who finally arrives on the train.
What is the Seven Dials, and Who Is Their Leader?
The ending of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials has one final twist to reveal. At gunpoint, Bundle is taken away to meet with the Seven Dials, the shadowy secret society that she believed was pulling the strings of everything from behind the scenes. Once there, she’s confronted by six masked figures, and insists that Number 7, their leader, reveals himself.
The leader of the Seven Dials is Superintendent Battle. But Bundle was wrong, since the Seven Dials weren’t responsible for Gerry’s death or stealing Matip’s formula. Instead, they’re a secret society dedicated to keeping the world safe from bad actors in increasingly turbulent times. Battle was present for the investigation to protect Matip and his formula, and also for another reason.
Battle has been assessing Bundle, since he wants to recruit her as the newest member to replace the loss of their best agent – Bundle’s father, who was seen being gored to death by a bull in the opening scene of the season. Battle was there at the time, but wasn’t able to save his partner, who he insists to Bundle was the best of them. He was killed by secretive enemies of the Seven Dials, and his death was covered up. However, Lady Caterham used his social circle and her suspicions that he was carrying out secret work to learn more about the formula she ultimately intended to steal.
Battle offers Bundle a position among them, since she has a skillset that could ultimately make her a better agent than even her father. After a brief bit of deliberation, Bundle accepts the offer. Season 2, anyone?
