The Survivors episode 4 recap: Mia unearths some shocking new evidence that changes everything — but what is it?

(L to R) Yerin Ha as Mia, Charlie Vickers as Kieran in The Survivors
(Image credit: Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025)

The Survivors is a gripping new thriller series on Netflix, which is set in the stunning landscape of Tasmania and based on the bestselling novel by Jane Harper.

The show follows Kieran Elliot, whose life was changed forever 15 years ago when two people close to him drowned in a terrible storm, while a young woman also went missing.

But, as Kieran returns to his childhood home with his new family in tow, the past resurfaces when a woman is found murdered after digging into the 15-year-old mystery.

With the community once again rocked by tragedy, the investigation not only threatens to uncover old mysteries but also reveals a secret killer amongst them.

Here is everything that happens in The Survivors episode 4...

The penultimate episode opens with another flashback - this time to Brian teaching the kids, including a young Mia and Gabby, how to do CPR on the beach. Gabby comments that it is only the tourists who drown in the sea, but Brian tells her that while that might be the case, he would prefer it if she stayed alive. The time then returns to the present, and Brian is in a cell, having been arrested for Bronte's murder.

As Mia walks home, she is hounded by the press, who want to know more about Brian's arrest. Meanwhile, Kieran is on the phone to his mom, who is at the lawyers, as she hasn't been allowed to go and see Brian yet.

(L to R) Johnny Carr as Dan, Miriama Smith as Pendlebury in The Survivors.

Alex and Sue are trying to work out what happened to Bronte. (Image credit: Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025)

Sue and Alex are at the police station and they talk about how there were no prints on the camera found in Brian's boathouse, but that there was dirt on the lens. Alex reminds Sue that they need to treat Brian with care because of his medical condition. In his cell, Sue questions Brian and asks if Verity has been helping him... but he takes her literally and says yes, because she helps him get dressed.

Liam is trying to leave the house to go and see Verity, but Julian has blocked him in with his car and says Verity is in Hobart with Geoff. Chris arrives with a police warrant to get the bar CCTV from the night that Bronte was killed, and Julian reminds him that it is old and practically broken, but Chris says their IT team will be able to help, annoying Julian.

Trish comes round to see Kieran with some dinner for the family, and fusses around him, cleaning up and making tea. Olivia is with her and she asks, out of earshot of her mom, if he is okay. He is worried about his dad and asks Olivia if she knows anything that could help Brian. She admits she has Bronte's phone, but she won't hand it in as it will get Ash in trouble because he used to deal drugs to Bronte and wasn't very discreet. He begs her to hand it in as it could have something on there to help his dad, but she refuses. He tells her that she 'owes him' because he has never told anyone about what happened 'that day' - not even Mia. She is stopped in her tracks and tells him that while she is grateful for everything he has done for her in the past, she still won't go to the police with the phone.

Verity comes home and is pleased to see Trish and Olivia there, but things are awkward when Kieran asks her about what happened with the lawyers, and she says they are looking at cross-contamination with the DNA and that it could have been a mix-up. She is putting on an easy breezy front, pretending all is well, and asks Trish and Olivia to stay for dinner and opens wine.

Kieran needs to get out of the house, so he goes to see Ash and Sean - he begs Ash to hand the phone in, but he says he is looking at 2 years in jail if he does, and there might not even be anything helpful on there.

Meanwhile, Trish, Verity, Mia and Olivia have dinner and make small talk about the memorial football game, until Verity starts talking about Mia being a mother, and they're reminded about the children they have both lost. Soon, Verity has had too much wine and accuses Mia of thinking Brian is guilty. They start arguing, but as they do, a photographer appears at the front door and takes photos of them through the window. Mia chases him down the road and into his car, and Verity is so overwhelmed by the whole thing that she breaks down in Mia's arms.

Over at Sean and Ash's house, Ash comments that Bronte was always at George's house. Kieran says he bets there are messages from him on the phone, and tells Ash he will play a game of ping pong with him, and the winner gets the phone. Ash agrees as he is a better player. Ash wins, and tells Kieran that they need to work out who really killed Bronte so that they can get Brian out of prison. They all head over to George's house to see if he is the one who spray painted Brian's boathouse, but they make lots of mess because they're drunk and all they find is a dark room in his garage, but no paint. George catches them and fights Ash, telling them that if he finds them on his property again, he will call the police.

The following morning, Kieran wakes early and goes to the beach with Audrey. Mia finds them there and asks if he is okay, but he tells her he has a confession to make. He tells her he wasn't in the caves alone the day Finn and Toby died, and that he was with Olivia. They had secretly been seeing each other, and then the storm came from nowhere. Olivia made it out okay, and it was her who called Finn and Toby to save Kieran, meaning he has been covering for her all these years. Mia is stunned and asks why he is only just telling her this now, but he says he didn't want the town to turn on Olivia like they have with him.

Mia goes for a walk, and when Kieran gets home with Audrey, Verity says that Brian has been charged and they're moving him to jail, but they will have 15 minutes with him before he is transferred. With Mia not answering her phone, Verity says they will have to take Audrey with them. Meanwhile, Mia is at George's house. She asks him if he thinks there is a link between Gabby and Bronte's deaths, and he says he doesn't know, but shows her the dark room that Bronte set up in his garage. He also tells her that the book he is writing at the moment is about Evelyn Bay and all the deaths that have happened there.

Damien Garvey as Brian in The Survivors.

Brian has been arrested, but is he a killer? (Image credit: Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025)

After a conversation with her mum, Olivia realises she has to do the right thing and hand Bronte's phone in, so she goes to the police station and gives it to Chris. He asks if she has the laptop, but she says only the phone, and that she panicked and should have brought it in earlier.

Over at George's house, Mia is going through a box of photos from the dark room in the garage, and there are some that Bronte took of George, and others of Mia with Gabby when they were little. There is another one of Gabby on a boat just before she died, but Mia has never seen it before, and wonders who took it. She asks George if she can keep it, and he says yes.

Later, Mia compares it to a photo of Finn and Toby on their boat and she realises it is the same boat Gabby is on in the photo. Was she with them the night they died?

Kieran and Verity go to see Brian, but he isn't responding to them and barely knows they are there. As Kieran is trying to get through to his dad, Brian doesn't talk but crosses his arms. At first, Kieran thinks he is getting ready to be cuffed by the police, but then he realises crossed arms is a diving sign for a swimmer submerged, and he realises his dad saved Bronte, and that is why her body wasn't washed out to sea, and why his DNA was on her body.

In a flashback, we see Brian pulling Bronte's lifeless body out of the water and doing CPR on her, but it is too late, because she is already dead.

But if Brian didn't kill Bronte, who did?

All six episodes of The Survivors are available on Netflix now.

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Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 

After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off

She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 

As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book. 

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