Coldwater ending explained: what happens to Tommy? (spoilers)

This Coldwater ending explained feature contains spoilers... obvs. It’s been a wild ride, but this dark and sinister ITV thriller is almost at an end. We know Tommy (Ewen Bremner) has murdered at least two people - and one cat - but we’re pretty sure he’s got a few other skeletons in his closet.

The six-part series began with John (Andrew Lincoln) arriving in the Scottish town of Coldwater with his young family, only to be befriended by Tommy and his rather creepy wife Rebecca (Eve Myles).

It wasn’t long before John got himself into trouble, when he had a tussle with local yob Angus in the woods one night. He believed he’d killed the local yob, but it was actually Tommy who went back and finished him off after John told him about the fight.

Tommy’s son Cameron (Samuel Bottomley) saw him come home covered in blood and suspected him of killing Angus, telling the deceased youth’s father Nathan (Gilly Gilchrist) as much. Yet when Nathan confronted John, Tommy murdered him as well - only for his body to be discovered by police.

Cameron is convinced John killed Nathan and Tommy’s wife Rebecca spreads that story, however their adopted daughter Moira Jane (Abigail Lawrie) reckons her father is guilty after discovering his box of trophies.

Yet with so many pieces of jewellery in that box - we’re starting to wonder how many people Tommy has killed?

When her old pal Catriona (Lois Chimimba) tells her about how Tommy tried to strangle her, it strengthens her resolve to do something about it. Will she, John and Fiona be able to convince everyone of the truth? To do that they know they need to find the box and take it to the police.

Which brings us to the historic case of Susie Bissett, a sex worker who was murdered in Coldwater a couple of decades ago. Her killer was never found - but was it Tommy who killed her?

Let’s find out…

Coldwater ending explained - does John find Tommy's box?

John and Fiona invite Tommy and Fiona around to theirs for lunch, hoping to give Moira Jane time alone in the house to try and find that box. They agree to come, however Tommy smells a rat and invites Moira Jane to come with them. “They think they’re smarter than us!” he says, pressing a mysterious ring into her hand before they go.

During lunch, Moira Jane spills wine all over John, giving him an excuse to slip out and try and find the box in Tommy’s house, however Rebecca has a plan of her own and slips the ring Tommy gave her into the kids’ toys while on her way to the toilet.

John manages to find Tommy’s box in his garage, but can’t escape with it and the creepy christian catches him in the act. A tense stand-off follows, with John confronting him about all of his suspicions, yet Tommy nervelessly denies everything - even though John is holding Harlequin’s collar!

Tommy then tasers John and ties him up and throws him in his car. “I’m deep in your soul,” he says horribly. “And you’re deep in mine!”

How does John escape Tommy?

John is lying in the back of Tommy’s car as he speeds away from the house and realises things aren’t looking great for him. Luckily he manages to jump out of the car as they drive along a lake and makes it to the house of his therapist Williams (Jonathan Watson), who’s going to have a task on his hands working through all this.

Minutes later Tommy turns up brandishing a rifle and forces his way inside Williams’ house. He assaults him when he won’t reveal where John is, so John leaps out to protect him and the pair are involved in another tussle.

Just when it looks like Tommy’s getting on top, Williams picks the madman’s rifle and orders him to let John go. However Tommy insists it’s John who’s the deranged killer and asks him to call Bobby the bobby if he doesn’t believe him.

“It’s Tommy,” Williams tells Bobby. “He’s the killer!”

Meanwhile, Tommy persuades John that he needs to call Rebecca before the police arrive as she doesn’t know anything about what he’s been up to. Pretending he has no reception he goes outside to make the call, while John has the gun trained on him.

Does Rebecca escape justice?

When Tommy sets off with John in his boot, Fiona reveals the truth about everything he’s done to his wife, Rebecca, including what she knows about the box of trophies - although of course she knows already!

Rebecca lies and claims she doesn’t know what Fiona’s talking about, before collapsing into a heap and sobbing. “I’ve been so scared for so long,” she cries. “I thought he was going to kill me!”

When she gets Tommy’s call she pretends to be shocked and relieved, before giving her husband a coded message to let him know she’s cutting him adrift and he’s on his own. “Whatever you’ve done, it’s over. The police are coming, there’s no way back now.”

Yet when Fiona’s out of earshot she tells him to run.

So it seems Rebecca does escape justice - for now - although it's clear she still has an axe to grind against John and holds a candle for her demonic husband.

As the series ends we see Rebecca talking to her congregation about forgiveness. It’s clear everyone in Coldwater has no idea how much she knew about Tommy’s crimes!

Does Tommy kill John?

As they wait for the police, Tommy asks John to run away with him, then asks him to kill him - threatening to kill his wife and his kids if he doesn’t.

He then plunges at John and the next thing we see is John lying in his wife’s arms with a terrible wound, as Rebecca looks towards the mountains. It’s clear Tommy has escaped.

However John survives to tell the tale and continues to live in Coldwater, telling reporters the whole experience has strengthened his marriage.

What happens to Tommy?

In the series’ denouement, we find that Tommy is on the run, with a newspaper headline reading "No trace of murder suspect".

John continues to live in Coldwater and rejoins the book group, which still meets at Tommy’s house. “Rebecca likes us being here,” says Williams. “She finds it reassuring.” However from the evil look we see her giving John, it’s clear this isn’t finished as far as she’s concerned.

As for his son Cameron, it’s clear he also believes his father is innocent, as we see him trying to call his old man in the final scenes.

…and of course, Nathan’s ring is still sitting in the toy basket at John and Fiona’s house!