Karen Pirie ITV ending explained: will there be season 3 and who killed Cat Grant? Full spoilers
Full spoilers for Karen Pirie as series 2 killer is revealed! 📺👀
- Karen Pirie’s second season concludes tonight (August 3).
- The third feature length episode will air on ITV.
- But can fans expect more in future?
This article includes spoilers for Karen Pirie season two. A second warning will feature later before the spoilers begin.
Karen Pirie’s investigation into the disappearance of Cat and Adam Grant will come to a conclusion tonight.
The show returned for its highly anticipated second season back in July after a wait of nearly three years. Remind yourself who is in the cast - and where you know them from.
The third feature-length episode is due to be broadcast tonight (August 3). But what happened at the end, and will there be more episodes in the future?
Will there be a series 3 of Karen Pirie?
The show is based on a series of books by Val McDermid. Eight books have been published so far, with just two having been adapted by ITV.
Karen Pirie’s first season was based on The Distant Echo, with the second adapting A Darker Domain. It means that six of the books are yet to be adapted, leaving plenty of material.
ITV has not yet announced a third series of the show, but the broadcaster often waits until after a season has finished airing. It did take around four months after the first season ended for the second to be confirmed, Cosmopolitan reports.
So don’t be alarmed if there is not an official announcement straight away.
Who killed Cat Grant? Karen Pirie ending explained
Full spoilers for Karen Pirie season two up to and including episode 3. Do not read any further if you haven’t watched it.
The third and final episode of Karen Pirie season two picks up after the dramatic conclusion of the week before. The body of Catriona ‘Cat’ Grant was discovered in a cave and revealed to have died back in the 1980s.
Karen and DS Phil Parhatka bring Fergus Sinclair - who is the father of the still missing Adam - in for questioning. After a mention of his son, he eventually reveals that he and Broderick Grant knew that Cat had been behind the ‘kidnapping’ back in the 1980s.
Fergus denies killing Cat and is able to provide an alibi for the night that it happened. Meanwhile, Mint and Isla travel to Italy in the search for Mick Prentice and Adam, who is now an activist, helping to save migrants drowning in the Mediterranean.
They visit Andy Kerr in the hospital, where he is going under the alias of Mathias. He rings Mick and warns him that the police know about Cat.
Karen turns to journalist Bel Richmond for help in cracking Sir Broderick - particularly about the third letter. Back over in Italy, Mint, Isla, and a local detective head to a remote farmhouse looking for Mick.
Mint heads into the farmhouse and rescues Isla after she is held at gunpoint - they manage to grab a picture of the number plate of the gunman’s car. They then discover that Mick had booked himself on a flight to Malta.
It is revealed that the gunman could be a private detective, with the implication that it is one hired by Sir Broderick who is trying to beat them to finding Mick. After realising that Malta has no extradition, Karen joins Mint and Isla on the Mediterranean Island.
Upon arriving in Malta, the team is stonewalled by the local police force, who are instead working with Broderick Grant. Karen recruits a disaffected police officer to help her and manages to meet with the Grants at a swanky hotel.
After confronting Sir Broderick, he claims to know that Mick killed Cat because he heard the gunshot. A flashback shows Broderick and Glenn delivering the money with Cat and Mick playing the roles of hostage and hostage-taker, taking the money and disappearing into the cave.
He claims that he mistook the gunshots for a rockfall - only realising now. Following the discussion, the team appears to be at the end of the line.
However, Mint gets a call from the officer in Italy, who has managed to track Adam (Gabriel)’s phone. It gives them a location to scour, even if it isn’t hugely specific - and the officer promises to delay passing it onto the police in Malta.
The private investigator tracks down Mick and nearly manages to assassinate him with a sniper, but misses. It gives Mick the chance to escape into the Old Town.
While staking out the apartment, Adam (Gabriel) manages to escape and Mint works out that he will be heading for his boat. Isla gets the jump on Broderick’s PI and manages to stun him with a taser.
Karen and Mint get to the boat before he can leave, but as they are stopping him, Mick appears and begs them to let him go. He promises to tell them “everything”.
It is revealed that Cat had discovered that Broderick had cut back on operations on an oil rig - to save money - leading to a tragic accident. She was going to reveal the truth to a journalist, and that inspired the kidnapping plot, to get revenge and to keep Adam from the Grants.
Mick reveals that after they went back into the cave after taking the money, Lady Mary Grant shot and killed Cat, believing that they were actually aiming for him. Karen returns to Scotland and rushes to the Grants house, discovering they are trying to flee.
The police manage to arrest Lady Mary and Sir Broderick before they are able to leave by private plane. Sir Broderick claims it was he who killed Cat, but his wife admits the truth.
In her interview with Karen, Lady Mary explains what happened on October 12 - first that she was not aware of the third note, but claims she ‘sensed’ something was happening and followed.
She followed the men, taking the gamekeeper's car, and went round the back of the caves armed with the shotgun that was in the vehicle. Lady Mary surprised Cat and Mick as they tried to escape, but her daughter stood in front of her lover and was killed by mistake when her mother started shooting.
Due to the cave partly collapsing due to the shots, Lady Mary and Sir Broderick were unaware that Cat had been killed by the gunshot wound. It wasn’t until her body was discovered in the present day that the truth came to light.
A teary Lady Mary asks to see Adam “just once” having heard he is now in Scotland. He is shown meeting his birth father Fergus and admits that Mick did what Cat would have wanted by taking him away.
Adam returns to Malta and is reunited with Mick - asking him to stay, saying “you and I are all we have”.
Picking up where the season started, Karen is interviewed by Bel. She finishes the season by saying: “Everyone needs the truth. So I keep looking for it.”
What did you think of the ending of Karen Pirie season 2 - did you see the big reveal coming? Let me know your thoughts by email: [email protected].
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