Baptiste, episode 6 finale recap: dirty dossiers and inside men, but who gets to live happily ever after?

Baptiste and Europol officer Genevieve Taylor (Jessica Raine) tracked down Martha at her yoga class (maybe it helps with moral flexibility) and accused her. “Our investigations into the Brigada are making progress everywhere except Amsterdam,” snarled Genevieve. “Now we know why.” With Martha being forcibly retired, had she decided to make some dirty money on her way out? 

Martha flatly denied it, asking Baptiste: “Why would I put you on the case?” “To find the money,” he replied. “The Brigada wanted it back.” He wanted to believe his old flame and something didn’t add up. 

Brigada tried to take out Baptiste

Baptiste and Taylor were beginning to look like a promising detective duo when an attempt was made on their lives. A black SUV ran them off the road before a gunman opened fire. The Brigada, it seemed, had ruthlessly made their move. 

A dramatic car chase through the streets of Amsterdam ensued, until squad cars arrived on the scene and the assassins sped away. In a script flourish that had the ring of authenticity, Julien and Genevieve promptly dissolved into hysterical giggles. “The car came right after we saw Martha,” mused Julien. Confirmation that the yogic blonde police bigwig was crooked after all?

Edward discovered Kim’s dirty dossier 

Across the Dutch capital, Stratton was making his own enquiries – while incongruously wearing his ex-wife’s coat,  the only garment in the caravan that wasn’t smeared with claret. He went to visit café owner and former gangster Kim Vogel (Talisa Garcia), only to discover she’d been killed. Instead he spoke to grieving boyfriend Greg (Trystan Gravelle), who was wallowing in misery while listening to “Help Me Tonight” by Glaswegian country crooner Daniel Meade.

Greg nodded towards the mysterious box he’d found in Kim’s secret storage lock-up: “You want to know about Dragomir? That’s him.” Inside, Stratton found a ledger full of names, dates, transactions and map co-ordinates - presumably Kim’s insurance policy against the Brigada coming after her. Sadly, it hadn’t worked but via these ledgers, could Kim still do one last good deed?

Niels unmasked as the mob’s inside man 

No wonder he was so disbelieving that his mother could be a mob informant. Instead it was her son and fellow cop Niels (Boris Van Severen) who was the corrupt inside source. Baptiste, who’d only just learned he was secretly Niels’ father, had his suspicions aroused by Niels’ shifty behaviour. 

Following his hunch, Baptiste paid another visit to creepy CCTV voyeur Bram Visser (Tom Audenaert) and found footage of Niels on the phone to gangster Constantin Baracu (Alec Secăreanu): ”Yeah, you’re right, we need to deal with that bitch.” Shortly after Niels returned to the city on false pretences, Kim was killed. 

Niels was one of the few people to know Constantin was set to enter witness protection and arranged for him to be silenced. He’d traced the location of Stratton’s caravan hideaway using his mother's phone and dispatched Nicolae to kill all three residents. Finally, he’d sent henchman Toma (Dejan Bucin) after Baptiste and Taylor when they got close to sussing him out. 

Searching Niels’ apartment, Baptiste found a drawer full of burner phones and dodgy passports. However, Martha managed to warn her son and he went on the run. “I will find you,” vowed Baptiste. “No, you won’t,” replied Niels. Who would be proved correct?

All lived unhappily ever after

Cut to Deal beach, where the saga began five long weeks ago. As Stratton and Baptiste met one last time, viewers couldn’t help noticing that Baptiste’s arm was in a sling. What had happened? Flashbacks told us all we needed to know. 

First we saw a SWAT team raiding the sex-trafficking compound, led there by Kim’s co-ordinates. They rescued the abducted girls and arrested their captors. One snag: Cristina wasn’t there, having been already sold for the depressing sum of 750 euros. 

Next we learned Niels’ fate. Hiding from both police and mob, he covertly met Martha so she could give him a passport. Except she’d co-operated with her former colleagues and it was a police sting. Panicking, he took his mother hostage at gunpoint. While Niels was distracted by Baptiste’s bid to negotiate, Martha reached for her own weapon - at which point Niels shot her in the head and Baptiste in the arm, before being taken into custody. He wasn’t allowed to attend his mother’s funeral and will spend the rest of his life in jail. 

Finally, we panned around the series’ remaining characters to learn their fates. Genevieve said farewell to her former lover, wheelchair-bound Lucas (Marc de Hond) – only to be told by his wife Ines (Hélène De Vos) that she could carry on visiting and reading to him. Greg continued to run Kim’s café. Tulip farmer Herman (Gijs de Lange) raised grandson Matty (Boyd van den Bogert). Niels guiltily visited Martha’s grave.

This just left Stratton and Baptiste themselves. Edward was looking forward to a fresh start. “Perhaps you will become someone new,” said Baptiste. “F---ing well hope so,” replied Stratton. Nobody does sardonic swearing quite like Tom Hollander. Julien contemplated his own future with an inscrutable smirk. Would he retire at last? Don’t bank on it. 

Final bodycount left at eight

By my reckoning, eight lives were claimed by the six-part series: those of Edward’s father, Natalie, Kim, Constantin, Clare, her partner Carl, Nikolae and Martha. That’s an average of 1.33 deaths per episode. Not even Midsomer levels. 

Ending was an unsatisfying mess

Plot holes aplenty gaped in this finale. The Serbilu brothers were oft-mentioned but never sighted. There was no explanation for Martha endlessly adding vodka to her coffee. Baptiste’s wife Celia (Anastasia Hille) began the series with a role to play but was then relegated to the sidelines. The sudden introduction of Toma in the last half-hour jarred. And what was the point of that scene where he stalked around Genevieve’s flat with a meat cleaver?

The main problem, though, was that Niels simply didn’t convince as a villain and paled in comparison to Constantin. Once the brooding, bearded psycho was killed off, everything else felt anti-climactic. The Brigada continued to operate, Cristina wasn't rescued and it all felt frustratingly pointless. 

There was some also some unforgivably clunky dialogue, much of it coming out of Niels’ mouth. The ending even came over a tad Call the Midwife with its faux-profound voice-over as cameras panned around the cast.  

A bruised, drily sarcastic turn from Tom Hollander helped elevated the material, as did doughty performances from Tchéky Karyo, Alec Secăreanu and Jessica Raine. Ultimately, though, neither the script nor the remaining international cast were strong enough.

Will Baptiste get another series?

No word yet on whether this spin-off from The Missing will be recommissioned. For me, Baptiste has been something of a Euro-pudding: hopping around locations with a cosmopolitan cast to no great end, except for the BBC’s syndication sales. 

It had plenty of potential and showed flashes of quality, but this was never sustained and the series was ultimately mediocre. Julien Baptiste might be a compelling creation but I’d be sorely tempted to leave him there. Au revoir, mon ami.