Here we are: the final episode of the series. Last we left off, Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) figured out a way to catch Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) for his crimes. With this being the last episode, is it possible that Stella will win? Or does Paul have one more trick up his sleeve?
In order to help Healy (Aidan McArdle) and Wallace (Ruth Bradley) with his case, Paul explains the story about Susan Harper’s murder. As Paul and David (Martin McCann) were roommates, they went out for a night of drinking where Harper had joined them. Later that night, David and Susan had sex while Paul watched. When David left afterwards, Paul convinced Susan to participate in a sex game, which went horribly wrong and resulted in her death. Paul still does not understand why David took the fall for him, and still does not remember the other murders.
With this new information, Paul and Healy return to the interrogation room where Stella and Anderson (Colin Morgan) are waiting. As Paul begins to tell the story to Stella and Anderson, they provide him with photos of himself in women’s clothing, the same photos that Paul had kept in his notebook. Paul explains that while he was going down on Susan Harper, he had asked her to put a thin plastic bag over her head, as suffocation enhanced the experience. Susan died suffocating because she wasn’t able to take the bag off.
Furthermore, Paul then explains that he panicked and did not go to the police when it happened, choosing instead to bathe Susan and place her back in the bed before leaving. A while afterwards, this is when Paul changed his name from Peter Baldwin to Paul Spector, in order to give himself a fresh start. When he brings up David, Stella and Anderson tell him about how David took the blame because of what had happened with Father Jensen and how Paul had spared David from becoming Jensen’s new favorite. David was alright with this because he hoped this would set Paul on the right track, but changed his mind once he learned that Paul was the “Belfast Strangler”.
As Stella tells Paul to drop the act, since she found out this information prior to his supposed memory loss, he then begins to share how the mere thought of the killer Spector at first horrified him, then intrigued him. When Paul learned about the murder of Sarah Kay and how one of her underwear sets was laid out in the shape of a body on the bed, he then explains that he used to do that with his mother’s underwear….and how it aroused him. He would have perverted thoughts because of the underwear. It is because of moments like this that Paul wanted to know what helped create the killer Spector.
One memory that Paul does remember after being shot is hearing a voice that kept saying “we’re losing him”, someone that obviously must have cared enough to keep him alive. Stella admits that it was her, but that she wanted him to live so that he couldn’t cheat the system and that he would pay for his crimes. Stella further taunts Paul, saying that he puts on this big performance for everyone while hiding who he is; that Paul has a black heart and does not love. Spector’s face turns dark in this moment and Healy decides to suspend the testimony again to regroup. But the damage is done and the moment that Stella and Anderson get up to leave, Paul snaps and punches and kicks Stella repeatedly. When Anderson goes to intervene, Paul breaks his arm and sends him to the ground so that he can return to hurting Stella. The police run in and manage to detain Paul from any further damage, carrying him out of the room.
Burns (John Lynch) tries to inflict damage on Paul, but is stopped by Eastwood (Stuart Graham). Eastwood then notices Burns has been drinking and advises him to leave. As Burns gets in the back of a vehicle to head back to headquarters, he breaks down from the stress of the moment. Healy and Wallace also leave the facility, where Wallace had watched everything from a video feed and based on that evidence, decides to pull out of the investigation and her job as Paul scares her. Healy is determined to take Stella down, with or without help.
Meanwhile, Paul is returned to the Foyle Clinic, where he is greeted by Dr. Larson (Krister Henriksson). Something that shifted in Paul, as he is now more observant watching Dr. Larson lock up his keys and personal effects in a locker before being returned to his room. Stella has been taken to the hospital, where Dr. O’Donnell (Richard Coyle) treats her wounds and advises her she will need to stay overnight for observation. Later on, O’Donnell goes in to check on Stella, as he is now off-duty and decides to spend some quality time with her instead of returning to his home to resume parental duties.
Dr. Larson discusses Spector’s condition with one of the other investigators. She believes that Spector’s amnesia is malingering, since the scans show no issues. Paul begins to get ready for another day, looking at the scars left on his body from the gunshots. He says to himself that he looks at his body and it’s not him; the orderly (Chris Patrick-Simpson) assures him this will pass.
Stella, who has now returned to her investigation room, learns that Katie (Aisling Franciosi) has taken to harming herself. She was able to secure a bone from one of her meals at dinner and has used it to cut herself. Stella takes the opportunity to go visit with Katie, sharing the story about the death of her own father and how she cut on her thighs and bottom of her feet as a way of coping. Katie is angry that her father treasured his motorcycle over being a parent. Stella understands that Katie is angry and instead latched onto Paul as a means of coping, but that Paul has been destroyed by his own anger and does not care about Katie.
In therapy, Paul tells Larson that he felt there was a black hole inside him, but that his daughter Olivia (Sarah Beattie) is the reason he was saved. She looked at him like he was safe, something he had never felt before. Paul questions Larson, wondering if he is able to be cured. Larson is not sure, which disturbs Paul, but Paul is sure that Larson understands him and must be a good father. During this time, we see Olivia in the hands of a foster family who has taken her in. Her nightmares have stopped now. Paul used to tell her how he had the same bad dreams and how to handle them. Olivia tells the social worker that she will always love her father, but that she probably won’t go to see him for a long time, possibly not until she has children of her own.
After his session with Dr. Larson, Paul goes to sit down with Mark Bailey (Conor MacNeill) in the common room. Mark is writing in his notebook, which Paul takes out of his hand and begins to recite a poem called “The Man of Double Deed”, writing the end of the poem in Mark’s notebook. Paul then asks Mark for a favor, which he complies with. While snacks are handed out, Mark begins to complain about his chocolate bar and causes a riot. Paul takes this opportunity to step out of the room and hits Larson repeatedly, stealing his locker key to grab the items out of there, as well as his belt. When he leaves the locker room, Paul sees that Mark is being taken out of the common room. Paul goes into Mark’s room and is locked in there with him.
Alone with Mark, Paul uses the belt to strangle him to death. Once Mark is dead, Paul places him back in the bed and then goes into the bathroom. In there, he produces the belt and a plastic bag. Paul places the bag over his own head and secures it with the belt. By now, the orderlies discover Larson and realize Paul is missing and search for him, but we watch as Paul goes to try and remove the bag with no success. When the orderly finally finds Paul, it is too late: Paul Spector has died by asphyxiation. Stella is still with Katie when she gets the call with this news, rushing out and trying to avoid telling Katie what happened.
Stella arrives at the Foyle Clinic and sees Larson wheeled out on a gurney, while inside she sees Paul’s dead body on the ground. The chase is over and Stella has lost, as Paul will never serve a prison sentence for his crimes. Later, Burns makes an announcement that the investigation is over, Paul is dead, and commends Stella for her hard work before advising that he will be resigning after this. Stella can now go home.
In the last scene, Rose (Valene Kane) is seen reading the story “The Frog Prince” to her daughter, and explains how not all fairy tales are happy. Stella finally returns home to her flat, her time in Belfast now at an end. She checks her mail, pours a glass of wine, and sits down in her home to take it all in. The chase is over and Paul Spector has effectively beaten Stella, but at a large cost.
For those looking to binge-watch episodes from Season 3 of The Fall, they are now available on Netflix!
