Breaking Down the Twisty Ending of The Thursday Murder Club

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Nestled in the heart of the United Kingdom lies Coopers Chase, a captivating retirement community that feels like a sanctuary rather than an ordinary senior living facility. Far from being a run-of-the-mill old age home, it boasts an impeccably designed environment tailored specifically for the elderly. Here, meals are accompanied by fine wines, and the residences outshine many people’s dream homes. Coopers Chase serves as the setting for Netflix’s hit series The Thursday Murder Club, which is based on Richard Osman’s book series of the same name. In this show, the eponymous club, consisting of Elizabeth (played by Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), and Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), convenes at Coopers Chase each Thursday to tackle cold cases. Joining them is Joyce (Celia Imrie), a potential new member with a medical background, who lends her expertise to help solve these intriguing mysteries.

However, this blissful haven for seniors, known as Coopers Chase, faces an imminent threat. The joint owner of Coopers Chase, Ian Ventham, played by David Tennant, is adamant on selling the property to developers. Fortunately, there’s a ray of hope with Tony Curran, the other co-owner, who is resolute in preventing Ventham from going ahead with his plans. This development brings joy to the residents of Coopers Chase-until an unexpected turn of events occurs when Curran meets his demise in his own home. As a result, the Thursday Murder Club finds themselves faced with some crucial investigations, as suspicion falls on none other than Ventham himself. Tragically, even he ends up dead only a few days later. This puts the Thursday Murder Club under significant pressure to solve these mysterious deaths.

We break down the twists and turns in the ending of The Thursday Murder Club.

Who killed Tony Curran?

Following Ventham’s demise, the Thursday Murder Club focuses its attention on Bobby Tanner (Richard E. Grant), an elusive third shareholder of Coopers Chase who has been absent for years. Known for his ruthless criminal activities and gruesome methods of retribution, Tanner is suspected of removing body parts from those who cross him. Elizabeth locates Tanner’s alias, Derek Ward, at the flower shop Thorny Blooms, where she finds him brutally trimming flowers. In an unexpected turn of events, Elizabeth realizes that Tanner is neither the murderer nor involved in either death. Instead, she uncovers a hidden and illicit empire operated by the Coopers Chase owners. This empire exploits European workers by employing them at low wages and confiscating their passports to prevent escape. By threatening to expose this illegal activity, Elizabeth forces Tanner (now the sole owner due to her actions) to sell Coopers Chase to a buyer of her choosing. In return, she promises not to disclose Tanner’s whereabouts.

Through this disclosure, Elizabeth learns that the true culprit behind the crime was Bogdan (Henry Lloyd Hughes), the gardener at Coopers Chase. The proprietors had brought Bogdan from Poland and confiscated his passport, preventing him from leaving to tend to his ailing mother who, like Elizabeth’s husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce), experiences dementia. Bogdan admits that he sought Curran to retrieve his passport, but claims that in the process, Curran assaulted him, leading him to act in self-defense and ultimately take Curran’s life. However, we do not witness the events surrounding Curran’s death directly, leaving the details of his demise somewhat ambiguous.

The case of the woman in white

As a crime enthusiast, I eagerly dive into “The Thursday Murder Club” where we kick off our investigation with an intriguing cold case from the 70s. A woman named Angela Hughes met her untimely demise when she plummeted out of a second-story window, carrying a knife in her abdomen. Initial police findings suggest that Angela’s boyfriend, Peter Mercer, found her moments after the fall, only for both of them to mysteriously vanish shortly thereafter, along with the supposed burglar who allegedly pushed her out. The fact that the perpetrator was never brought to justice leaves a lot of unanswered questions – most notably, why didn’t Mercer make an effort to save Hughes from bleeding out if he witnessed the fall? Our member Ron articulates our collective thoughts perfectly: “It stinks like a rat up a drainpipe.

In this rephrased version, I’ve aimed to make the text more conversational and easier to understand:

The Thursday Murder Club connects the current enigma with an unsolved case from the 1970s. Due to a protest at the cemetery entrance, Ventham instructs Bogdan to start excavation work at the back of the cemetery for property development purposes. By sheer luck, while digging, Bogdan unearths a gravesite with bones on top – these turned out to be Peter Mercer’s remains. The police were able to confirm that the bones belonged to Mercer. Finding Mercer was entirely unintentional but ultimately helped Elizabeth solve the case.

It was none other than Elizabeth’s friend Penny Gray (previously known as Susan Kirby), a retired police officer and former member of the murder club, who murdered Mercer. Convinced that Mercer was responsible for Hughes’ death, she acted due to what she saw as the police’s biased behavior towards their colleagues. Believing that justice wasn’t served properly, Penny took matters into her own hands by killing Mercer and burying him at Coopers Chase cemetery with her husband John’s (Paul Freeman) assistance. However, her actions might have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for Ventham’s attempt to develop the property, ultimately leading to her arrest.

Regarding the unsolved case of Ventham’s death, it provides insight into who might have murdered him. If Ian Ventham had discovered the baffling bones and decided to report them to the authorities, John, Penny’s husband, is believed to have administered a fatal dose of fentanyl to Ventham to prevent the revelation of Mercer’s remains. Desperate to shield his wife, Penny, from imminent danger due to her critical condition, John took an impulsive action to conceal the truth about Penny’s murder.

As a film enthusiast, I found myself in a situation where Elizabeth and her group faced off against John, who admittedly didn’t dispute the allegations leveled against him. Rather than escalating the situation by contacting the authorities, we chose to grant his wish for one final private moment with his wife, Penny. We knew this meant that John would ultimately administer a lethal dose of fentanyl to both himself and Penny, effectively choosing to end their lives rather than face arrest.

The fate of Cooper’s Chase

The final enigma for the residents of Coopers Chase is yet to be resolved: who will buy the property? With speculation that it might be transformed into apartment complexes or an exclusive event venue, the future seems uncertain for them. Fortunately, there’s a glimmer of optimism as Coopers Chase gets sold to Joanna, daughter of Joyce and wife of bestselling author Richard Osman (of The Thursday Murder Club fame). Recognizing the meaningful impact of Coopers Chase on her mother, Joanna decides not to redevelop it, keeping it safe from real estate developers’ clutches.

At the end of “The Thursday Murder Club,” Joyce gets officially inducted into the Thursday Murder Club. We observe Ron and his son Jason (Tom Ellis) enjoying a game of football, Elizabeth and Stephen celebrating their anniversary with a dance, and Ibrahim and Joyce reminiscing over photos and cherished memories. For now, all seems calm, but it’s only a matter of time before the resourceful club members find themselves investigating another intriguing case.

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2025-08-29 02:06