Caught ending explained: who killed Martina and did Ema survive?

Here’s a closer look at what went down.

Caught ending explained

How exactly was Marcos involved?

Episode 5 ended with Marcos (Juan Minujín) hitting Ema over the head with a rowing oar against the stunning backdrop of the Patagonian mountains. The latter had just learned that, contrary to his scapegoat protestations, the former really had been scamming his old company back in Buenos Aires. Having subsequently been fired, he believed the only way to make money was get his hands on the family land now owned by children’s charity Fronteras Foundation. And how to do this? Frame its founder, also his childhood best friend, for online grooming and sexual abuse, of course.

In episode 6's opening flashback, Marcos tries to convince Leo (Alberto Ammann) that selling the land is in his best interests. When that doesn’t work, he resorts to guilt-tripping, reminding him that he alone took the fall for their juvenile break-in at the wealthy Briguel family home which left a housekeeper scarred for life. But Leo stands his ground, telling him, “This place doesn’t really belong to me. It belongs to the kids.”

We then get a flashback to Marcos's interactions with Martina (Carmela Rivero), the missing cellist whose body was later found in the woods. The pair had first met on the private plane chartered by Fran Briguel (Mike Amigorena), the shady businessman who’d booked the teen for an intimate performance of her risque content which, without her consent, got a little too handsy. Marcos, who was hoping to gain financial investment from Fran, was then asked to ensure that the upset Martina didn’t cause a scene.

After convincing her not to report Fran to the police, Marcos continues to strike up a connection with Martina, and they stay in touch on their return home. Although it’s not clear whether their relationship got physical, it is clear that Martina trusts Marcos implicitly, and so she happily agrees to lure Leo to a midnight meeting under the impression it’s for a well-meaning intervention.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Marcos has set his BFF up in a sting operation: when Leo arrives, he’s ambushed by Ema and her crew, who believe they’ve now captured the paedophile who’s been catfishing (and possibly abusing) underage girls.

Did Ema survive?

The action then switches to the present, where Marcos is dragging an unconscious Ema into the waters. Luckily, she awakes just in time to fight back, and while on the verge of being drowned, she hits her attacker over the head with a rock. While back on solid ground, the reporter uploads a video to social media revealing everything she knows about Marcos.

Aware that the game is now up, Marcos calls his wife, asking her not to take everything she’s about to hear at face value. With his seatbelt unclipped and his foot on the accelerator, he then deliberately drives into a log truck.

So, who killed Martina?

Although Marcos manipulated Martina for business purposes, he wasn’t responsible for her death. Well, not directly anyway. And as Ema realises while looking at photos of the night the teen went missing, neither was Leo.

Indeed, on recognising the wall drawings in one particular snap, the journalist heads to the home of Leo’s ex-partner Juliana (Victoria Almeida). It’s then revealed that her teenage son Armando was the shadowy figure captured on film leaving the party with Martina on a boat. Immediately after they slept together, the latter discovered she’d been used as a pawn in Marcos’ game. And when Armando, who was practically raised by Leo, learns of her involvement, an argument ensues in which Martina is accidentally, and fatally, pushed down the stairs.

Juliana’s returns home to find Armando cradling a dead Martina and her ‘protect at all costs’ instincts kick in. Not only does she help her son dispose of the body in the woods, she also plants her mobile phone among her ex’s possessions in the spot he camped at before he 'died'. "I prayed that Leo would save us again," she says, attempting to justify the fact that she sold her ex down the river. Juliana also pleads with Ema not to inform the police, but is eventually convinced to confess all at the station and await their punishment.

Is Leo really dead?

Poor Leo was, not unreasonably, presumed to have died after being shot at by Facu (Alián Devetac) – the father of the girl he’d wrongly been accused of raping – and then tumbling off a cliff. But the fact his body hasn’t washed up puts some doubt into Ema’s mind.

During a jail visit, Ema learns Facu’s charge has been downgraded to attempted homicide. And the plot thickens when the prisoner tells her, "I know Leo. And that guy can forgive anything. And if he's alive, he'll come back. But if he's not, we're both gonna have to live with that."

In the closing scene, it’s revealed that Leo did somehow miraculously survive the fall. And after fleeing to safety, he understandably decided he didn’t want to return to the town where his best friend framed him for child abuse, his lover plastered his innocent face all over the internet and his ex set him up as a murderer.

Instead, alongside five other lost souls, he’s now spending his days roaming the Argentinian landscape on horseback. Who can blame him?

All six episodes of Caught are now available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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