Ellis ending explained: What happened to Ellis and Harper?

The first episode saw the pair introduced for the first time on Harper's home turf, with Ellis being brought in to investigate the murder of a local teenager and the disappearance of his girlfriend.

Episode 2 saw the pair travel to Callorwell to look into the disappearance of a local police officer, but soon, they uncovered a toxic and misogynistic working environment that held up Ellis in her own search for the truth.

This time around, the village of Brindleton is the backdrop to the mysterious missing case of a couple of newlyweds, and with the growing online fascination in the case, Ellis and Harper certainly have a lot on their hands.

But how did things end up for them and did they manage to crack the case? Read on for a full breakdown of the ending of the series.

Ellis ending explained

The third and final episode centred on the case of missing newlyweds Oz (Tama Matheson) and Rachel (Jade Matthew), who were last seen in Rachel's hometown of Brindleton. But when their phones are found at the edge of a dangerous stretch of river, people start to wonder whether it could be a tragic murder-suicide.

Reunited once again, Ellis and Harper make their way to the crime scene, armed with the knowledge that the local police force aren't that well-equipped, but also that the case has taken internet sleuths by storm. Instead of their usual frosty welcome, they're invited in with open arms, and Ellis immediately starts to advise on what she would do to locate the couple.

Soon, they find a severed hand by the lake and rule out that it's from Oz or Rachel, but instead someone else entirely. Just when things couldn't get any worse for the investigation, a member of the public finds a body down the river, and they realise that the body in question is Rachel's.

The person who discovers the body is Lydia (Rina Mahoney), who didn't just happen upon the area but is actually a true crime podcaster looking into the case and wanting to use it to grow her own following.

After Rachel's death is announced, her father Gerry (Michael Simkins) tells Ellis and Harper of his concerns over Oz, that he's a waste of space and used Rachel to get to their family fortune.

In their investigation, Ellis and Harper start looking into local chef Leo Braxton (Charlie de Melo), who appears to have moved back to Brindleton for some reason and also appears to be old friends of Gerry's. Despite saying he initially hadn't heard from Rachel, Ellis finds out that Rachel actually called him to arrange a reunion for their old bandmates to meet Oz.

They then find out, from CCTV footage, that Gerry was actually in Brindleton earlier than he'd said. He admits he was unaware of the newlyweds' plans to relocate to Australia.

Ellis and Harper then go to question Rachel's other former bandmate Alex (Richard Sherwood), but when they go to his address, the front door is open and his bedroom is filled with torn-up old pictures of Rachel and momentos from their teenage band days, pointing at a potential motive for murder out of jealousy.

The next day, they find out that the fingerprints on Rachel's phone matches Alex's, meaning that he was in the woods with her and could also be the amputee who has lost his hand – or a suspect.

The other friends of Rachel's are Abbie (Charley Webb) and Kane (Mark Field), who are now together and run the local motocross field. Abbie's younger brother Rory (Harry Marcus) is also the person who found Rachel's phone. They all seem to be pretty hostile when first questioned, leading Ellis and Harper to suspect their involvement.

The band's former manager and the group's school music teacher Foster Lang (David Sterne) doesn't seem to be well, and often says random things. When Ellis and Harper visit him, they go into his home and find that the bedroom's walls and sheets are smeared with blood, indicating that someone was there who lost a lot of it.

Lang says it was Alex and that he was screaming at the time, saying that he'll go to the hospital. But when Lang points to where the hospital is, he points to the local church and its graveyard.

Making their way there, Ellis and Harper find Alex's body, and it is confirmed from Alex's tattooist (as well as parts of Lang's ramblings) later on that Alex actually recently got a tattoo to celebrate his bisexuality and comfortability in finally coming out. Harper says, though, that Alex went and got the tattoo with a younger unidentified friend, who Ellis has suspicions is actually Rory.

Rachel's father Gerry is also looking like another suspect after it's found out that Rachel was compiling evidence against her father that proved he was misappropriating funds, blackmailing others and generally getting up to some dodgy dealings within his company. Gerry didn't come to Brindleton to stop Rachel moving to Australia, but actually came to negotiate with her about her claims.

Ready to confront Rory about her suspicions that he and Alex were more than just friends, Ellis and Harper make their way back to the motocross course.

Leo is actually already there riding around, and tensions get even higher when Rory tries to run away, accusing Abbie and Kane of killing Alex. From flashbacks, we learn that Kane went out with the gun to go and confront Alex about his relationship with Rory because Kane thought it could've been a case of grooming, akin to his own childhood experiences.

Alex told Abbie and Kane that they were only friends and they believed him. Alex eventually admitted to Abbie that he'd been the one when they were teenagers that called the police anonymously with a tip-off about Abbie's parents' drug dealing.

Alex was jealous of Leo and Rachel being together, so knew that by tearing up Abbie's family, it would also break up the band and drive Leo and Rachel apart – which it did.

What happened to Oz and Rachel?

Harper then finds out that Gerry wasn't the Rees-Mortimer staying at Leo's pub last year, but actually, it was Rachel.

When Ellis and Harper rush to confront him, they find the pub empty. Going to the cliff edge leading to the river, though, they find Leo with a gun. Leo admits he's only ever wanted Rachel, and they spent the last summer together but it ended when Rachel and Oz reconciled.

On the day in question, Leo went to Alex's cottage to confront him about the way he took Rachel away from him all those years prior. Leo chased him through the woods but Alex fell and landed in a trap, which severed his hand. Nearby, Rachel and Oz heard the screams and came running. Oz wrestled with Leo and Alex managed to run away with Rachel's phone.

But when Oz went for Leo, Leo shot him and sent him into the river. Rachel jumped in after Oz to try and rescue him but drowned in the process.

What happened to Ellis and Harper?

Finishing up the case, Ellis seems to be in high spirits as she finally asks Harper to go for a drink.

When they arrive at the pub, Ellis says she'll just get a tea. Her phone keeps sending her notifications but she ignores them, thinking it's work.

But when Harper goes to the bar, she takes a look and sees that it's actually her daughter Grace, who says she'll call her later.

Shocked and overjoyed, Ellis then orders a bottle of rum and two glasses for her and Harper so they can celebrate. While Ellis doesn't tell Harper what's just happened, they do share a cheers.

Ellis is available to stream on My5.

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