Sherwood ending explained: Did Ann literally get away with murder?

It seemed unlikely that the second season of Sherwood could ever top the edge-of-your-seat thrills of the first.

But, as the BAFTA-nominated drama has delved deeper and deeper into the tit-for-tat turf wars of Nottingham’s criminal underworld, it’s upped the tension with every episode.

The fifth concluded with yet more bloodshed after the truly terrifying matriarch Ann (Monica Dolan, unrecognisable from her turn earlier this year in Mr Bates vs The Post Office) added rival head honcho Mickey (Philip Jackson) to her kill list.

So, did she get her much-deserved comeuppance? Here’s what went down in the captivating finale.

Sherwood ending explained

Did the mole get caught?

While being interviewed about his wife Ann’s whereabouts, crime lord Roy Branson (Stephen Dillane) tells DCS Harry Summers (Michael Balogun) he knows he slept at the Bottomleys' safe house the night before their murder after drinking several cans of real ale.

The detective had only given this information to one other individual, his snakelike colleague Marcus (Jordan Myrie).

Once the penny drops, Harry takes Marcus deep into Sherwood Forest on the pretence they’re looking for Ann before tackling him to the ground, roughing him up and finding the incriminating phone which confirms he’s in cahoots with the Bransons.

After being frogmarched back to the police station, the mole reveals the family had bought his cooperation by paying for his degree and shows no remorse for repeatedly undermining the operation to bring them down.

Who poisoned Lisa?

The show’s sheriff of Nottingham, who contrary to what the anti-woke brigade believe isn’t Robin Hood’s nemesis but a modern-day elected councillor, looked like becoming another fatality when she was found poisoned at the end of episode 4.

Luckily, Lisa (Ria Zmitrowicz) recovers from the ordeal – caused by having her vape spiked with the street drug spice.

And thanks to some valuable insider information from Stephie (Bethany Asher), the police learn that new kid on the block Jordan (Tyrese Eaton-Dyce) was responsible.

Lisa was a member of the council that cut funding for various prison programmes which had given his troubled convicted brother purpose in life, a development he believed contributed to his suicide.

"It all seems pretty opportunistic and unthought through," Harry explains about the act of revenge, perhaps echoing viewers’ response to the show’s most unconvincing motive.

Where is Ann?

Of course, the biggest question the finale needed to answer related to the whereabouts of the truly wicked Ann.

Having just shot dead Mickey in cold blood, the villainess went into hiding, fully aware that both the police and her new nemesis Daphne (this season's MVP Lorraine Ashbourne) would be on the warpath.

After a tip-off from an acquaintance tasked with providing Ann a fake passport, the permanently enraged Rory (Perry Fitzpatrick) heads straight for the reservoir marshlands she’s been hiding at.

But he’s beaten to the punch by his mum and her recently reunited daughter Rachel (Christine Bottomley). Ann shoots the former in her shoulder before walking her to the end of the pier at gunpoint.

Like any old-school Bond villain, though, Ann spends way too much time talking instead of killing, and after a gun-toting Rachel saves the day, Daphne disarms her while also breaking her arm.

Surely, this is the end of the East Midlands’ most fearsome matriarch? Well, not just yet. With Mickey’s final word ("Don’t!") still ringing in her ears, Daphne tells the defenceless Ann that she’s not going to murder her.

In fact, she’s not even going to hand her over to the police. Instead, she wants her to live a life constantly looking over her shoulder, a paranoid existence the ex-undercover cop has plenty experience of.

Of course, Ann was never going to meekly walk away, and following another scuffle to the death, she falls into the lake. With the Sparrows, now joined by Rory, watching intently, she thrashes around before slowly sinking below the surface.

As returning cop Ian (David Morrissey) arrives on the scene, you half expect Ann to suddenly rise up like Jason Voorhees in the first Friday the 13th. But no, her bone-chilling reign of terror really has come to a watery end.

Where are the key characters now?

After a tearful meeting with trouble-starter brother Ryan (Oliver Huntingdon) shortly before he's transferred to a prison much further afield, Stephie is shown moving into new accommodation, this time thankfully not inhabited by any drug-addled teens.

But once again proving that she isn’t averse to criminal ways herself – let's not forget that despite the fact her fingerprints would have been all over his van door, she gets away with fatally spearing Kyre (Conor Deane) – she’s also shown burying the money her former housemates stashed away in the washing machine.

Meanwhile, Robert Lindsay continues to play uber-rich businessman Franklin Warner like a panto baddie, throwing a press conference tantrum when it becomes clear his new coal mine proposal has been vetoed.

If you’re still wondering whether he was responsible for the death threats towards his most vocal opponent Lisa, well, the show doesn’t tell us. Perhaps this will be resolved if a third season is greenlit?

Elsewhere, in a montage set to Lisa’s inspirational comeback speech, we see Harry attending a support group, the Sparrows playing happy families after Daphne’s discharge from hospital and Ian and Julie (an underused Lesley Manville) reconciling their friendship (and possibly more?).

The latter storyline, in particular, seemed surplus to requirements second time around, a result of the show possibly trying to spin a few too many plates. But overall, the mining strike drama’s pivot into Nottingham’s version of The Wire has been must-watch TV from start to finish.

All episodes of Sherwood are now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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