The Missing series 2 episode 7 recap: will Julien catch the man who kidnapped Alice Webster?

If you haven't watched episode seven, click out of this article now. But if you're ready to pore over everything that happened in the penultimate episode, read on...

• The Missing episode 1: what really happened to Alice Webster?
• The Missing episode 2: what is Brigadier Stone up to?
• The Missing episode 3: what do Gemma's rollercoaster photos mean?
• The Missing episode 4: is there is a third missing girl?
• The Missing episode 5: has the shocking ending revealed a new suspect?
• The Missing episode 6: can we trust Julien Baptiste?

Were we wrong about what happened to Alice Webster?

Well, yes. At least I was. My working theory last week was that Sophie had somehow managed to escape the fire and left Alice to die in the shed instead. The DNA match with Dad Sam seemed certain, and there would have been something bleakly fitting about Julien tracking down the girls, only to discover one was dead and the other was in thrall to her captor.

But no. Alice is alive – just – having been locked in the boot of Adam Gettrick's car as he made his escape with Lucy to Switzerland. In the closing scene, the horrific, controlling Adam tells Sophie that he has bought a present. A toy monkey. The same kind of toy monkey that the real Alice used to fight over with her brother Matthew.

“She used to talk about one of these, remember? The one her brother kept trying to steal from her. Back in the day. Back when she behaved. She was very good in the car. I didn’t hear a sound from the boot in the entire journey. So I thought I’d give her a present, for being such a good girl.”

The camera turns, and in the shadows is another girl. "You will be good, won't you Alice?" Adam says, as if she's his pet. "I'll be good," she replies.

So, Adam is now in Switzerland with Sophie Giroux, her daughter Lucy (we think) and Alice Webster.

Does that mean that the body found in the shed was that of the third missing girl, Lena Garber? It would explain Sophie throwing her red glasses on the fire a couple episodes ago. But then, was the DNA result fixed? If so, how? Those theories about Sam having an affair and fathering multiple children won't go away...

Is someone still covering for Adam Gettrick?

The flashback to Iraq 1991 told us exactly what we needed to know about what really links Adam Gettrick, Henry Reed and Adrian Stone. Nadia explained how Stone and Reed found Gettrick locked in a basement after abusing a local's daughter – she was just 13 years old. They manage to free Gettrick, kill the owner and set fire to the house – but what they didn't realise was that there was a girl still inside who perished in the fire.

That's why Reed was making payments to Mirza Bazani all those years later, out of guilt for what happened. That's why it seems Gettrick framed Nadia's husband Kristian Herz for the kidnapping of Alice Webster, as revenge for not mounting a rescue operation.

So much for 1991. But is somebody still covering for Adam Gettrick all these years later? Time and again, we come back to Brigadier Stone's unsettling conversation with Sophie Giroux when she was pretending to be Alice – you know, the one with the story about the turtle. Surely that proves that Stone's connection to Gettrick didn't end when they returned from Iraq?

Furthermore, Sophie went and put flowers on Henry Reed's grave. Reed's suicide/murder must be connected to Sophie's escape/deception, but how?

While we're on the subject of Iraq, did you notice that the padlock Gettrick used to lock the trap door in his house is the same one that kept him locked in the Iraqi's basement in 1991? A chilling touch.

How close is Julien Baptiste to catching Adam?

One episode to go, and Gettrick has managed to flee to Switzerland and reunite with Sophie. But Julien isn't far behind.

And Julien has two advantages: after their confrontation in the barracks, Adam was forced to make a quick getaway with Lucy in the car and Alice locked in the boot. But he was clumsy, leaving behind Lucy's toy. Perhaps the trap door will hold another clue to where Adam has disappeared to?

Remember too, that when he goes into the shop in Switzerland, he feels in his pockets and realises he's left his money behind... Surely he isn't tracked down thanks to something as mundane as a credit card?

What's Julien's other advantage? His wife, Celia. Despite despairing over him not getting the treatment he needs, despite worrying that he is losing himself just like Tony Hughes did (series one spoilers!), she still, in the end, believes in him. Given how fractured everyone else's relationships in The Missing are, that has to be worth something.

Is Sophie really in love with Adam?

This was one of the major talking points after last week's episode, so it's worth pointing out some of the best theories suggesting Sophie's relationship with Adam isn't all that it seems.

Carrie Callingham for example said in the comments last week, "I think her whole plan is to get her and her daughter away from the kidnapper. She is just pretending to love him so she can find the perfect moment to run or kill him."

Well, she hasn't got rid of him yet, but there's still the series finale...

Claire Calverly was even more convincing: "In 2014 she asked her 'brother' to apologise to Herz. She feels guilty about fitting him up. She also puts flowers on the grave of Reed (though we don't know his role yet).

"She and Gettrick have gone to a lot of trouble to frame the butcher. By putting those flowers on the grave she has inadvertently sown the seeds of doubt in the mind of Baptiste that they've got the right man. Gettrick would have foreseen this risk, so I think she has done this without his knowledge. No way would he have allowed her. This leads me to believe she is not as much in his power as we are meant to think..."

Are you convinced?

How will The Missing end?

We viewers have known who kidnapped the girls for some time now, which has given the series a very different dynamic to the first series. The past two episodes have gone back and forward in time, filling in the main details – but, with one more episode to come, there are still enough questions and doubts to keep us guessing until the end.

Will Julien catch up with Gettrick in Switzerland? Will the girls turn against their captor? Will the truth about Stone be revealed – or will Matthew's parents turn him in for attacking the retired Army man? And, the biggest question of all: will anyone recover from this ordeal?

Let us know your predictions for next week's episode in the comments below.