Wolf ending explained: Who was the Donkey Pitch killer?

The series stars Ukweli Roach as Jack Caffery, the detective originated in Mo Hayder's novels, and is a genre-bending thriller which also features the likes of Sacha Dhawan and Iwan Rheon in its impressive cast.

The six-part run is set in both Wales and London and features an immersive soundtrack, but viewers will likely be most struck by the twisting, turning storyline, which leads to a shocking culmination.

Read on to have the Wolf ending explained and to find out what really happened in the BBC One thriller – just who were the Donkey Pitch killers and what did Jack discover about his brother's disappearance all those years ago?

It's worth mentioning again that there are full spoilers from here on out.

Wolf ending explained: Who was the Donkey Pitch killer?

Who was Honey?

In episode 4, it was revealed that Honey was not one of the Donkey Pitch killers as he had previously claimed - he wasn't a killer at all.

In fact, he was an out of work actor, with a pregnant wife waiting for him at home. It is suggested that he has done this sort of work for hire before and he has told her that he is on a marketing trip.

He is simply holding the Anchor-Ferrers family captive and torturing them because he has been paid to do so, with no intention of killing them or seriously maiming them. In fact, after being given a callback for a part in a commercial, he decides to focus on acting and make this his last job.

He believes that he and Molina were both hired by the same anonymous boss, who gave them both a pack of specific instructions, including the names they should use. However, that's not quite the case...

Who was the Donkey Pitch killer?

It turns out that, as Jack theorised, the Donkey Pitch murders weren't committed by just one killer, but by two - Molina and Lucia Anchor-Ferrers!

The Molina reveal is made at the end of episode 5, when Honey finds the body of housekeeper Becca in the basement of the Anchor-Ferrers family.

Molina then revealed his true colours, explaining that he'd killed Becca to stop her from coming to the house (and as his warm-up for killing the family) and had been messing with Honey throughout, moving things and making him feel they were being watched.

He was the one who had hired Honey and had given them their identities for the job based on two real detectives - who had, coincidentally, shown up at the house in episode 5!

He had committed the Donkey Pitch murders and was now terrorising the family. However, he wasn't working alone.

We later found out that the Anchor-Ferrers's daughter Lucia had been mentally disturbed from a young age, destroying the family's garden and killing a cat.

Psychiatrists told Oliver and Matilda that Lucia could be treated from home, but they chose to send her to a mental institution, where she went on to meet Molina. The pair struck up a relationship and Lucia came back, in Oliver's words, "ten times worse".

Once out of the institution, Molina had taken up the identity of Bones, wearing a hazmat suit and gas mask, throwing murderous, gory raves and dealing drugs, including to Hugo and Sophie.

After she was bullied and abused by Hugo and Sophie, locked in a cage and branded with a hot poker, Lucia joined Molina in his Bones costume and the pair brutally murdered and disembowelled Hugo and Sophie, with Minnet Kable taking the wrap.

DI Lincoln had let Kable take the wrap despite knowing he must be innocent, because he had admitted to her that he was a paedophile who used to sit and watch children in the playground at a local school.

Oliver had always had a suspicion that Lucia was involved in the Donkey Pitch murders after he saw her leaving the house that night. However, he kept it quiet, even from Matilda.

Why did the Anchor-Ferrers family get taken captive?

In the end, the Anchor-Ferrers family were taken captive for two reasons - the first was that so Molina could get Oliver to transfer him all of the family's accessible money, with Lucia knowing that she wouldn't be the one to get it in the will. It would all be going to her more successful and grounded brother instead.

The other reason was pure spite - Lucia wanted to murder them for sending her away and for "ruining everything". In the end, Jack deduced that the part Lucia enjoyed was the torture, just as she had mentally tortured Sophie and Hugo for weeks before killing them.

What happened to Honey, Oliver and Matilda?

Having discovered just who Molina was and how unhinged he could be, Honey knew he had to get away from the house for his own safety - however, before he left, a final stab of conscience meant he tried to save the Anchor-Ferrers family.

He tried to explain the situation to Matilda Anchor-Ferrers as he untied her, but his behaviour throughout had her believing Molina was the less evil of the two, and this must be some sort of mind-game from Honey.

As Honey untied her, she sliced his throat with an unwound coat hanger, killing him almost instantly.

Oliver then died after his heart gave out, following his recent transplant, his lack of access to his medication and the repeated trauma, including his final realisation that Lucia had been behind everything.

In the end, Matilda managed to survive. She escaped onto the roof and tried to get away and Jack subsequently found her. After a period where it seemed that Matilda would fall from the roof trying to get away from Jack, believing him to be another trick by Molina, she eventually let him save her.

What happened to Molina and Lucia?

Having cracked the case and realising that Lucia was one of the Donkey Pitch killers, Jack visited the home, hoping to free Matilda and Oliver Anchor-Ferrers. When he got there, he was greeted by Molina, pretending to be Kiernan, Lucia's brother.

Jack soon realised what was happening and a scuffle ensued, in which Jack killed Molina by strangling him with a rope. He then confronted Lucia, who pretended to be suicidal and in danger of jumping out the window. However, while gloating she slipped, plummeting to her death.

Having discovered a note Oliver wrote confessing to his daughter's crimes and his own knowledge of them, Jack decided to destroy it - those who were guilty were both dead and would no longer see any justice, but by keeping it a secret, Minnet Kable would stay behind bars and wouldn't be able to hurt anyone.

What did Jack discover about his brother?

With the case cracked, Jack visited the Walking Man who had set him on it once again, looking for information regarding his brother and the man he believes murdered him, Ivan Penderecki.

The Walking Man told him what he had discovered - Penderecki had been stalking Jack's brother prior to abducting him and would have kidnapped him whether they had had a fight or not. Jack was in no way to blame for what happened to his brother.

Jack went home and tore down the playhouse in view of Penderecki, proving he was past keeping it as a monument and blaming himself.

Back at the police station, a discovery was made. A DNA match for Jack's brother proves that he wasn't killed in 1998 as Jack suspected, but was alive until at least 2004 - and could still be alive to this day.

Wolf is available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer now. Looking for something else to watch? Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage.

Like this? You might want to try Dr. Death. Available now on Lionsgate+.

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