Carry On Plot Summary
While travelling during the holidays can be hectic, working at a major international airport during this time is equally overwhelming, especially when you’re being held hostage by a terrorist who’s using your loved ones as leverage to force you to meet their demands. This is exactly what happens to a young TSA agent, Ethan, on the day he decides to prove to his boss his renewed enthusiasm for the job.
This intense holiday thriller starring Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Sofia Carson, and Danielle Deadwyler takes us through the battle between Ethan and a mysterious traveller who wants to get a suitcase containing a deadly nerve agent on a flight.
How does Ethan end up in this mess?
After learning that his girlfriend, Nora, is pregnant, Ethan decides to try to do more in his life. He dreamed of being a cop but was rejected for lying in his resume. He then settled for the TSA job but never really put much effort into doing his best. Nora’s pregnancy inspires him to ask for a promotion and a chance to prove himself. His friend, Jason, convinces their boss, Phil, to let Ethan take his place. The switch catches the mysterious traveller by surprise, but he pivots his plan effectively.
Meanwhile, Phil puts Ethan on the baggage-scanning lane where a woman hands him an earbud left behind in one of the bins. Ethan then gets a message on his phone ordering him to put the earbud in, and this is how the psychological mind games start
At first, Ethan tries to outsmart the traveller but quickly realises he can’t. The man is working with someone else, and they already have a hostage. The traveller also threatens Nora and details information on Ethan that a stranger normally wouldn’t know. Ethan manages to make a call to 9-1-1, but the call notices and forces him to hang up the phone and lock it away in the lost and found locker. Ethan then tries to use his smartwatch, but the attempt fails, too. Relentless, Ethan uses an invisible ink pen to warn one of his superiors, Lionel, but the traveller gets to Lionel and kills him by inducing a heart attack.
Lionel’s death causes an uproar, and Phil orders Jason to return to the baggage scanning lane. However, the traveller orders Ethan to find a way to return to his post. Ethan sabotages Jason by adding alcohol to his coffee, and the poor family guy is fired. Everyone assumes Ethan did it out of jealousy and greed and is disappointed.
What happens to the suitcase?
After Ethan has Jason fired, he returns to the post and meets the suitcase carrier, Mateo. The terrorists are holding Mateo’s husband hostage, and he is in the same plight as Ethan. In the meantime, another LAPD cop, Elena, is investigating the arson and murder of a known Russian mafia. She stumbles upon a hidden bug, and the audio file on it leads her to believe someone is smuggling Novichak into the country. She alerts the necessary bureau of her suspicions, and they send in one of their agents, John Alcott, to accompany her to the airport. However, as they drive, she realises that the man in the car is not John Alcott. A struggle ensues, and she kills the impostor and rushes to the airport. Once there, she orders Phil to do random physical bag check-ups.
Meanwhile, Ethan is wrecked with guilt since he gave the suitcase an all-clear. He secretly uses Phil’s code to add Mateo to the random check-up. Angry, the traveller has his partner train his sniper gun on Nora, forcing Ethan to go save Mateo. Once Ethan gets to the inspection room, he refuses to kill Phil, and Mateo ends up stabbing Phil with a pen and killing him.
They move to dispose of Phil’s body in the baggage sorting area, but the traveller orders Mateo to kill Ethan. Thankfully, Ethan notices Mateo raising the plastic handmade gun to shoot him. An intense fight ensues, and the gun explodes in Mateo’s hands, killing him instantly. Ethan then quickly sends a warning message to another colleague, asking him to call for help and get Nora to safety.
He also switches the nerve agent bomb to a similar suitcase. Simultaneously, Elena finally finds Ethan and is ready to question him. However, Ethan fights her off after telling her the necessary information to stop the traveller. Ethan rushes to save Nora and manages to save her and Mateo’s husband, who was tied inside a van belonging to the Traveler’s accomplice. Mateo’s husband kills the Traveler’s accomplice.
How does Carry On end?
Initially, Ethan thought that the Traveller was heading to New York, so they closed terminal 7. However, the plan was always to assassinate Congresswoman Grace Turner, who has been working on a bill to raise more funding for weapons. If she dies, the Russians will be blamed while weapon manufacturers will be smiling all the way to the bank. The Traveller manages to get on the DC flight with the Congresswoman.
Ethan decides to go on a suicide mission and secretly get on the plane through the cargo hold to disarm the bomb since he had done it before in the inspection room under the Travellers’ guidance. The traveller notices something is off and sneaks into the cargo hold. A fight ensues, and Ethan locks the Traveller in the vacuum-sealed fridge and deploys the nerve agent. Meanwhile, the pilots see the struggle in the cargo hold and turn the plane back. Once they land, the police take over and secure the area.
The show ends with a one-year time jump, and Ethan and Jason are going on a holiday with their family. He is also a cop now!