Shantaram – Season 1 Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

All the Way from There just to get to here

Prabhu takes Lin to Karla’s place and his arrival converges with that of Abdullah at the start of Shantaram episode 12. They discover Modena, still alive but barely. Lin cannot let him die and takes him to a doctor. 

Zhou has taken Lisa and Karla captive and intends to “sell them” to the highest bidder. The next morning, we see a paper sporting the headline, “Sex, Scandal, and Sagar Wada”. Kavita’s story has sent shockwaves through the city as it descends into turmoil. Surprisingly, Kavita is not credited with the story. Instead, the piece has Nishant’s name as the author, which greatly upsets her. Little does she know that she has inadvertently avoided death as Walid sends a man to kill whoever wrote the article. He also instructs Rafiq to keep attacking Khader’s businesses across the city. 

The “Bhais and their companies” will not intervene in this chaos. Organized crime is generally very “organized” and disciplined. The cartel takes collective decisions to make sure everyone gets a piece of the pie. But Walid took care of them in the last episode. When Modena wakes up, he tells Lin where the money is hidden (near a railway platform) and where Lisa and Karla are. Even though Waltrip took down the plate number, due to the lack of technological advancements, they cannot get the holder’s name instantly. All they can hope for is that a hawaldar on duty spots the car and reports. Sanjay, the cop who knew Lin’s location, actually works for Khader.

Abdullah proposes an idea to ambush Walid at his club. Little to Khader’s knowledge, Sanjay works for Walid as well and tells him of Khader’s plan. Walid decides to ambush Khader on his route.

Karla spots a secret passageway behind a wall and tries to break it down to get out. In front of Kavita’s eyes, Nishant is shot dead in his office by Walid’s man, just after she stormed out after berating him for taking credit. Prabhu and Lin reach Zhou’s Palace, where a mob has started converging after the revelations of what goes on there. Prabhu sits in the taxi but is soon forced to move after he sees a policeman noting his plate number. Lin gives Zhou the money but she says she does not need it. In the ballyhoo, Maurizio takes Lin hostage and asks him to escort him out with the money.

Just as he is about to, Karla and Lisa come running in and dislodge the gun from his hand. Lisa gets a hold of it eventually and shoots Maurizio. Karla, Lisa, and Lin escape with the money but see that Prabhu is not there. All of them converge at Didier’s, where Lin told Prabhu to meet him. Lisa takes the bag of money and leaves to see Modena.

Kavita cannot but shrug off the feeling that Karla played her. Jealous of Lin and Karla’s union and heartbroken over Nishant’s shooting, she decides to go to the police. She tells them that Karla must know Lin’s location and Waltrip and the others prepare to ambush him. Khader and his men ambush Walid. Sanjay was indeed a triple agent working for Kahder this whole time. Abdullah does the honors and shoots Walid dead. 

Lin and Karla finally make love and the latter declares her feelings for the former. Prabhu swears on Parvati never to put himself in trouble again and gives her the money Lin gave him as a bidding gift. Lisa comes back to Karla’s, reporting that Modena has disappeared. Karla goes to Khader to sort out the mess. She informs him of her decision to leave. Khader says he has even more power after disposing of Walid but Karla is firm in her decision. They bid farewell to each other.

Waltrip shows up and gives Lin a chase. He corners him on the terrace. Lin tries to bribe him but the old horse refuses it. Lin takes out a gun from the bag, drops it, and jumps across the terrace to escape. Waltrip threatens Prabhu, who is forced into telling him Lin is going to the railway station.

At the station, while Karla waits for him, Lin is taken by the police and deported to Australia. Karla sits alone on the train, thinking of what might have happened to him. We see Lin giving a voiceover while he is getting brutally beaten by the Aussie police. There are times when you have to surrender to fate. He thought of Karla at that moment to endure the pain. The memories of her were the only place he could take refuge in. Love was a weakness and he had to turn his back on it in the place where he found it. For now…

The Episode Review

Shantaram has delivered an astonishing finale that remains true to the story conventions the writers have built in this season. Lin ultimately faltered to his fate and we would be lying if we did not see that coming. He just put too much at stake to help others and do the right thing. And that is not charming to everyone.

There was a justice on many fronts. Zhou and Walid finally got what was coming to them. They were the anointed villains of the season, albeit the former’s mitigating circumstances do appeal to the heart. Lin finally got to experience Karla’s love. Their unison was the emotional high point of the series finale. Kavita somewhat redeemed Nishant’s life, although it is hard to make sense of at first go.

The final line of the episode suggests a probable season 2 in the works. Modena, Lisa, Khader, and pretty much every central character in the ensemble have unfinished business. Let’s see how Apple proceeds on that. For now, it is a signoff from Shantaram’s season 1.