The Day of the Jackal – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

How It Ends

Episode 10 of The Day of the Jackal wastes little time as Inspector Ana rings Nuria about the assassination. This is all a backdrop to the real drama here, as the Jackal is on the run from the authorities, who are still after him. He manages to slip away though, but it’s still touch and go.

UDC is dead though and with that, the Daghaus board postpone the River launch. Indefinitely. With the Jackal having been successful, the board are told they need to “clean up loose ends”.

What does Bianca find out?

Back at MI6, Bianca is still on the case and more determined than ever to find the Jackal. She knows that the hit from the boat is not dissimilar to that of Tejero’s killing, both of which done from a big distance. Isabel is having none of this, given she believes MI6 are a team and right now, Bianca isn’t playing this the right way. In fact, when she refuses to entertain Bianca’s plan, Bianca quits.

With her job gone, she arrives at school and apologizes to Paul for what’s happened. She just wants her husband back and knows that they’re a team. It’s a sweet moment, especially as she owns up to not always being there for them.

It doesn’t take long for Isabel to show up, as she tries to talk her way back into work. Not only that, but she’s also backtracking on wrapping the case up. Bianca needs to do this under the radar; an unsanctioned operation… which she refuses.

That night though, Paul believes Bianca should go and do it. She can’t let it go and the parallels to Jackal’s current predicament is really well done here.

Who is the dirty agent?

The Foreign Secretary shows up to see Isabel, where it becomes clear that the two are in collusion together. It turns out she was dirty after all, and Isabel is convinced that Bianca will hand her notice in. That’s a problem though, as the Foreign Secretary worries that she could be a liability. To prevent that occurring, the Secretary wants Bianca to go after Jackal and take him out. Then they’ll take her out, covering all their tracks.

The Jackal ends up in a car crash and tips upside down after swerving away from a kid with a football in the street. He’s on borrowed time though and manages to slip away, getting a lift from an elderly couple to the border of Montenegro to get out the country. On the way though, he finds his own moral compass challenged, with the pair scared. When the woman stabs Jackal in the shoulder, he’s forced to kill them both.

Bianca enlists Vince’s help and they head out to Spain together to chase up the Tejero link. They speak to Inspector Ana, who has decided to release Nuria’s brother. Bianca gets nowhere but Vince’s soft touch works wonders to bring up Alvaro’s file. This links back to Nuria and, subsequently, Charles.

What happens in Spain?

Just like the Jackal, the pair decide to wait and figure it out. She knows there’s a bigger plot at work here and wants to know what it is. As for Nuria, she’s had enough and packs up all the money, contemplating running away.

The Jackal makes it to Spain, while Leonore is told her fee will be paid when she makes contact with someone called Simon. Leonore senses a ruse, and that she’s going to be killed, and manages to get away before that happens.

Back in Spain, Nuria leaves in a taxi with her son, away from this life. Bianca realizes she’s going in a taxi so she’s running away not toward danger. As for the Jacal, he heads back home, prompting Bianca and Vince to close in. As they do, Leonore rings and warns that the authorities are coming for him and he needs to move.

Is Bianca killed?

It turns out Nuria has actually left a sizable amount of money in the drawers, allowing the Jackal to pack his stuff. As he does, Alvaro stumbles around the mansion drunk. He immediately fires his gun, and the pair kill him. The Jackal meanwhile, decides to lock himself in the safe room.

When Bianca hits the fire alarm, the Jackal kills him, quick as a flash, from the hallway. Bianca wants answers and even calls him Duggan. She points out she does this because she likes to win, and the Jackal says the same thing. She offers to help him get Nuria back and eventually shoots her. As blood oozes from Bianca’s mouth, he takes off.

However, despite winning at his job, he’s lost his family and remains deadest on finding them. Unfortunately, he’s hit by a car on the road in a shocking accident.

How does Day of the Jackal end?

Back in London, Isabel is promoted up to Chief, while OC has a message from Bianca, confirming that Isabel is the corrupt agent here. He deletes the message, covering it up.

As for the Jackal, he’s still alive following the accident. He meets up with Leonore, who points out that there’s another “unpaid debt” that needs to be followed up on. That being, of course, the powers that be in New York. Before he agrees to it, he wants to find Nuria and his son.

The Episode Review

The finale of The Day of the Jackal is an explosive, tense affair and it ends with a suitably ambiguous conclusion but not in the way that demands a second season. Although this one has been renewed already, so there is that!

The show is clever in the way it portrays this cyclical idea of killing but not being able to escape that life once you become too embroiled into it.

Bianca’s brash and cocky nature eventually becomes her Achille’s Heel, although I’m still waiting to see if she’s faked her death and was wearing a bulletproof vest. It seems unlikely but that could be a route the creators may choose to go down.

The parallels between the Jackal and Bianca’s character, right down to the job, duty and ideas around juggling family and work life, makes for a really compelling character study. Despite starting out as a cocky and unlikable protagonist, by the end it’s hard not to admire Bianca’s tenacity to try and get the job done. It’s a nice character arc, and similarly Jackal also follows suit, albeit in a more dramatic and blood-spattered manner.

With unpaid debts and lots of potential for a follow-up, The Day of the Jackal has been a compelling watch, with a bombastic finale to boot.