Too Close to the Sun
So it all comes down to this. Who will make it out in one piece? Who is arrested? And will the police manage to solve this one once and for all? Lets dig in.
As we’ve suspected across the season, Axel is the weak-link here and always has been. Zoran is forced to clean up his mess, while the police, led by Leonie, narrow everything down to 20 names. Among those names is Axel, found thanks to his links to the car, and as his name is written on the whiteboard, bringing us up to the finale.
Where is Rami?
Episode 8 of The Helicopter Heist begins with Rami checking the news online, trying to make sure there’s nothing that links back to him. However, this heist has cost him his family, with Karin obviously giving him that ultimatum midway through the show, and him deciding to walk out all the same, given the money he owes. Rami has fled to the Dominican Republic, but his days are numbered.
Rami’s blood is found at the crime scene and it turns out he did cut himself at the heist. It happened with the broken skylight, cutting himself on the glass. With a big reward for anyone giving the police info, this is kinda brushed to the side for the time being as they’re swamped with random little tip-offs. Leonie is quick to steer the case back on track, believing Axel is the one they need to find, as his link with Zoran is the strongest part of the case right now.
Axel has a big cocaine addiction and he’s very clearly spiralling out of control. It doesn’t take long for him to realize there are cops camped outside his house. With the CCTV footage as well, Alex covers for Michel at the station and doesn’t incriminate him during her interview. Leonie though needs results – and quick. The media are turning on the police and are – alongside the judicial department – demanding she get some arrests.
What gives Rami away?
This catches us up to the fragmented moments from episode 1. Rami writes his letter to Karin, believing that the end is nigh given his blood is at the crime scene. He believes he’s being watched and growing ever-more paranoid every day. And for good reason too.
Leonie manages to do her homework and ties Axel to Zoran. Thanks to CCTV footage, they track down his whereabouts, tying him to the helicopter. Furthermore, the blood work is back and they confirm it’s Rami at the scene.
The Dominican Republic have actually flagged him already with Interpol as they believed he was there to do a drug deal, given his history. However, they’re not alone. Local criminals are also watching Rami, and for the time being, the Swedes have revoked his passport. Even if he stays in hiding, eventually he’ll be found and when his visa runs out, he’ll be deported immediately.
How do the police find those responsible?
The police need more names before they can act but thanks to high-tech equipment and state of the art surveillance, they’ve managed to trace the phones of the criminals and their locations all the way back to weeks before the heist. This means they’ve got a much wider pool of names to draw from – and that gives them five definitive faces and names. Alon with the ones we know, they also find Michel and Niklas.
Zoran, Axel and Michel are all arrested in quick succession with simultaneous arrests. As for Rami, he’s chased by the gangsters who eventually hold him up at gunpoint… and reveal themselves to be the police. Rami is relieved, and as he’s led out in handcuffs, we get a lowdown of what really took place.
What happened during the arrests in the real heist?
Michel’s presence inside the depot could never be proven so he was sentenced to a shorter term, dubbed by the media as “The Accomplice”. Axel initially pleaded not guilty but was sentened to prison for aggravated robbery and served 8 years.
Niklas was also sentenced to prison for accessory to robbery, although his presence at the depot wasn’t proven. Zoran Was also sentenced to prison for accessory to aggravated robbery.
The worst here thouGh is Rami, whose blood was actually found at five different spots inside the depot. He was sentenced and confessed to the robbery, but refused to name any accomplices. His term ended up being 8 year as well, where he ends up watching his boys grow up from behind bars.
Karin has moved on though, now seeing someone else, making good on her earlier promise that she’d find someone else. Rami has made peace with this and asks her if this man is kind to her, and she nods in agreement.
It turns out the money from the heist was never found, and with most of the robbers out already, word has it that when Rami left prison, he was given his share of the funds. So in a way, they really did manage to make it!
The Episode Review
So Helicopter Heist comes to a compelling end, bringing this thrilling cat and mouse chase to a close with a conclusive and pretty satisfying ending. Seeing the fate of all these characters, and how the incompetency from the police played into this, certainly gives somewhat of a skewed impression of the Swedish police. There’s been a lot of shades of grey in this series, and that is especially prevalent when it comes to the way this case has been handled.
You really get a feel for why these men are pulling off the heist, and for Rami he really was left with no other option after being scammed so badly. This is definitely captured effectively in the show, while the helicopter pilot fiasco was foreshadowed earlier on, with the gang exhibiting their doubts over Axel being able to pull this off. Turns out he couldn’t, go figure!
The show does a good job bringing all of this together in this finale, and we even get a little montage at the end to see what happened to everyone. However, it would have been nice to tie this into the real story a bit so we could see the differences, but that’s a minor grumble to be fair.
As far as finales go, this one’s definitely a good watch, making for a pretty tight and compelling drama.
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Episode Rating
(3.5)