Wreck – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Water off a Duck’s Back

Episode 6 of Wreck starts with a deeper look at exactly what Pippa was up to. Those names happen to be people killed (or about to be killed) onboard the ship, while Pippa was working to expose the whole charade and tell the authorities. Of course, this obviously ended in her being chased by the duck killer, who we now know was Sam, given he saw her jump overboard.

What’s the secret of the kill games?

In the present, Mr A tells Jamie and the others that the first week onboard these cruises, rich passengers choose their prey and they’re “selected” up on the board. It’s a one-of-a-kind activity and each suite gets a go on the floor to kill. Mr A claims that it’s part of the experience for being human, something they’ve been doing since 1893.

Management suspected that Danny had been told everything by Pippa, which explains why he was killed. Sam was the one who stabbed him but Danny managed to slip away and jump down into the pool, which wasn’t part of the plan. Sam, not Beaker as we initially thought, was the one who killed everyone else too.

But just like that, Mr A grabs a knife and stabs Sam, not Jamie, letting him bleed out on the floor. “You can thank me later,” Mr A says before taking Jamie and Olly out. It’s his way of showing how disposable the staff are, but also a reminder that any form of weakness or threat of defecting will be met with horrific consequences.

Are Olly and Jamie saved before it’s too late?

Mr A wants to know exactly who else he’s spoken to about this, and Beaker leads the charge to threaten Olly with a fishhook as they’re marched out the room and into the freezer.

Jamie looks set to spill the beans but just before he does, Cormac shows up to save the day. Jamie refuses to let Vivian be left as prey and tries to concoct a plan to save her. Pt of that comes from getting help, which Jamie does by infiltrating the latest party with all the staff.

Jamie takes the mic and reveals what’s actually happening here. He brings up all the names of those who have been killed and how they need to lead a rebellion given the officers have been distracting them all with cheap booze. Even worse, the ship has been stopped in the middle of the ocean so they have no choice but to fight back. That is the only way they can save Vivian.

Are the officers stopped in the rebellion?

With the staff on their side, and no time to get the guests to join them, the group find themselves face to face with all the officers, led by Karen. She promises to use force against them if they don’t disperse. Well, the kids don’t (although Bethany runs back to her cabin) so Beaker drops a smoke bomb into the hallway.

With the shutters down and Karen seemingly with the upper-hand, the tables are turned by another bit of deus ex machina, coming in the form of the Filipinos.

The Baby leads the charge and cuts open the shutters. Although his contraption fails midway through, Jamie decides to take a different approach and sneaks in the alternate rooms to find another hidden compartment.

Karen leaves the group and speaks to Mr A, deciding they need to evacuate the ship and regroup. Mr A is having none of it and refuses to allow that, deciding to fire Karen and promoting Beaker to her level instead. Mr A wants this contained no matter what, and that includes taking out as many of the insurgents as quickly as possible.

Does Lily kill Vivian?

While all this is going on, Lily has her way with Vivian, proclaiming that this is her “first time” and straddling her on the bed. Only, all of this is a ruse as she breaks the binds and encourages Vivian to head off and fight back. With a chainsaw in hand, it definitely doesn’t look good for Vivian.

Thankfully Jamie shows up, helped along by Karen who decides to turn on her own kin. When he opens the door, it distracts Lily long enough for the chainsaw to be turned on her, leaving the girl a bloody mess.

All the other first class passengers decide to take up arms and hit back. Unfortunately Jamie and Vivian walk right into the lion’s den. Even worse, Mr A fronts the group and he tells them that this isn’t the only ship they’ve been doing this on. There’s a whole stack of Velorum Cruise liners that are doing the exact same thing.

How does Wreck season 1 end?

Thankfully, all the staff show up and rally behind Jamie. Beaker is shot by Lauren, and left severely wounded at the bar. Olly and Jamie kiss, while Cormac and Rosie do the exactly same thing. It’s a bittersweet victory for Jamie though, who doesn’t get his sister back but does solve the mystery onboard the murder cruise.

Vivian promises that Velorum are not getting away with this, and as we zoom out from the cruise liner, helicopters look set to approach. However, there’s a bigger surprise here. It turns out Pippa is still alive and she’s been watching the ship from afar!

The Episode Review

With Wreck already renewed for a second season, it would appear that this story is just starting and with the promise of other cruise ships out there operating in the same way, it would seem that the narrative is going to go the way of liberating other ships, with Pippa and Jamie reunited and the whole drama settled that way.

As for this first season, the twist in episode 4 is followed up by another involving Lily, although the idea of all these first class passengers just being murderous and wanting to do kill sports for the sake of being rich is bit of a naff and overdone trope. It’s something we’ve seen in this genre so many times now and with Wreck it doesn’t have the same impact.

The characters are still quite archetypal even at the end and there hasn’t been a whole lot of growth for anyone with the exception of Jamie, who has come out of his shell a lot compared to how this series started.

With all that being said, Wreck has been an enjoyable enough watch, although next to other mysteries in this genre, it’s far from the best.