ITV's The Blame has concluded, with the killer of teenager Sophie Madsen finally unmasked in the Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth drama. The series followed police officers working to uncover systemic misogyny and corruption in the force after Sophie's death.
Killer unmasked in final episode
The fifth episode saw Emma turn up at Neil Shergill’s house, hoping for help to find out which police officer had been luring women like Sophie to their home. However, she found herself close to death there as she discovered that it was actually Neil who was the rapist.
Moments before blacking out and waking up in hospital, Emma saw Tom come to save her, but she also remembered him frantically searching for something in Neil’s house. With that hazy memory, the realisation that Tom’s clothes had none of Emma’s DNA so they must have been new, and other warnings about Tom, she confronts him and finally learns the truth.
Tom's motive revealed
While Neil had attempted to sexually assault Sophie, she had escaped, but not before finding pictures of his past victims. In the hope of gaining justice, Sophie went to Tom for help. However, he had already been protecting Neil as a way of furthering his own career. He knew that if Neil’s crimes came to light, he would be implicated, so he killed Sophie to stop the truth coming out.
Second season teased
The series ended with Emma learning the truth about Tom, but Lewis also learning something about Emma, as he discovered an image that could have questioned her role as a police officer. In a past trial, Emma had planted evidence on a criminal to claim that he had killed a woman named Amber Dodds, only to later discover that it had been Neil the whole time. When Lewis finds an image of Amber Dodds, he is left wondering why Emma had lied about it, leaving the possibility of a second season open.
Michelle previously revealed she was “hooked” on The Blame from the moment she read the script, and hailed her character as being “a strong female in a male-dominated environment”. She went on: “She’s one of those girls that will take no nonsense, and it just felt exciting. We love to see it on screen and there’s not enough of it on screen.” The Blame is available to watch on ITVX.
