Trigger Point came to a less than explosive end on Sunday night with the killer bomber finally revealed – here’s the ending explained.
Some viewers may have been left a little disappointed that no one or nothing was actually blown up in the series finale…
But the hour packed in plenty of drama regardless.
And the REAL mastermind behind all the bombings was finally revealed (although some of you had probably already guessed).
Trigger Point ending explained – Karl was the bad guy
At the beginning of episode six, the number one suspect was still EXPO member John Hudson.
And his next target was almost definitely going to be the local by-election happening that week.
However, a horrified Lana soon discovered that the mastermind wasn’t John after all.
[Well we think she must have been horrified. Her face was, as always, expressionless.]
In fact, Karl was revealed to be the killer bomber behind the Westhaven terror attack, the bomb in the Mosque and the murder of Lana’s brother Billy.
Yes, Karl! The beefcake who had sweet-talked his way into Lana’s bed and convinced her to cheat on long-term boyfriend Thom Youngblood.
Some viewers may have already guessed he was involved due to his constant hanging around.
But still he was nice to look at while it lasted…
Why did Karl mastermind the bombings?
The clues were there all along, if only we all had science degrees and a comprehensive knowledge of the periodic table of elements and the atomic numbers!
Viewers knew that the numbers 66 11 42 were important, as was 1912 which had appeared at all of the bomb sites.
We soon learnt that the number were linked to retracted HMX files stored on a Ministry of Defence base called Steephome.
The last time HMX-319 was distributed from the MOD base was in July 2009 in an operation called Dynamo.
But what did the military code name Dynamo stand for?
Clever clogs Sonia – the real hero in Trigger Point – worked out that Dynamo was linked to the number 66 11 42.
11 is NA in the periodic table of elements, and represents sodium.
Meanwhile, 66 stands for DY – dysprosium – and 42 represents MO, molybdenum.
So the 1912? We finally learnt that it represented KMG – Karl Maguire!
Trigger Point ending explained – what was operation Dynamo?
Viewers discovered that something happened outside a village in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
In July 2009, a road traffic accident resulted in seven allied soldiers being killed.
Official records showed that all the passengers were killed in the crash.
But the families of the soldiers believed they died in an explosion – an accident involving probable explosives.
As the final episode continued, it became clear that they’d been a government cover up.
And not ALL of the soldiers had died – one escaped.
Lone remaining soldier Karl Maguire survived the incident and blamed local MP Ayesha Campbell-Khan who was running in the local by-election.
Armed with a DMS, a dead man’s switch suicide belt, he planned to take out the MP and anyone else in the room at the time.
But he hadn’t banked on Lana being there too.
He told Ayesha: “You covered up the murders of British soldiers in Cijab in 2009.
“You were chair of the defence committee that closed down the enquiry.”
Furious with rage, he mentioned “blatant cover-ups” and her “report full of lies”.
Karl explained he was part of a convoy sent by special forces forward operating base in Afghanistan with chemical explosives.
They were “under-defended, undermanned, and under-equipped”.
He then revealed the convoy hit a roadside IED – an improvised explosive device – and they were ambushed.
After the incident was covered up apparently in the interest of national security, Karl threatened to go public.
But he was court-marshalled for cowardice in a kangaroo court and threatened with the official secrets act and life imprisonment…
I mean, no wonder he was angry.
What happened to Lana Washington?
Lana was able to grab hold of Karl’s dead man’s switch (not a euphemism) after he was shot in the head by a sniper.
Karl lay dead, and Lana’s colleague Hassan Rahim was able to EASILY diffuse the bomb with a little snip of his snippers.
We later discovered that Karl had framed John, who was in fact innocent of all the crimes (and just a massive red herring).
Although Lana was left in shock, she was safe AGAIN.
Like a cat with nine lives, it was obvious Lana wasn’t ever going to come to any harm.
Even if she did have terrible taste in men.
Trigger Point ending – will there be a series two?
ITV has confirmed that there WILL be series 2 of Trigger Point.
Jed Mecurio, the executive producer, had previously hinted that a second series was possible.
Talking at an ITV press conference, he said: “If this series goes down well with the audience, we’d love to do more.
“It’s set up to be a returner.”
He added: “We know how much audiences love thrillers – they’re a big part of people’s TV experience now – and having another series of Trigger Point in the future would be great if we’re lucky enough to get to that point.”
We’re now told that Trigger Point will return for a second six-part series in 2023.
Trigger Point was commissioned for ITV by Polly Hill, Head of Drama.
She commented: “I am so delighted to see Trigger Point return.
“Vicky is stunning as Lana and it’s brilliantly produced by Jed. […] I can’t wait to see where series two takes Lana and her team.”
Writer Daniel Brierley added: “I’m honoured and excited to be given the chance to continue Lana’s story.
“I feel there’s many more twists and turns in her future.”
On a personal level, we’d love to see more of the friendship between Lana and her colleague Sonia, which sometimes felt like the only real relationship in the series.
