'White Lines' Ending Explained: Who killed Axel and why revealed so what can we expect from Season 2
Spoilers for ‘White Lines’
From the very beginning, ‘White Lines’ has had only two questions: Who killed Axel (Tom Rhys Harries), the Manchester DJ who moved to Ibiza, Spain, 20 years ago, and why?
Created by Álex Pina, the man behind ‘Money Heist’ or ‘La Casa de Papel’, this new Netflix crime drama, in the midst of a lot of sex, drugs, family rivalry, and a bunch of really f***** up friendships, is ultimately the story of a young DJ who moved to paradise after getting kicked out by his father. He hoped to be free there, and made not just the best of his life there, but also a bunch of enemies.
Really, like Marcus (Daniel Mays) says on the show: “Almost everyone wanted to kill him”. It could have been Marcus, who always felt overshadowed and underappreciated by Axel. It could have been Kika (Marta Milans), Axel’s ex who knew that he was sleeping with her mother as well. It could have been Cristobal (Agus Ruiz), Kika’s ex. It could have been David (Laurence Fox), who was always secretly in love with him.
It could have been Oriol (Juan Diego Botto), who hated him for seducing his mother -- Oriol’s oedipal complex is very properly demonstrated throughout the series. It could have been Conchita (Belén López) or Andreu (Pedro Casablanc), who didn’t want their daughter Kika to date someone like him.
After ten highly gripping episodes, we finally understand what happened at the 24th birthday party of Axel, where the 600 odd guests, under the influence of an endless supply of narcotics, suffered a kind of collective amnesia. Or so was claimed. The real killer of Axel was none other than Anna (Kassius Nelson/Angela Griffin), Marcus’ then-girlfriend, and now-ex-wife.
What happened?
Axel, after a long stretch of masochism, hedonism, fame, addiction, wanted to leave what he once considered paradise. His 24th birthday was supposed to be the last great party. In that vein, he had sold the rights to all of his music as well as the clubs he had set up with Anna, Marcus, and David, to the Calafat family. That too for a fraction of what they were worth.
But he wasn’t satisfied with just that. He piled all the money into a huge wooden statue and set it on fire, without telling the others. Axel and Anna were also having an affair behind Marcus’ back. After they had sex at the party once again, Axel told her about not just the deal but also suggested they came clean to Marcus about their relationship. Afraid of losing Marcus and angry at Axel’s decision to burn their money, Anna held his head underwater until he drowned.
Thereafter, Anna asked Marcus for his help in disposing of the body. They dumped it into Oriol’s car. To their horror, however, they discovered that Axel was still alive. Somehow, he freed himself and began to slowly limp away, at which point Marcus ran him over and Anna drove a sharp object into his neck.
Anna and Marcus, because the case was 20 years old and had crossed the statute of limitations, walked free. So where does this leave us in terms of a possible second season? One can presume that most of the cast would reprise their roles and Zoe (Laura Haddock), Axel’s sister would try and exact her vengeance from the two. The Calafat family’s drama is also endless. As we saw Marcus suggesting Andreu that he should take charge of Ibiza’s narcotics economy, one can hope that season 2, if it happens, will see a more ‘Narcos’ like setting, but in Spain.
‘White Lines’ is available for viewing on Netflix.