The Final
The season 1 finale of Little Birds begins in the morning, as Hugo and Lucy finally work together to catch the traitor in the act. That traitor, of course, being Grant. Lucy arrives at the Secretary’s estate and informs him that Grant has arrived. As they talk business, Vaney invites them to dinner. Lucy feigns a smile and tells her she’d be delighted to meet him. When she arrives back at the bar, she feeds back the news to Hugo and Bill, reminding them both not to lose their nerve. Right on cue, Grant arrives and promises to close the deal himself. His slimy tendrils immediately rub everyone up the wrong way as he remarks on the run-down property and Tangier itself. As he starts spinning a story about betrayal, Hugo struggles to hold his nerve while Lili watches on from afar. In the wake of this, Hugo eventually leaves the club intent on finding Adham. Having finally come to terms with who he is, he goes looking for his lover. Adham has left to head back home though and when he finds out, Hugo struggles to hold back tears. Meanwhile, Lucy excuses herself and meets Ben in the toilets, strapping a recording device to her leg to use in order incriminate her Father. When she leaves, Vaney bundles Cherifa in the back of his car and takes her to that same familiar farm we saw during the opening episodes. There, Vaney reveals that they’re going to blow the King’s plane out the sky to stop the rebellion before it even starts. With French music playing, Vaney cuts roses and visits a beaten and bruised Cherifa down in the basement. There, he offers her a deal to be his bride and encourages her to clean herself up and meet him upstairs. He gives her a black dress to wear and seats her at the dining table. As she gets dressed, Vaney reminds her that if she tries anything, Corbeau will kill her. With tensions high, he has her cook for him ready for Grant’s arrival. Some initial tension immediately sets things off on the wrong foot. Given Cherifa has Lucy’s gun, they’re forced into concocting a story over why she has it. Eventually they quell any doubts when she tells him it was sold. Eventually, Grant pitches the anti-air gun to an eager and interested Vaney. Midway through talking, the French Secretary rubs him up the wrong way and he decides not to deal as things turn hostile. That hostility is exacerbated by Cherifa, who riles up Vaney and manages to take his attention away from Lucy. With Bolero playing in the background, simmering tensions spill over. Lucy snaps and shoots Courdeau while Cherifa kicks Vaney down the stairs of the basement and ties him up. Lucy, like a hysterical animal, eventually loses patience with her Father and shoots him too. In the aftermath of this and with Vaney dead in the basement, Cherifa and Lucy sit together and break bread. Clutching the anti-air gun they head outside and shoot the house, blowing it to smithereens. As they eventually stand up, they walk away together which is where the episode ends.
The Episode Review
Aside from Cherifa and Lucy gaining revenge on Grant and Vaney, there isn’t an awful lot of closure at the end. What happened to Sam and the undercover CIA plot? What’s Adnam and Hugo’s fate? Do either of them find happiness? And what about the Moroccan rebellion? That last point is a particular problem given how much weight has been put on this throughout the season. There’s no pay-off for any of this building tension and it all feels quite underwhelming. The idea of a Moroccan rebellion playing out in the background to what’s going on in the house may have helped elevate this one. Unfortunately Little Birds ends with a barely audible bird song rather than a triumphant caw. What a shame.
