end of the tourist season

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The Tourist Season 2 Ending Explained: Helen’s Dream, the Feud, the File, and the Finale

Binged The Tourist season 2 and still have questions? Spoilers below.

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Warning: contains major finale spoilers for The Tourist season two.

In The Tourist season one, Jamie Dornan played Elliot Stanley, an amnesia sufferer who pieced together unsavoury details about his life before he lost his memory in a road collision. Elliot had been the accountant of an international drug baron named Kostas, from whom he’d stolen $1 million in cash in collusion with Kostas’ con-artist fiancée ‘Victoria’. He’d forced vulnerable addicts including a Russian woman named Lena Pascal to become drug mules, resulting in the deaths of two of Lena’s friends. Elliot had also fallen for Australian traffic cop Helen Chambers, whose forgiveness of his past misdeeds gave him enough hope that he chose not to take his own life in the season’s final moments.

By the end of The Tourist season two , everything had changed. Jamie Dornan was now playing Eugene Cassidy, part of one side in a multi-generational Irish feud between the Cassidys and the McDonnells. Eugene had skipped town years earlier after fathering a child – Fergal – with the wife of a McDonnell man, who’d shot Eugene’s brother Joe dead in revenge, having mistaken him for Eugene.

In the twist-packed second season finale, Elliot learned that his mother Niamh Cassidy, a criminal kingpin who’d spent decades waging war against the McDonnells, was in fact a McDonnell herself and the biological sister of her mortal enemy Frank McDonnell. Niamh’s mother and Frank’s father were a secretly-in-love Romeo and Juliet deal back in the day, and they’re all really one big unhappy family.

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What Eugene doesn’t know at the end of season two is that the real Elliot Stanley – a local scuba diver who’d disappeared in 1981 after Eugene’s mother killed him – is likely his biological father. He and Helen also don’t know, after they decided not to read the file on Eugene’s pre-amnesia life, that he’s a deep cover secret agent, which explains his driving/fighting and speaking-Russian abilities. Additionally, he’s a trained ballet dancer, but let’s not focus on that just now.

If any of The Tourist ’s second season left you scratching your long and healthy beard in confusion, we break it all down here.

The Real Elliot Stanley, the Sunk Plane, and the Stolen Love Letters

In the 1950s, Niamh Cassidy’s mother and Frank McDonnell’s father were in love but couldn’t be together because of the longstanding feud between their families. They secretly had a baby together – Niamh – who was raised to be a McDonnell-hating Cassidy, despite being a biological McDonnell herself. In 1981, Frank’s father was on his deathbed in Boston, US, and decided to lay bare his secret perhaps in an attempt to finally stop the bloody feud between the two families. He sent a bundle of love letters Niamh’s mother had written him, to his son Frank.

The plane containing the letters went into the sea. Awaiting an important parcel from his father, Frank hired scuba diver Elliot Stanley to search the wreckage. Stanley, whose widow hinted had been having multiple affairs including with Niamh and possibly resulting in Eugene’s birth, found the submerged plane with Niamh but she cut his oxygen tube and stole the parcel. When she read the letters and realised she was a McDonnell, she buried them and the feud continued for over 40 years.

Eugene and Claire’s Affair, Fergal, Donal and Joe

History repeated itself to some extent with Eugene and Claire’s story, but instead of a love affair between a Cassidy and a McDonnell, theirs was between a Cassidy and the wife of a McDonnell. Eugene and Claire had an affair that resulted in the birth of Fergal, who was raised as the son of Donal McDonnell. Donal was a violent man who physically abused his wife, and he was eventually shot dead by Niamh Cassidy – who turned out to be his biological aunt. That made Eugene and Donal first cousins, meaning that young Fergal is indeed a blood relative of Donal and Frank McDonnell, just a first cousin once removed/great nephew instead of a son/grandson.

When Donal discovered that Fergal was biologically Eugene Cassidy’s son, he planned to kill Eugene but mistook Eugene’s older brother Joe for him and killed Joe instead.

Helen’s Coma Dream, Book, Private Detective and the Cowboy’s Return

For anybody checking their phone during episode five, it could have been quite the stumper. In it, Helen had surgery after being shot in the stomach by Lena Pascal and seemed to recover at remarkable speed. She and Eugene flew to Australia, where they rented an apartment with a dodgy oven and started a new life. She was at home writing a book while secretly investigating the secret of Elliot Stanley and the missing parcel from Frank McDonnell’s father, while the couple grew further and further apart. Then the dead Cowboy from series one turned up to torment her, the walls started closing in, and nothing made any sense.

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If it seemed odd, that’s because none of the Australia stuff was real – it was all a dream Helen was having while in a coma after Lena had shot her; she and Eugene had remained in Ireland the whole time. Helen’s subconscious was working out her mistrust of Eugene, her need to dig up the past, and her instinct about Eugene’s mother Niamh with the private detective story, while the beeping oven alarm she kept hearing was actually the beep of her heart monitor in the hospital.

Did DS Ruairi Slater Kill Mary?

No, she died of cancer, but he did break the law by failing to have her body collected and keeping it in his basement in a rebuilt museum of their home, along with a mannequin dressed in a wig and Mary’s clothes. He also broke the law when he kidnapped Helen and held her against her will in the creepy basement, and despite promising to turn himself in, didn’t. At the end of season two, Ruairi was still a free man and acting as a police detective, along with his new-found pal Ethan Crumb – Helen’s newly reconstructed ex-fiancé from season one .

Why Did Lena Pascal Collude With the McDonnells?

Absolute nonsense, that bit, wasn’t it? It would have been much simpler for Lena to get her revenge on Eugene for all the drug mule horrors when they were still on the same continent. Instead, she bafflingly contacted his enemies in Ireland, got them to send her a photo of Eugene as a younger man, which she then sent to the police station in the remote Aussie town where he’d unexpectedly ended up with amnesia, to lure him back to Ireland, where she later followed him, just so that she could shoot his girlfriend in the stomach and disappear. Transporting all that heroin must have addled her brain.

Finally, Eugene is Really a Deep Cover Secret Agent?

That’s what the file he was sent by an anonymous stranger said – not that he knows about it because he’d (apparently) burned it before reading.

Season three, anyone?

The Tourist seasons one and two are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now .

Louisa Mellor | @Louisa_Mellor

Louisa Mellor is the Den of Geek UK TV Editor. She has written about TV, film and books for Den of Geek since 2010, and for…

• Action/Adventure
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• Amazon Prime Video

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‘The Tourist’ Season 2 Ending Explained: What Did Elliot’s File Say?

Where to stream:.

• The Tourist
• Jamie Dornan

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ on Netflix, the Quasi-Naughty Sex-Dungeon Romance Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan

Emily blunt claims some on-screen kisses have made her want to throw up: “i’ve definitely not enjoyed some of it”, where was ‘the tourist’ season 2 filmed top filming locations, jamie dornan “wasn’t pleased” with the ballet scene in ‘the tourist’ season 2 finale.

The Tourist follows a car crash victim ( Jamie Dornan ) who wakes up in a hospital with amnesia and tries to uncover his past after suspecting that dangerous people want to kill him.

The first season sees the man learning the basics about himself and navigating the logistics of his situation– dealing with lawyers, doctors, and whatnot. He is told that his name is Elliot and he’s involved in a drug trafficking ring.

Elliot also makes amends with Helen, portrayed by Danielle Macdonald , a police officer whom he kidnaps while on the run but grows close with.

 The second season changes things up. Taking a darker route, the new episodes give greater insight into the people chasing Elliot and his family relations.

Elliot’s mother Niahm (Olwen Fouéré) is introduced, along with his enemy Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh) and Donal’s son Fergal ( Mark McKenna ).

With tons of twists and turns, and a budding romance between Elliot and Helen, the journey to the end of Season 2 can get confusing. Need help ironing out the details? Here’s a breakdown of The Tourist Season 2, now streaming on Netflix .

What Was on Elliot’s File?

Once again, the season finale of The Tourist sees Helen unsure if she can be in Elliot’s (now known as Eugene) life given his dangerous past. The episode opens in the aftermath of Donal’s death and it’s revealed that Elliot’s prints are all over the gun that killed him. Elliot denies his involvement in the death, despite having a motive. Helen visits Elliot at the police station and breaks up with him.

“I don’t know you,” Helen tells Elliot in a tearful monologue. “I don’t know who you really are and that… I wish that it was different. I wish that I could just be happy.”

“We still can be,” Elliot says. 

“I’m sorry,” Helen replies before standing up to leave.

Elliot tells Helen that he loves her and she says, “I love you too, but it’s not enough.”

Meanwhile, crime lord Frank (Francis Magee) is trying to convince Fergal to seek revenge on Elliot for killing Donal, and he hesitantly agrees after his family’s legacy is mentioned. Frank arranges for Elliot to be released from the police station. 

Upon being released, Niamh warns Elliot that Frank wants him dead. Elliot claims that the current feud is not his fate and he doesn’t want to be involved.

Helen goes to the airport and bumps into her ex Ethan (Greg Larsen) and his new friend Detective Ruairi (Conor MacNeill), and the detective tells her about Frank’s arrangement. They decide to team together to help Elliot. Oh, we love where this is going. 

Elliot takes a different approach and asks Fergal to help him hide from Frank, which lands them both in trouble with Frank. After a car chase, they meet with Niamh at Cassidy’s Pub, and she is doubtful of Fergal’s intentions.

Later, Helen, Ruairi, and Ethan — who have been digging into the secrets of Elliot and Niamh’s past — arrive at the pub, shortly after Frank and his gang has arrived. Before violence can break out over the latest revelation that Niamh killed Donal, Helen reveals that she has found the missing case from Frank’s father that Niamh stole.

Inside the case are love letters between Niamh’s mother and Frank’s father, which reveal that the two are half-siblings. Niamh tries to shoot Helen, but Elliot stands between them.

“We are not blood,” Niamh tells Frank. “We’ve spilled too much of each other’s to be anywhere fucking near that.” But Frank seems touched by the news. Elliot tells Niamh that she’s going to have to shoot him if she wants to get to Helen, and she refuses.

At this moment, Ethan offers some comedic relief, saying, “A lot of potential for incest here… with the two families.”

Niamh storms out of the pub and says she can’t forget the past, and Elliot and Helen kiss and make up. 

The episode concludes with a brief time jump that sees Elliot and Helen living in Amsterdam. Elliot has received a file with information about his old life but has been waiting for Helen to open it. She arrives home and expresses that she doesn’t want to open it and she’d rather stay present in the new life they’ve built for each other. Elliot burns the file in the fireplace. 

Hilariously, Helen carts them off to a theater and she encourages him to dance since Niahm insisted he was a skilled ballet dancer in his youth. Elliot shows off his skills as the file burns in the fireplace. Before completely turning to ash, it is revealed that the file reads that Elliot was a secret agent.

Well, that left us with a few burning questions.

Jamie Dornan on Elliot and Helen’s Relationship

Decider spoke with Dornan ahead of the Netflix release of the new season. The Irish actor expressed that Elliot and Helen’s decision to burn the file was a “good thing.”

“They need to try to have some normalcy in their lives,” Dornan told us. “They’ve gone to Amsterdam, it’s a fresh start. [Elliot’s] grown his hair a bit. They’re trying to live a normal life. The past in the past. Let’s get rid of that.” Though, Dornan acknowledges that because the viewers are aware of what’s in the file, the show has opened itself to “endless possibilities.”

“What happens next? How much of that will Helen and Elliot get to know? It felt like a ploy… like we could do more of the story. But I think for the relationship, it was probably the right thing to do… sort of wash them of all that crap. They don’t need to know any of that stuff. They close the door,” Dornan concluded.

Despite the setup for a third season, Dornan isn’t sure that it will happen . “I don’t know if there’s been conversations had about that. We’re staying out of  all that  and seeing if it happens. I don’t think it’ll happen. I’m pretty busy now until the end of 2025, so it’ll be a while,” he shared.

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The Tourist season 2 ending explained: The file reveal, a time jump, and a new location

By natalie zamora | feb 29, 2024.

It's the perfect time for another Netflix binge because The Tourist season 2 is now streaming on the platform in the United States! The BBC Original returned for a second installment at the start of the year across the pond, seeing Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald reprise their roles as Elliot Stanley and Helen Chambers, respectively. This time around, the two are boyfriend-girlfriend and are enjoying life traveling the world. But when Elliot receives a letter from someone from his past, he and Helen decide to go to Ireland to find out where Elliot came from.

Unsurprisingly, though, things don't go as expected, and Elliot learns the hard way about his troubled past — including a major family rivalry.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Tourist season 2.

Similar to the first season, The Tourist season 2 contains six episodes total. It might not sound like a lot, but it's action-packed from start to finish! That means, of course, we have a lot to break down. (Not just the fact that Elliot's real name is Euguene.)

Follow along with us at Netflix Life with our coverage of the new episodes. In this post, we're going to explain the ending of the season, which is pretty surprising and very eventful. I was able to stream the new season early and can confidently say that the finale ties up all the loose ends in a satisfying way while leaving a little tease at the end for potentially more episodes.

Why the suitcase is so important

One of the biggest reveals in the season 2 finale comes when the Cassidys and McDonnells are facing off at Cassidy’s Pub. After surviving a near-death experience and learning that Elliot/Eugene had been arrested for Donal's murder, Helen heads to the airport. She doesn't feel like she can trust Elliot/Eugene any longer, not because of his past but because of what he's allegedly done in the present. Well, as we know, Elliot/Eugene wasn't actually the one to kill Donal, and fortunately, Helen realizes she should help him. Ethan and Slater, surprisingly, are very helpful to Helen in her mission and they end up finding the missing suitcase.

In a pivotal moment at the pub, Helen arrives and reveals what's inside the suitcase: love letters from Frank's dad to Niamh's mom! Do you know what that means? The Cassidys and the McDonnells are actually family, because Frank and Niamh are half-siblings. Helen and Elliot/Eugene get back together after it's revealed that Niamh was the one to kill Donal.

Helen and Elliot/Eugene relocate

After the scene at the pub, The Tourist season 2 features a six-month time jump. Fortunately, Helen and Elliot/Eugene are still together, but they've relocated again. Now, they're living in the Netherlands and Helen works as a private investigator. They seem very happy together — way happier than they did in Helen's dream when she was in a coma — and Elliot decides he's done chasing his past. As we've seen, he doesn't ever love what he finds. Now, he's happy in his life with Helen and doesn't want to dig up who he was before the accident.

Despite this, Elliot/Eugene has a manila file on himself that he calls "the life and times of Eugene Cassidy," though he says he doesn't want to know what's inside.

The finale also features a heartfelt and funny scene of Helen and Elliot/Eugene visiting a theater where Elliot/Eugene shows off his dancing skills. Remember, a running joke throughout the second season is that apparently, Elliot/Eugene is a great dancer. This is something Niamh reveals that Helen can't let go of, understandably. Amid the fun dance scene, we cut to the file burning up in their Dutch oven. But, of course, viewers get a quick glimpse of what it says.

So... what does that file mean?!

As the final moments of The Tourist season 2 unravel, we see a small peek at the file in their Dutch oven, which shows Elliot/Eugene being listed as a special agent! As far as we can see before the flames take over, he was on a "general mission, sentinel." The file presumably burns up before the two characters arrive back home, but the scene unlocks a ton of potential for another season about Elliot/Eugene's previous career. If he was working as a special agent, that could've been the real reason he was caught up with Kostas and his men in the first season. The explanation he believed that he was their accountant always sounded a little off.

The episode comes to a close as the song "Swan Lake" ends, showing Elliot/Eugene one more time up on stage before cutting to black. That's how The Tourist season 2 ends, so there are certainly hints at what could be next. The drama hasn't been renewed for a third season yet, though the creators seem open to it if Dornan and Macdonald were willing to return. Would you want to see another installment, this time exploring Elliot/Eugene's life as a special agent? That could be a fun twist!

We'll keep our readers updated with any news we hear about a potential third season of The Tourist . Be sure to watch (and rewatch) all 12 episodes of the show right now on Netflix U.S.

dark. Next. March Watch/Skip Shows. 4 best Netflix shows to watch (and 2 to skip) in March 2024

The Tourist season 2 ending explained: What's in Eugene's file?

The Tourist season 2 ending explained — we finally learn about Niamh Cassidy and Frank McDonnell's past, but what about Eugene?

* The Tourist season 2 episode 6 recap contains spoilers *

The Tourist season 2 episode 1 recap The Tourist season 2 episode 2 recap The Tourist season 2 episode 3 recap The Tourist season 2 episode 4 recap The Tourist season 2 episode 5 recap

After a thrilling and wildly funny rollercoaster ride, we're finally at the end of The Tourist season 2 and there were plenty of loose ends to tie up. 

What does Eugene Cassidy's mother, Niamh, have that Frank McDonnell wants back so badly? Which family will Fergal McDonnell choose? What happened to Eugene's brother? ...And will we get to see Eugene dance? 

There were answers to all these questions, but the season also ended on a pretty sizeable cliffhanger, which makes us suspect there could be more of The Tourist on the way in the years to come. Anyway, this is how the season 2 finale went down...

Who REALLY killed Donal McDonnell?

We begin with Elliot languishing in a prison cell after being arrested for the murder of Donal McDonnell. Helen visits him and confesses that she doesn't believe his denial and that while they love each other, it's not enough. 

Elsewhere Frank is consoling Fergal about the death of his father (he means Donal) at the hands of Eugene Cassidy. “He’s not my father” says Fergal, but crucially doesn’t elaborate on which man he’s talking about. Nevertheless, Frank tells him now is the time to live up to his McDonnell name and “become the man his dad knew he could be”.

After being released from prison Elliot meets his mother, Niamh Cassidy, and tells her he thinks he ran away to Australia all those years ago because Donal killed his brother, thinking it was him. It's a sad story and certainly one we'd like to hear more about in any potential third series. 

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It's soon revealed that Fergal has chosen Elliot over the McDonnells after the youngster arranges a meeting with his birth father, asking him if he can stay with Niamh, which would be “..the last place anyone would think to find him.” But what’s in the bag Fergal? 

After leaving, they're immediately pursued by a man called Ned Tooley, who chases the pair's car off a cliff in a move they hope will be welcomed by Frank McDonnell. It is not, but luckily for them, Eugene and Fergal jumped out of the car before it went over the edge. 

Eugene takes Fergal to the Cassidy's pub, where he gets a very frosty reception from Niamh who’s convinced he’s been sent by Frank to kill her. As she holds a gun to his chest she confesses that it was SHE who killed Donal McDonnell and let Eugene take the blame for it. 

Who is Eugene's father?

Meanwhile, as Helen arrives at the airport to travel back to Australia, she bumps into Ruari and Ethan and persuades them to help her track down Elliot Stanley’s widow in a last-minute bid to find out the truth about her ex-boyfriend. Where does she live? Next door to Ruari!

It seems Elliot was a diver whom Frank McDonnell hired to find the crashed plane. He visited the wreck with Niamh Cassidy, whom she believes killed her husband and buried what they found somewhere. “They got into a taxi together, but only she came back,” says Deirdre Stanley. 

But when Helen asks about Eugene Cassidy, she says “He put it about a bit my Elliot,” so was Elliot Eugene’s dad? Yet more material to be covered in a potential season three? 

They go to visit Diamond Express Cars - the taxi firm Deirdre says her husband used on that fateful day - and after going through 42 years of receipts, learn that Niamh was picked up by a remote coastal payphone. It’s one we’ve seen before, during what we now know was a flashback from 42 years back, in which a young Niamh Cassidy retrieved the case and did away with Elliot Stanley.

What's in the case?

Back at Cassidy HQ, Frank McDonnell arrives armed with the bomb that Fergal was supposed to bring. It looks like he’s going to blow the whole place up - until Helen walks in with the thing Niamh took, which Frank has been looking for for so many years.

They are love letters, from Frank’s father to Niamh’s mother, which were written decades ago. It seems the pair kept their romance a secret due to the conflict between their families, but it’s now clear that Frank and Niamh are actually siblings!

During this climactic moment, Niamh also confesses to murdering Donal, which means Eugene is innocent - as he’d always claimed!

What's in the file?

Six months later, Helen and Eugene (who’s sporting a very memorable new haircut) are in the Netherlands when they receive a file on Eugene, sent by a mysterious person who read about his case in the paper.

Helen says she doesn’t need a file to know who her boyfriend is and so Eugene burns it. She then asks Eugene to dance for her (finally) and as we see him performing a beautiful Swan Lake, the scene cuts to the fire, where we see flames consuming the file. 

Yet before the crucial documents are destroyed, we see that Eugene was actually a Special Agent, deployed on a deep cover assignment in July 2005. Was he part of a Garda operation to infiltrate the Cassidy clan? Was he a special agent when he departed Ireland for Australia? So many questions for season three! 

All episodes of The Tourist season 1 and 2 are available on BBC iPlayer now. 

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are  I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing  and  Succession  and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football. 

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The Big Twist at the End of The Tourist Season 2, Explained

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• Elliot's journey to Ireland uncovers dark family secrets, leading to dangerous repercussions for him and Helen.
• Lena's vengeful actions bring violence and betrayal, testing the bond between Elliot and Helen.
• The revelation of Elliot's true identity as a secret agent sets the stage for a potential Season 3 on Netflix.

The Tourist finally dropped on Netflix at the end of February, and it was just as entertaining and comedic as the first. After taking an extended holiday and traversing across a myriad of countries, Elliot ( played by Jamie Dornan ) and Helen (Danielle Macdonald) decide to travel to Ireland to learn more about Elliot’s past. While recovering in the hospital after downing a handful of pills with a bottle of vodka at the end of Season 1, Elliot receives a letter from an old friend he can’t remember. However, the letter turns out to be a ruse to lure Elliott home and make him atone for the wrongs of his past. As soon as the pair arrive in Ireland, Elliot is kidnapped.

He inevitably escapes his kidnappers and subsequently discovers his name is really Eugene Cassidy. He then meets his mother, Niamh (Olwen Fouéré), and discovers he’s part of a long-running family feud between the Cassidy clan he belongs to and the McDonnells, who kidnapped him. He also meets his illegitimate son, Fergal (Mark McKenna), who has grown up as a McDonnell, and discovers the brother he can’t remember was murdered after being mistaken for Elliot. As such, the more he learns about his past, the more he dislikes the person he was. Furthermore, Helen struggles with his previous actions as well, especially when his past catches up with them in a dangerous way.

Elliot’s Past Catches Up With Him

The tourist.

While the McDonnells have their own reasons for hating Elliot, Lena Pascal (Victoria Haralabidou), the Russian woman from Season 1, is the person responsible for his return to Ireland. Because she knew where he was, she sent him the letter in Australia and enlisted the McDonnells to help her enact her revenge. After Donal (Diarmaid Murtagh) and his men find Elliot and Helen, thanks to Fergal, he takes them out into the woods where they come face to face with Lena. Rather than report him to the police for the drug trafficking that led to her friend’s death, Lena seeks to harm Elliot in the same way she hurt him. Therefore, she shoots Helen in the stomach.

Thankfully, Helen survives after Elliot manages to fend off their attackers and get her to a hospital straight away. Unfortunately, the seeds of doubt between Helen and Elliot grow deeper when he leaves her bedside for the first time in a week to attempt to end the family feud once and for all. After multiple attempts on his life, Elliot realizes Donal won’t ever stop until he’s dead. As such, he makes a move to kill Donal but finds he can’t pull the trigger because he’s no longer the killer he once was. However, Niamh takes it upon herself to finish the job for Elliot without telling him and kills Donal. Unfortunately, all the evidence points to Elliot, and Helen isn’t sure what to believe.

The Tourist Cast and Character Guide

Get familiar with the outstanding cast of characters featured in BBC One's The Tourist.

The Real Elliot Stanley and a Family Secret

The real Elliot Stanley was a diver hired by Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee) to retrieve a package his father left for him after his death. The package was on its way from Boston via plane when it went down in the water off the coast of Ireland. Niamh had become friendly with the real Elliot and accompanied him on the dive. However, she killed him under the water, intercepted Frank’s package, and buried it in the dirt. Prior to their dive, it’s suggested Niamh had a romantic relationship with the real Elliot, who is more than likely Elliot/Eugene’s father, which would explain why the two of them look so similar.

As Helen prepares to leave Ireland without Elliot, she realizes she can’t let it lie and has to find out what Frank’s father left for him all those years ago. After tracking down the cab company that picked up Niamh after her dive, Helena locates what Niamh kept hidden for over 40 years. It turns out Niamh and Frank are actually half-siblings as indicated by the love letters between his father and her mother. After so many years of bad blood, the Cassidy and McDonnell clans are actually related , which ultimately ends the long-standing war between them. In the nick of time, Helen arrives at the standoff between the clans and reunites with Elliot after revealing the love letters and the truth to everyone.

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Is Elliot a Secret Agent?

Six months after their misadventures in Ireland , Elliot and Helen are happily living in Amsterdam, where Helen is working as a private investigator. While there, someone unknown to either of them sends them a file on Eugene Cassidy, Elliot’s real identity. Rather than take a peek inside, they decide to burn it and leave the past behind. Elliot makes it clear he doesn’t care who he was, only who he is now, and Helen proclaims she doesn’t need a file to tell her who he is. However, as much as Helen meant what she said, it’s clear she would have liked to know what was in the file as soon as Elliot put it in the flames.

Afterward, Helen takes Elliot to a theater where she plays “Swan Lake” in the hopes that his hidden talent will emerge. Thanks to his mother, the pair discover Elliot can dance ballet, and he shows off his skills rather quickly without even thinking. While he dances, viewers see a glimpse of what was in the file as it begins to burn away. As seen on the first page of the paperwork, Eugene Cassidy is some sort of special agent under deep cover. The file with all the answers is then consumed by the flames and audiences are offered no further explanation. While there has been no word on whether there will be a Season 3, the show’s recent finale clearly set the stage for one to emerge sometime in the near future.

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Tourist are currently streaming on Netflix.

The Tourist series two ending explained: What was in the file?

Virgin Radio

29 Jan 2024, 10:23

Credit: BBC

The final episode of series two of The Tourist brought yet more drama and twists.

*There are spoilers ahead if you haven't seen series two, episode six yet*

Meanwhile, Frank (Francis Magee) tells Eugene’s son Fergal (Mark McKenna) that he’s a McDonnell and says he needs to live up to the name. He wants to send him on a mission with what seems like an explosive device.

Eugene is freed from prison, and immediately sees his mother, Niamh (Olwen Fouéré), who tells him that his release is Frank’s doing, in order to be able to kill him. She says she’ll protect him. Eugene reveals to his mum that his brother was killed by Donal in error when he was trying to kill him. 

Helen heads to the airport, where she bumps into Ethan (Greg Larsen) and Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill). She questions why the latter hasn’t turned himself in. Slater tells her that Eugene is free and explains that it’s because Frank intends to kill him. She asks for Ruairi’s help.

Eugene meets Fergal, who tells him that Franks wants whatever it was that his dad tried to send him - and that Niamh took - all those years ago. He also says he’s not going to kill Eugene despite Frank’s command. He therefore needs a safe place to stay, and a plan is hatched to take him to Niamh’s.

The Cassidy gang member who was keeping an eye on Fergal and Eugene is shot dead. 

Helen visits the actual Elliot Stanley’s widow to ask about the drowned plane and the mission he took on with Niamh. 

Eugene and Fergal are followed by two cars driven by the Tooley lads, who were looking to move up in the McDonnell organisation. The car goes over a cliff and lands on its roof. Eugene and Fergal, remarkably, escape unharmed.

Helen visits the taxi firm that picked up Niamh after she left Elliot at the bottom of the sea. She looks through the company’s historical records, and eventually finds a note that leads her to the area where Niamh buried whatever she took from the sunken plane. She - somewhat improbably - finds what she is looking for.

Eugene and Fergal make it to Cassidy’s pub. Niamh makes him empty the bag, and finds a gun. Niamh pulls a gun on Fergal and reveals that she killed Donal. She demands to see Frank. 

An all-out war seems certain, or at least mutual destruction, as Frank turns up with the explosive device. However, Helen bursts into the pub and reveals that what Frank’s father wanted him to have were love letters from Niamh’s mother to Frank’s father. Turns out they had an affair, which they kept quiet because of the family feud. However, this means that Frank and Niamh are actually half-brother and half-sister. Niamh had tried to bury the secret, but while Frank seems willing to make something work between the two families, Niamh storms out of the pub, and we don’t get a resolution. 

Fast-forward to six months later and Eugene and Helen are living in the Netherlands. Helen is a Private Investigator. 

Eugene has a file sent to him by someone who read about him in a local paper. The file will surely reveal more about his mysterious past. However, they choose not to read the file and instead put it on the fire. 

The series ends with Eugene dancing on stage in an empty theatre. He doesn’t think he can do it, despite his mother previously  telling him he was a great dancer, and he busts out some impressive ballet moves to Swan Lake.

The action cuts back to the file burning in a fire. It shows that Eugene was a special agent on "general assignment".

What does all this mean? Will there be a third series? There is no word yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Watch series one and two on BBC iPlayer.

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The Tourist stars break down that shocking season 1 finale

Jamie Dornan says he felt 'broken' shooting the final episode of season 1.

Senior Writer

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of The Tourist .

Few crime shows have taken quite such a hard turn with their supposed hero as The Tourist season 1, which aired on Max in 2022 and is now streaming on Netflix. For most of the Australia-set series, viewers were led to believe that, while Jamie Dornan 's amnesia-stricken character Elliot Stanley might have done some shady things, he was, at heart, a good person. Then, we discovered in the finale — thanks to a stunning monologue by Victoria Haralabidou's Lena Pascal — that Elliott is actually a heroin smuggler responsible for the death of two people and the mutilation of Pascal. Horrified by this revelation, Dornan's character twice attempts death by suicide and the show's cliffhanger ending leaves the character possibly about to leave this mortal coil.

"I didn't read episode five and six until a week into shooting, which is kind of crazy," says Danielle Macdonald , whose cop character Helen Chambers befriends Elliott on the show. "It was one of those things where I was like, I don't even know how to feel. I did not expect it to go here. It completely took me by surprise. I read it and I wasn't working that week, I was in Sydney visiting my family, and Jamie and Shalom [actress Shalom Brune-Franklin] were working in the Outback, and I was just messaging them, calling them, like, guys, what do we think? What is happening? Oh my gosh! Because you have no idea how people are going to react and I was so close to it at that point that I could not see it clearly. It was an interesting one! Yes."

Dornan admits to feeling "broken" while shooting the sequence in which his character finds out the truth about his identity.

"It was crazy, that," says Dornan. "So much of this character and this performance for me is, like any performance, you're trying to stay present, but never more so than when everything is information that you've never heard before, particularly if it's awful information, like that scene. I felt very raw in that moment, I felt very exposed, and vulnerable and kind of awful and terrible about myself. She was doing such beautiful work in front of me and it was having the impact that I felt that it should have. Sometimes you get yourself in a place where you feel so broken that you can't actually stop crying. [ Laughs ] I felt a bit like that that day in a good way, I guess. I felt very exposed, very vulnerable. You know, it's hard stuff to hear, the hardest stuff to hear, so a lot of that luckily was on the page for me in terms of the writing. But, yeah, not an easy day, that."

Dornan says he doesn't know at present whether we will learn the fate of his character on the show, which sibling writers Harry and Jack Williams originally planned not to extend beyond this initial season. However, an Ireland-set season 2 was filmed last year and will drop on Netflix Feb. 29.

"We all signed up for one," the actor says. "But I've been here before. The Fall was meant to be one series. There was big demand for The Fall obviously and we did a couple more. In the UK and Ireland and Australia, and anywhere it's been so far, people seem to love The Tourist , so who knows? I know conversations are being had. So we'll see what we get to, but I would love to."

Note: These interviews were originally conducted in 2022, when the season 1 finale aired on HBO Max.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

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The Tourist ending explained: What happened in the final episode of Jamie Dornan’s BBC drama series

The tourist, a new bbc drama series starring jamie dornan, remains a head-spinning series throughout its six episodes.

The Tourist , a gripping new series set against the harsh backdrop of the Australian outback, arrived on BBC One on New Year’s Day.

While the series is airing weekly on BBC One, you watch the whole lot whenever you like  on BBC iPlayer .

So it’s likely that many viewers will already know that unsurprisingly the ending, while giving a lot of answers, also asks a few extra questions.

Here’s everything you need to know, and for the absence of any doubt MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW…

How did Jamie Dornan’s character end up in Australia?

We eventually discover that Jamie Dornan’s mysterious character was called Elliot , and was previously a criminal working for a notorious crime lord called Kosta.

But Elliot found himself in love with Kosta’s girlfriend, Luci, and fled to Australia with her and $1 million of Kosta’s money.

Kosta tracks them down and sends his underlings to deal with them, but as one of them is friends with Elliot, the two are given a warning.

A later scuffle sees Luci and Kosta both shot, and Elliot drives off, just before a the car crash that gives him amnesia and provides the basis for the entire series.

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Who is Lena in The Tourist ?

When Elliot finally meets Lena, the warm and affectionate woman who’d consistently appeared in the fragments of his memories, he learned that her happiness was all a facade.

Lena was actually a trafficking victim of Elliot’s, one of three woman who smuggled heroin within their stomachs into Australia for him.

She’d appeared affectionate in his memories because Elliot had made her smile and appear relaxed to rehearse her acting.

The other two women had died when the bags of heroin exploded in her stomach, and Lena’s was cut out on Elliot’s orders by one of his colleagues, leaving a nasty injury.

After the truth is revealed Lena then leaves, telling Elliot that his punishment is having to live with his evil actions.

Does Jamie Dornan’s character die at the end of The Tourist ?

Helen, the rookie police officer who formed a bond with Elliot, is disgusted upon hearing his true character and leaves him alone.

Also repulsed at himself, Elliot attempts to overdose with a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, and lies dying on the ground.

As he does so, Helen finds it within herself to accept Elliot for who he is now, not what he was before. She texts him a burrito emoji, burritos being Elliot’s “happy place”.

The series ends as this message makes him raise a smile, so it’s all very ambiguous: Elliot is most likely dead, but the story has left everything open for a potential second series.

What do the reviews of  The Tourist  say?

The Tourist has been well received by critics, with i ‘s Gerard Gilbert praising how “neat simplicity of the premise was enhanced by the barren desert backdrop”.

He adds “Dornan was well cast as the man with no name,” and says that the series “could be among the [Williams brothers’] best work yet”.

“If Channel 4’s ludicrous recent Close to Me made you want to forget all about amnesia thrillers,” Gilbert concludes, “ The Tourist reminds you why they can also be memorably moreish.”

The Guardian ‘s Lucy Mangan agreed that it is “well worth watching this fun, stylish and confident caper”, while Ed Cumming wrote in The Independent that the series “might be [Dornan’s] best work yet”.

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Jamie Dornan's The Tourist season 1 ending explained – What does that final twist mean?

"Expect the unexpected."

The Tourist season 1 episode 6 spoilers follow.

What starts out as an intriguing thriller about a man suffering from amnesia soon becomes a far more unique treatise on morality and the cost of losing one's self entirely. That's not all, though. The Tourist jumps between genres too, scattered like The Man's erratic thoughts, and in doing so, the show proves itself to be so much more than just another BBC primetime thriller.

Co-star Danielle MacDonald wasn't kidding when she told us " to expect the unexpected ". But even then, few could have expected that ending in the final moments of episode six.

The Tourist ending explained

When we first meet Jamie Dornan's character, all we know is that he's a bad singer. Thankfully his rendition of 'Bette Davis Eyes' is soon cut short when a truck drives him off the road and in the crash that follows, The Man loses his memory, leaving him to try and fend for himself in the Australian Outback without even a name to call his own.

A woman named Luci quickly befriends The Man, but by the end of episode one, it becomes clear that she's not who she seems. Then there's also Helen, a local traffic cop who soon gets involved with the case.

Together, these three become embroiled in twist after twist until it's eventually revealed that The Man's real name is Elliot Stanley. But why are so many people after him? What could he have possibly done to warrant this mad chase?

Towards the end, we discover that Elliot worked as an accountant for a drug lord named Kostas, the mysterious figure played by Alex Dimitriades. Elliot went on the run after he fell in love with Kostas' fiancée, who turns out to be none other than Luci. And that's not all. The Man formerly known as "The Man" also stole a bag with over £1 million stashed inside. The pair were supposed to share this cash, but they kept breaking up.

Up to this point, you might have assumed that Elliot isn't such a bad guy, at least not compared to Kostas. But after he trips on LSD, the so-called accountant finally discovers the identity of the woman who keeps popping up in his flashbacks, Lena Pascal.

And when the two finally meet, Elliot realises that his past self used to force people to smuggle heroin for Kostas. This led to the tragic deaths of two women who were killed when the bags filled with drugs exploded inside of them.

If learning his true identity was hard for Elliot, it certainly wasn't easy for Dornan to film.

"It was crazy," the actor told Entertainment Weekly . "I felt very raw in that moment, I felt very exposed, and vulnerable and kind of awful and terrible about myself. She was doing such beautiful work in front of me and it was having the impact that I felt that it should have."

He added: "Sometimes you get yourself in a place where you feel so broken that you can't actually stop crying. [ Laughs ] I felt a bit like that that day in a good way, I guess. I felt very exposed, very vulnerable. You know, it's hard stuff to hear, the hardest stuff to hear, so a lot of that luckily was on the page for me in terms of the writing. But, yeah, not an easy day, that."

Wracked with overwhelming remorse, Elliot struggles to reconcile these past actions with the man he is now. And knowing that Helen no longer supports him either, everything suddenly becomes too much to bear.

In The Tourist 's final moments, Elliot tries to kill himself by crashing his car. When that doesn't work, he takes an overdose in the hospital, desperate to escape his all-consuming guilt. Without Helen, he sees no way out from the pain, except a text arrives from her all too late, one that suggests the pair could potentially reconcile, assuming of course that Elliot survives...

"After I finished the series, I called Shalom [Brune-Franklin] instantly," Danielle MacDonald told us before the finale aired. "And I was like, 'I can't talk to anyone about this, because no-one's read it, and I'm not allowed to say anything, so I need you to talk to me about it. We just need to talk about this whole situation.'"

Viewers felt the same, taking to Twitter to discuss what's turned out to be a rather divisive ending. While some loved the ambiguity that surrounds Elliot's fate, others lamented Helen's end, hoping to see her thrive more in her career.

Those who were left disappointed by the end probably wish that Dornan had been serious when he joked with us that "the whole series ends with Armageddon, so life doesn't exist anymore". Although, to be fair, he wasn't wrong exactly, at least when it comes to Elliot's fate...

Will The Tourist return for season 2 ?

Although at the end of The Tourist 's first season, we didn't know for certain if Elliot actually dies or not – and the show felt like a one-and-done deal in many ways – it was soon confirmed by the BBC that The Tourist will return for season 2 .

Before the official announcement, talk of a potential second season was raised with The Tourist creators Harry and Jack Williams (who were previously known for helming shows like Baptiste , Liar and The Missing ).

"I would love to make this show again with these people," Harry told Radio Times . "I'm not entirely sure it's possible. I love the tone, I love the world. It's been our lives for three years and we've been very, very involved with it, more so than any other show.

"We've loved every minute. Normally you're sick of it by this point having watched 900 cuts of one episode but I still love it and I'd love to do it again."

Jack chimed in too, saying that: "We are talking about how we could return to this world, aren’t we?" To which Harry added: "Yeah, this world and this tone. I feel like we're not done with that. In terms of the story, we'll see how it goes if people like it."

A second season of The Tourist could also star Jamie Dornan in the lead – which means that Elliot might have survived, after all. Before official word of the renewal, Dornan said that "conversations are being had" about a second run , and that he'd "love to" be involved.

"I read episode six later than Danielle Macdonald because she texted me going, 'Oh my God, have you read episode six?' Dornan said (via Collider ). "And I was like, 'No.' She was like, 'Please read it and get back to me.' And I was like, 'Okay.'

"But then, it probably took me another week before I even got to reading it, to be honest. Just like every other episode, it was unexpected, but I loved it. We were only ever making one of these. It was like, 'Let’s just do one series.'

"That remains the setup. But I know, certainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and anywhere that’s seen it, the reception has been so insane, that there’s definitely a demand and a want for more, so we’ll talk about that and we’ll see about that."

But then again, there are more than enough colourful characters who could propel this story forward without The Man, if necessary. And who wouldn't want to see more of Danielle MacDonald in the role of Helen? Even if we don't see Elliot again, a second season of The Tourist could still bring us another unforgettable storyline.

The Tourist is available on BBC iPlayer.

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy , where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times , INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek , The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound . 

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BBC One’s The Tourist series 1 ending explained: What happened to Elliot and Helen?

Well, that was a ride.

The final episode of BBC One’s brilliant drama The Tourist was a rollercoaster ride, with viewers finally discovering some of Elliot’s secrets – here’s series 1 ending explained.

We cheered when Helen (Danielle Macdonald) ditched her horrible husband-to-be. We sobbed when Luci ( Shalom Brune Franklin ) died in the back of Elliot’s car. Then we cheered again when Helen grabbed Elliot through the bars of his cell and kissed him…

Here’s a handy recap of the main events…

***Warning: spoilers from The Tourist series 1 ahead***

The Tourist series 1 ending explained: Who was Lena Pascal?

The biggest shock of all was when Elliot ( Jamie Dornan ) finally discovered the truth about Lena Pascal, the mysterious woman smiling enigmatically at him in his flashbacks. And it wasn’t very nice at all. Rather than being someone comforting from his past, Lena told him exactly what kind of man he really was.

In the BBC One drama, she told Elliot he had used her as a drug mule, showing him a scar on her abdomen where the drugs were cut out of her. Elliot also learned that two other women he’d used had died. Lena had only been smiling in his memories because Elliot had forced her to practice. Grim.

This was not what Elliot was expecting to learn about himself at all. He was hoping to discover that he was a good person… Nah, mate, you were a proper villain!

Why did Lena Pascal let Elliot off?

After hearing Lena’s story, Elliot tried to make a confession to the police so he could be punished for his crimes. But he was released. Lena told the police that Elliot had made a mistake. So why did she do this?

Lena knew that forcing Elliot to live with what he’d done would be a worse punishment to him than jail. Also means we get a series 2 of The Tourist , rather than Elliot being in jail…

Why was Elliot trying to kill himself?

Lena was right. Elliot couldn’t face a lifetime knowing about the bad things he’d done previously. As soon as he was released from prison – after giving the million dollars to the owner of the guesthouse – he ran his car off the road. In scenes that echoed the first episode, Elliot woke up in a hospital bed.

This time, he knew his name. And, of course, what he’d done.

The Tourist series 1 ending explained: Will Helen forgive Elliot?

Aussie copper Helen ( Danielle Macdonald ) was pretty mad at Elliot when she visited him in hospital. He tried to argue his case, saying that no one knows the circumstances or why he made Lena do what she did. But Helen told him that nothing could excuse his actions.

She walked out of hospital, leaving him totally alone.

But, later, Helen is torn, telling her co-worker Freddie that she can’t forget Elliot’s crimes. But she can’t forget Elliot either. She then sends him a burrito emoji, an olive branch.

One thing we do know, is that the pair are reunited in The Tourist series 2.

The Tourist series 1 ending explained: Does Elliot die?

It’s not clear if Elliot survived after necking all the pills and alcohol he’d bought to end his life. Or if Helen was able to save his life this time, by reaching out to him. He was still conscious when Helen’s burrito came through, bringing a smile to his face. But did he then call for help? Or let the drugs do their job?

Obviously, with news of a series 2, we hope Elliot called an ambulance and that he and Helen reunite.

What happens in series 2 of The Tourist?

There were enough loose ends to warrant a follow-up, and that’s exactly what we’re getting over Christmas 2023. Although The Tourist was always meant to be “a one-off”, the series ended on a cliffhanger.

At the time, actor Jamie said: “I guess it’s a little bit open-ended with the end, people still have questions. Obviously we had good plans for it, wanted it, but the response to it, as you know, has been insane and the amount of people [who have] watched it, and the love for it is very real.”

All we know so far about series 2 of The Tourist is that Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald return as Elliot and Helen. The action is based on Ireland this time.

The second series will also include several new characters as Elliot and Helen become embroiled in a family feud. Additionally, the BBC has teased that Elliot and Helen will be “confronted by friends and foes as they attempt to uncover the secrets of Elliot’s past”.

Preview images show Elliot with a wound on his head, running away from a car. Another photo shows him hiding behind a curtain, again looking like he’s been in the wars.

Read more:  BBC announces Christmas highlights, including Jamie Dornan in The Tourist series 2, and Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy

Watch Jamie Dornan in The Tourist series 2 on BBC One on New Year’s Day 2024.

Did you love The Tourist series 1? Will you be watching series 2? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix .

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Hurricane Season to Remain 'Highly Active,' NOAA Says

This season could end up being one of the most active on record, according to the NOAA.

Courtesy of NOAA

It’s been an active start to the Atlantic hurricane season, and that doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which updated its forecast for the season with a warning the “extremely active hurricane season,” it could end up being one of the most active on record. In all, NOAA expects the region will see 17 to 24 named storms, including 8 to 13 hurricanes, four to seven of which could become major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or more.

So far, the Atlantic has seen four named storms, two of which became tropical storms and two of which were elevated to hurricanes, including last week’s damaging Hurricane Debby and last month’s Hurricane Beryl , which became the earliest storm to reach Category 5 status . Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

“NOAA’s update to the hurricane seasonal outlook is an important reminder that the peak of hurricane season is right around the corner, when historically the most significant impacts from hurricanes and tropical storms tend to occur,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement, adding this year’s “hurricane season got off to an early and violent start with Hurricane Beryl.”

The mid-season forecast is on par with the Administration's pre-season predictions , which anticipated an "above-normal" 2024 hurricane season for the Atlantic basin region. Typically, NOAA said the region should see a total of 14 named storms, just seven of which become hurricanes.

The increased activity can be traced back to atmospheric and oceanic conditions, including warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, reduced vertical wind shear, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds, and an enhanced west African monsoon. 

Future storms this season will be named: Ernesto, Francine, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Milton, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sara, Tony, Valerie, and William.

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Star wars: the acolyte officially canceled, i'm officially sold on only murders in the building season 4's big change.

• Elliot's true identity as a crime boss's accountant is revealed in The Tourist season 1 finale.
• Elena Pascal is exposed as Elliot's trafficking victim, highlighting his brutal past crimes.
• The complex moral question of guilt for crimes committed without memory is left open in The Tourist.

Content warning: This article includes discussions of suicidal ideation and drug trafficking

Although The Tourist season 1’s ending didn’t answer all the show's lingering mysteries, the thriller’s conclusion did offer pretty clear conclusions to most of its main storylines. The Tourist opens with Jamie Dornan’s Elliot Stanley waking up after a car crash and suffering severe amnesia. Elliot spends The Tourist season 1 trying to uncover the mystery of his past with the help of Danielle McDonald’s Constable Helen. Eventually, in the series finale, it becomes clear that Elliot is not the ordinary civilian he thought he was. Instead, he's really Eugene Cassidy, an international crime boss’s accountant.

This crime boss, Kosta, tries to hunt down Elliot and retrieve the money that Dornan’s character stole from his former employer. Elliot realizes that he went on the run with Luci, Kosta’s fiancée, after stealing the money. Gradually, The Tourist ’s entire cast of characters comes together in the complex season 1 finale. Elliot is pursued by both Kosta and the corrupt cop Lachlan Rogers as he is reunited with his pre-amnesia love interest Luci. Meanwhile, he still can’t recall the identity of the mysterious Elena Pascal, a woman who is smiling at him in all of his foggy, unclear partial memories.

The Tourist season 1 is available on Netflix.

Who Elena Pascal Is In The Tourist Season 1 Ending

Elena pascal turned out to be elliot’s trafficking victim.

In The Tourist season 1’s ending, Elliot is finally reunited with Elena Pascal after a showdown with Luci, Lachlan, and Kosta. Elena is a former victim of Elliot’s drug trafficking ring , and it turns out that he used her body to smuggle heroin into Australia. Elliot’s gruesome plan involved stitching bags of the drug into her stomach to be removed by his colleagues upon her arrival. Unlike two other drug mules Elliot also coached, Elena survived her ordeal because Elliot told her to smile on her way through customs, thus avoiding suspicion. Elliot is horrified to learn of his awful crimes.

However, Elena doesn’t tell the police Elliot’s real identity as she decides that leaving him to live with his mistakes is a fitting punishment. The Tourist 's amnesia plot provides a brutal twist here, as viewers learn that the show’s charismatic leading man was an unrepentant monster before his car accident. Although the audience already knows that Elliot worked as Kosta’s accountant and went on the run after stealing the criminal’s money and his fiancée, these antics pale in comparison to what he put Elena Pascal through. Thus, while Elliot survived confronting Kosta, he didn't necessarily want to continue living.

Kostas and Luci Die In The Tourist Season 1’s Ending

Elliot’s former boss and love interest were both shot.

Before Elliot meets Elena again, Kosta's and Luci’s stories are also wrapped up in The Tourist season 1 finale. Both were shot during the climactic showdown between Elliot, who recently discovered he was the criminal's duplicitous accountant, and Kostas. Kostas died immediately, whereas Luci died while Elliot was driving her to a hospital for treatment . This tragic moment was another major blow for Elliot, as it meant his entire pre-amnesia plan was pointless. To make matters worse, the corrupt Lachlan fled the scene of Costa’s death, freed his wife from Kosta’s men, and framed Helen for Rodney Lammon’s murder.

Why Helen Leaves Ethan In The Tourist Season 1’s Ending

Helen decided her fiancé was too controlling.

Helen spent most of The Tourist season 1 in an unhappy relationship with the controlling Ethan, but Helen finally dumped her fiancé in the finale when he took his behavior too far. Ethan’s incessant attempts to control Helen, beginning with comments about her weight and culminating in him threatening to leave her if she helped Elliot, led Helen to dump her fiancé. Helen went looking for Elliot after dumping Ethan and her hunt for him couldn’t have started at a better time, since she soon learned that she and Elliot were both wanted for Rodney Lammon’s murder.

How Helen Proved Lachlan Was Guilty

Helen showed the police evidence that lachlan kidnapped elliot.

Helen and Elliot were forced to hold a restaurant hostage so that they could exonerate themselves, a risky ploy that eventually paid off. After a chase through The Tourist ’s Australian setting , Helen and Elliot held up a restaurant and Helen received a photo from a colleague of Lachlan with Elliot handcuffed in his passenger seat . This proved that Elliot and Helen couldn’t have killed Rodney Lammon, contradicting Lachlan’s version of events and leading the police to arrest Lachlan for the crime instead. During the negotiations, Elliot also demanded to see Elena Pascale, which set up his devastating reunion with his former victim.

Why Helen Sent Elliot A Burrito Emoji In The Tourist Season 1 Ending

Helen wanted elliot to know she forgave him.

When Elliot discovered the depraved reality of his crimes, he was disgusted by his conduct. However, Helen was even more appalled as she realized that the enigmatic man she spent weeks protecting and helping was guilty of this grotesque abuse. Elliot’s discovery of his crimes sent him into a self-destructive spiral that culminated in him driving off the road in an attempt to dull his pain and lose his memory again. Although he ended up in hospital, Elliot retained his memory and was confronted by Helen, who said that she wanted nothing to do with him after learning about his past.

After this, Elliot attempted to take his own life by mixing a bottle of pills and liquor, although he seemingly survived this attempt. As he lay on the floor, Elliot read a message from Helen that was simply a burrito emoji . This was a private joke between the duo that essentially meant “ We’re good ,” with Helen using this message to prove that she forgave Elliot for his crimes. After all, his memory loss meant he was effectively no longer the same person who committed them. Although Dornan’s character looked unwell, he seemed pleased by this in the finale’s closing moments.

What The Tourist Season 1’s Ending Really Means

The tourist calls its antihero’s past and identity into question.

The Tourist ’s season 1 finale forced viewers to contend with the tricky moral question of whether a person can be guilty of a crime they don’t know they committed . As Lachlan pointed out, the corrupt cop was arguably less guilty than Elliot back when Elliot was still a drug smuggler and a crime boss’s deceitful employee. However, the amnesia-stricken Elliot who built a relationship with Helen was a different person who didn’t even know the extent of his earlier crimes.

As such, The Tourist season 1 finale questioned whether Elliot was guilty since his memory loss reshaped his personality. As far as Helen was concerned, Elliot had atoned for his sins. However, Elena Pascal felt that he should live with a guilty conscience for the rest of his days. The Tourist season 1 finale didn't offer viewers an easy answer here, instead implying that both characters had a point in their divergent views of Dornan’s flawed character.

The Tourist

Watch CBS News

These are the top 10 destinations for Labor Day travel

By Megan Cerullo

Edited By Aimee Picchi

Updated on: August 19, 2024 / 3:56 PM EDT / CBS News

A popular U.S. destination for Labor Day travel is becoming even more desirable as an end-of-summer season vacation spot.

Seattle is the nation's top Labor Day weekend destination, according to AAA booking data, which found that the city jumped 30% in popularity this year for domestic travelers after also topping the list in 2023. 

Overall domestic travel is up by 9%, according to AAA booking data, while the cost of taking trips within the U.S. is down 2%. 

Americans traveling by car can expect to see savings on gas costs. The typical cost for gasoline now stands at about $3.50 a gallon, compared to the national average of $3.81 over Labor Day weekend a year ago. Overall demand for gas is down, driven in part by the pandemic enabling remote work, which has changed driving habits.

Fewer Americans are planning to travel internationally over Labor Day weekend this year compared to 2023, according to AAA data. While the cost of domestic trips are down slightly, the cost of international travel has jumped 11%, according to AAA.

As far as international destinations, countries in Europe are the most popular vacation spots for American travelers. Eight of the top ten international destinations booked through AAA are European cities. 

What is the best time to travel on Labor Day?

Airports and roads will start to get busy beginning on Thursday, Aug. 29, ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Roads are expected to be most congested in the afternoon and early evening on Thursday and Friday, according to Inrix, which provides transportation insights and data.

If you're traveling on Thursday or Friday, aim to hit the road in the morning to avoid traffic jams, experts say. If you aren't taking off until Saturday, it's best to wait until the afternoon to depart. 

"Drivers should expect the most severe traffic jams before the holiday weekend as commuters mix with travelers," Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at Inrix, said in a statement. "Monitoring traffic apps, local news stations, and 511 traveler information services may help drivers navigate around congestion and reduce driver frustration this Labor Day." 

Traffic is expected to be heaviest in the afternoon on Sunday and on Labor Day, Monday, September 2.

Here are the top 10 domestic and international destinations for Labor Day travel. 

Top 10 domestic destinations

• Seattle, WA 
• Orlando, FL
• Anchorage, AK 
• New York, NY 
• Boston, MA 
• Las Vegas, NV 
• Denver, CO 
• Chicago, IL 
• Juneau, AK 

Top 10 international destinations

• Vancouver, BC, Canada 
• Rome, Italy 
• London, England 
• Paris, France 
• Dublin, Ireland 
• Amsterdam, Netherlands 
• Barcelona, Spain 
• Athens, Greece 
• Mexicali, Mexico 
• Edinburgh, Scotland 

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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When is summer over? Autumn approaches. What to know about the changing of the seasons

The signs of autumn's approach are starting -- students are returning to school, college students in Ohio are moving into their dorms , football season is approaching and the weather is turning a bit colder from time to time.

So, how much summer do we have left? Here's a look.

When is the last day of summer and the first day of fall?

One of two dates marks the change of the season, depending on who you ask, according to the Farmer's Almanac :

• First is the astronomical start date, based on the position of the Earth around the Sun.
• Second is the meteorological start date, based on the 12-month calendar and annual temperature changes.

This year, summer ends and fall begins at 8:44 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, according to the astronomical date. That's when the autumnal equinox happens in the Northern Hemisphere. According to the meteorological start date, the seasons change on Sunday, Sept. 1.

What is the autumnal equinox?

The Earth experiences two equinoxes each year, in the spring and fall. They occur when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a nearly equal amount of day and night across the planet, according to the National Weather Service .

After the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the nights will get longer and longer and the days shorter and shorter until the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice.

What's the fall and winter weather forecast for Ohio?

This fall is looking cool and dry, according to the Farmer's Almanac forecast, as the Cincinnati Enquirer previously reported . Come winter, the almanac forecasts cold and wet conditions, becoming coldest in late January and early February.

What causes the seasons?

The seasons are caused by the Earth's axis and its relation to the sun, according to the National Weather Service .

During summer, the Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun, resulting in longer days and more exposure to the sun's warming rays. In winter, the situation is reversed. The Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun, creating shorter days and less exposure to the sun.

A look at the chaos of 'overtourism' in the summer of 2024

To be visited during the summer of “overtourism” in 2024 means traffic jams, water problems and high housing prices

SINTRA, Portugal -- The doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel’s house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It’s a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy.

There's precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of “overtourism."

Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string “because it's funny," he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the “tuk-tuk” of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are forced to queue around the house on the crawl up single-lane switchbacks to Pena Palace, the onetime retreat of King Ferdinand II.

“Now I'm more isolated than during COVID,” the soft-spoken Pimentel, who lives alone, said during an interview this month on the veranda. “Now I try to (not) go out. What I feel is: angry.”

This is a story of what it means to be visited in 2024, the first year in which global tourism is expected to set records since the coronavirus pandemic brought much of life on Earth to a halt. Wandering is surging, rather than leveling off, driven by lingering revenge travel, digital nomad campaigns and so-called golden visas blamed in part for skyrocketing housing prices.

Anyone paying attention during this summer of “overtourism” is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And “anti-tourism” protests intended to shame visitors as they dine — or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.

The demonstrations are an example of locals using the power of their numbers and social media to issue destination leaders an ultimatum: Manage this issue better or we'll scare away the tourists — who could spend their $11.1 trillion a year elsewhere. Housing prices, traffic and water management are on all of the checklists.

Cue the violins, you might grouse, for people like Pimentel who are well-off enough to live in places worth visiting. But it's more than a problem for rich people.

“Not to be able to get an ambulance or to not be able to get my groceries is a rich people problem?” said Matthew Bedell, another resident of Sintra, which has no pharmacy or grocery store in the center of the UNESCO-designated district. “Those don’t feel like rich people problems to me.”

The phrase itself generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefitting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.

It's a hashtag that gives a name to the protests and hostility that you've seen all summer. But look a little deeper and you'll find knottier issues for locals and their leaders, none more universal than housing prices driven up by short-term rentals like Airbnb, from Spain to South Africa. Some locales are encouraging “quality tourism,” generally defined as more consideration by visitors toward residents and less drunken behavior, disruptive selfie-taking and other questionable choices.

“Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon, too,” according to an analysis for the World Trade Organization written by Joseph Martin Cheer of Western Sydney University and Marina Novelli of the University of Nottingham. In China and India, for example, they wrote, crowded places are more socially accepted. “This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.”

The summer of 2023 was defined by the chaos of the journey itself — airports and airlines overwhelmed , passports a nightmare for travelers from the US . Yet by the end of the year, signs abounded that the COVID-19 rush of revenge travel was accelerating.

In January, the United Nations' tourism agency predicted that worldwide tourism would exceed the records set in 2019 by 2%. By the end of March, the agency reported, more than 285 million tourists had travelled internationally, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023. Europe remained the most-visited destination. The World Travel & Tourism Council projected in April that 142 of 185 countries it analyzed would set records for tourism, set to generate $11.1 trillion globally and account for 330 million jobs.

Aside from the money, there's been trouble in paradise this year, with Spain playing a starring role in everything from water management problems to skyrocketing housing prices and drunken tourist drama.

Protests erupted across the country as early as March, when graffiti in Malaga reportedly urged tourists to “go f——— home.” Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Spain's Canary Islands against visitors and construction that was overwhelming water services and jacking up housing prices. In Barcelona, protesters shamed and squirted water at people presumed to be visitors as they dined al fresco in touristy Las Ramblas.

In Japan, where tourist arrivals fueled by the weak yen were expected to set a new record in 2024, Kyoto banned tourists from certain alleys. The government set limits on people climbing Mount Fuji. And in Fujikawaguchiko, a town that offers some of the best views of the mountain's perfect cone, leaders erected a large black screen in a parking lot to deter tourists from overcrowding the site. The tourists apparently struck back by cutting holes in the screen at eye level.

Air travel, meanwhile, only got more miserable , the U.S. government reported in July. UNESCO has warned of potential damage to protected areas. And Fodor’s “ No List 2024 ” urged people to reconsider visiting suffering hotspots, including sites in Greece and Vietnam, as well as areas with water management problems in California, India and Thailand.

Not-yet-hot spots looked to capitalize on “de-touristing” drives such as Amsterdam's “Stay Away” campaign aimed at partying young men. The “Welcome to MonGOlia” camapaign, for example, beckoned from the land of Genghis Khan . Visits to that country by foreign tourists jumped 25% the first seven months of 2024 over last year.

Tourism is surging and shifting so quickly, in fact, that some experts say the very term “overtourism” is outdated.

Michael O'Regan, a lecturer on tourism and events at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that “overtourism” has become a buzzword that doesn't reflect the fact that the experience depends largely on the success or failure of crowd management. It's true that many of the demonstrations aren't aimed at the tourists themselves, but at the leaders who allow the locals who should benefit to become the ones who pay.

“There’s been backlash against the business models on which modern tourism has been built and the lack of response by politicians," he said in an interview. Tourism “came back quicker than we expected,” he allows, but tourists aren't the problem. “There's a global fight for tourists. We can't ignore that. ... So what happens when we get too many tourists? Destinations need to do more research."

Virpi Makela can describe exactly what happens in her corner of Sintra.

Incoming guests at Casa do Valle, her hillside bed-and-breakfast near the village center, call Makela in anguish because they cannot figure out how to find her property amid Sintra's “disorganized" traffic rules that seem to change without notice.

“There's a pillar in the middle of the road that goes up and down and you can’t go forward because you ruin your car. So you have to somehow come down but you can’t turn around, so you have to back down the road,” says Makela, a resident of Portugal for 36 years. “And then people get so frustrated they come to our road, which also has a sign that says `authorized vehicles only.' And they block everything.”

Nobody disputes the idea that the tourism boom in Portugal needs better management. The WTTC predicted in April that the country's tourism sector will grow this year by 24% over 2019 levels, create 126,000 more jobs since then and account for about 20% of the national economy. Housing prices already were pushing an increasing number of people out of the property market, driven upward in part by a growing influx of foreign investors and tourists seeking short-term rentals.

To respond, Lisbon announced plans to halve the number of tuk-tuks allowed to ferry tourists though the city and built more parking spaces for them after residents complained that they are blocking traffic.

A 40-minute train ride to the west, Sintra's municipality has invested in more parking lots outside town and youth housing at lower prices near the center, the mayor's office said.

More than 3 million people every year visit the mountains and castles of Sintra, long one of Portugal's wealthiest regions for its cool microclimate and scenery. Sintra City Hall also said via email that fewer tickets are now sold to the nearby historic sites. Pena Palace, for example, began this year to permit less than half the 12,000 tickets per day sold there in the past.

It's not enough, say residents, who have organized into QSintra, an association that's challenging City Hall to “put residents first” with better communication, to start. They also want to know the government's plan for managing guests at a new hotel being constructed to increase the number of overnight stays, and more limits on the number of cars and visitors allowed.

“We're not against tourists,” reads the group's manifesto. “We're against the pandemonium that (local leaders) cannot resolve."

Associated Press reporters Helena Alves in Lisbon and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. Laurie Kellman writes about global affairs for AP's Trends + Culture team. Follow her at http://x.com/APLaurieKellman

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It takes most people 3 days to unwind on vacation. Meet the Slowcation.

• Slow travel is gaining popularity as more Americans seek to destress on vacations.
• Travelers are booking longer trips and spending more time in each destination.
• Experts recommend train travel and rest days to fully immerse in local cultures.

My trip to Europe in October 2022 was doomed from the start.

My itinerary? Travel by train to six cities in four countries in just two weeks.

Don't get me wrong — I had a good time on the whirlwind trip . It was fascinating to explore new cities and countries so different from mine. But ultimately, the trip wasn't fulfilling.

Two weeks just isn't enough time to see more than a small fraction of what Berlin , Vienna , Rome, Venice, Milan , and Zurich offer, as I spent one to three nights in each city.

Looking back on it, I feel like I viewed them more through my camera than my own eyes. From the Colosseum in Rome to the canals in Venice , I only hit the tourist hot spots without truly discovering what life was really like in each place.

I should have been more like Claire Sturzaker .

When the  full-time solo traveler  books a trip, she said it's usually at least a month long. She schedules time to rest and explore lesser-known destinations that are just a day trip away.

"It helps me really get to know the place without rushing around," she told Business Insider. "I'd rather spend a month getting to know a place than say, 'All right, I've been here for a day. Let's go."

And she's not the only one.

According to the Summer 2024 Travel Trends Report: The Rise of the 'Slowcation' by Scott Dunn, founder of the luxury travel provider Scott Dunn, 60% of 2,000 US participants are planning vacations to have slow travel. The report described it as a "mindset" that emphasizes "exploring somewhere on a deeper level" and "making space mentally and physically for things to happen spontaneously."

A representative of the luxury travel agency Goway told BI that their clients have been booking an average of three additional days for trips than they did before the pandemic, and more travelers now book 11-day vacations compared to any other length of time.

While the "slowcation" trend is on the rise, the idea of slow travel — spending more time truly getting to know a destination rather than rushing to hit the tourist hot spots — is nothing new.

Slow travel is about "exploring all of what one country has to offer, whether…going from different major cities to different landscapes, checking out coastal areas, or going into the mountains and hiking depending on your traveler preference," Goway destination specialist Melissa Moses told BI . "It's seeing the difference between each city and one country and the landscapes of one country to get a better idea of that culture as a whole."

It doesn't just benefit the vacationer — sustainability experts have been promoting the slow approach to travel for years.

Related stories

"Fewer but longer trips mean fewer air miles, more money in local hands, and you'll have a more relaxing trip, too," Justin Francis, cofounder and CEO of Responsible Travel, previously told BI.

Slow travel is a way to destress

Slowcations are on the rise due to more Americans prioritizing destressing on vacation, according to Dunn's report, which says that the ideal trip length is eight days, and among the travelers they surveyed, it took an average worker three days to switch out of work mode once on vacation.

Career coach Alice Stapleton agrees.

"With smartphones, social media, and easy access to WiFi, it's become harder and harder to switch off completely," she told BI in an email. "Work (and life) is incredibly consuming these days, and it can take a while for the nervous system to adjust to a slower pace."

Still, not every traveler can take a monthlong trip like Sturzaker. That's OK since Stapleton recommends taking 7-10 days to recharge for someone with a typical 40-hour week.

Slow travel isn't just about trip length

Therapist Mark Loewen also agrees with Dunn's report, adding that restoring yourself on vacation isn't just about trip length.

"What makes a bigger difference than the time is how you spend that time," Loewen told BI. "One of the big reasons…vacations are good for us is because it engages another part of our brain by paying attention to something different. And just like on a computer, it helps that area that is constantly working to cool down."

He said the second big reason is that learning and discovering new things excites our brains, creating dopamine that helps us recover from stress.

"But if we are still connected to other stressors like news, we can't fully step into whatever we're doing," he added. "So the faster we can disconnect, the faster we can get that recovery."

Aside from completely disconnecting from work, Loewen suggests spending less time on your phone while slow traveling.

"I know it can be hard. I went standup paddling the other day, and I didn't have my waterproof case for my phone. I went for an hour and didn't even take any pictures, and I was like, 'Oh, man, yeah, I can do that.'"

Loewen doesn't recommend seeing a new city every day while traveling — as I did in Europe — because the trip may feel more like checking off items on a to-do list than enjoying the moment.

"Slow down and take the time, because otherwise, you're trying to achieve again — thinking, 'now we have to get all this done,'" Loewen said. "But it's OK if we don't get it all done. If you're exploring, find days where you can just rest and relax as well. "

When planning slowcation itineraries, Moses recommends scheduling in rest days.

"I personally always suggest at least three nights in each city where one of those days is packed with activities, and then the next day is a rest day," she said.

Biking and trains are great for slow travel

Prioritizing how you travel while on vacation can give you peak slow travel benefits, such as biking or train travel.

For example, in Central Vietnam, the tour company Slow Travel Hue provides bike excursions that are a half-day long rather than just an hour or two.

"It's really about the mindset that you really take time to savor the experience," Do Phuong , tour company founder, told BI. "Search for authentic experiences. Schedule your itinerary in a very loose way. Be really immersed into the experience and try to connect with local culture, local people, and the surrounding nature," he advises.

According to Phuong, the tour company has been around since 2014, but it wasn't until 2020 that they rebranded to serve slow travelers as the trend began to build.

Loewen said train trips are also a great way to travel slowly because they make the journey feel like a destination. Scott Dunn's global product director, Simon Lynch, agrees.

"Leisurely train travel is one of the best ways to experience slow travel, allowing you to sit back and savor every moment," he told BI in an email. "A new wave of luxury rail itineraries has driven a thirst for cultural immersion, exploring the less-visited backroads of popular destinations."

Lynch added that Scott Dunn has had three times as many train trip bookings between January and April 2024 compared to the same timeframe in 2023. One of their most popular train bookings for slow travelers is the Eastern & Oriental Express sleeper that runs between Singapore and Malaysia.

Moses told BI that she recommends traveling by train to roughly 90% of destinations around Europe because it is more seamless than flying.

"The train stations are located in the city centers. It's oftentimes within a five-minute walk from your hotel. So depending on your luggage, you can always just walk to the train station. You only need to be there 20-30 minutes before your train departs and just hop on," she said. "Whereas when taking a flight, what could be a two-hour destination trip turns into a four or five-hour one."

Moses recommends slow travel by train in Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, citing the Glacier Express . It's "a stunning experience through the Alps," Moses added. "It has a clear rooftop, and you can have a prearranged three-course lunch or dinner on the train."

Despite the obvious benefits of lower stress, deeper immersion in the cities you visit, and sustainability rewards, Lynch says slow trips may also be more memorable.

"Taking a slower and gentler approach to the way that you travel — and making the journey part of your trip — will not only encourage you to relax and unwind quicker but inevitably lead to discovery along the way," Lynch said. "This, in turn, can help you to make meaningful memories, too."

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