City of Shadows’ ending was about Milo and Rebeca stopping Hector and Helena from setting off a fiery spectacle during the Pope’s consecration of the Sagrada Familia as a basilica while also saving Susana from whatever hellhole the siblings had stuffed her in. Hector and Helena found the limelight when they killed Pinto, the CEO of a construction company, and then followed it up with the murder of Torrens, the president of the Torrens Foundation. After that, they killed Mauricio, a celebrity journalist, who was essentially working with the killers to publish the footage of the murders they had committed on prime-time television. And finally, the killer siblings got ahold of Judge Susana. So far, Milo and Rebeca, and pretty much the entire police force of Barcelona, were treating this as a regular serial killing spree that they had to stop before the Pope arrived in the city. But since Susana was an old friend of Milo’s—and she was the one who got him his job back after he went into a depressive slump following his nephew Marc’s death and assaulted a fellow officer, Jordi—her abduction made things personal. Hence, on one hand, the detective duo had to save Susana, and on the other hand, they had to figure out what exactly Hector and Helena were about to do at the ceremony. Which endeavor did they succeed at? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Why Did Hector and Helena Become Serial Killers?
Hector and Helena were victims of both capitalism and abuse. As per the information that Alba, Susana’s PA, had acquired, Hector and Helena’s mother had died in a car accident in 1974, and their father died two days prior to the siblings’ entry into La Ferradura. Now, the father’s death was a mix of natural causes and murder. His health had already deteriorated due to his dependence on drugs and heroin in order to cope with his wife’s death. When Pinto sent the authorities to “clean up” Barcelona, thereby destroying the house in the slums where the father lived with Hector and Helena, he collapsed and died right in front of his children. So, in a way, Pinto caused Hector and Helena to be orphaned. With nowhere left to go, Hector and Helena were sent to La Ferradura. That’s where Helena was sexually abused by Torrens on a regular basis while he punished Hector for his pyromania by locking him up in the facility’s basement without food or water for days. When the siblings came of age, they left La Ferradura and began living at their aunt’s house on Paseo de Turull. Helena became a security guard at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, while Hector became an employee at the Sagrada Familia. Initially, I don’t think they entertained any ideas of revenge. But when the area they lived in was marked for a demolition drive as a part of the government’s redevelopment plan, the pain of their past resurfaced. They realized that you can’t just let time heal you, because capitalists like Pinto and Torrens have the ability to outlive you. Their greed for money is so all-consuming that they’ll kill everyone in their path in order to earn so much money that they or their descendants won’t be able to spend it in this lifetime or the next.
The siblings knew that they didn’t have the power or the professional acumen to retaliate against their oppressors when they were kids, but as adults, they could make a difference. And they used elements from their past to give their revenge plan a personal touch. The basement was obviously a reference to the method that was used to torture Hector at La Ferradura. It also reflected how the poor were being choked out by the rich, and the only way the poor could get back at the rich was by literally robbing them of the basic necessities of life: food and water. The fire was a reference to Hector’s love for fire, and it also represented the never-ending anger that the poor felt against the rich for torching everything that they held dear. As for Gaudi, the way I see it, Helena loved the architect’s work a lot. But Gaudi’s work became associated with the abuse she had faced at Torrens’ hands because she probably used to dissociate from reality by looking at a painting of one of Gaudi’s designs, which was in Torrens’ office, while Torrens did unspeakable things to her. So, I suppose she thought that if she couldn’t enjoy Gaudí anymore, nobody else should as well. Hence, she chose monuments linked to Gaudí to hang her targets so that whenever the general public would look at those works of art, they’d be reminded of the dead body that was strung on them. Hector and Helena knew that they’d never succeed at destroying capitalism, because it’s too vast and powerful, but by using this particular method of serial killing, they hoped to ingrain an anti-capitalist sentiment in the minds of the general public.
Did Helena Allow Susana to Live?
Hector and Helena’s final plan was a bit of a mess. From what I understood, Hector was assigned to self-immolate at the Sagrada Familia whilst taking down the ministers, who had approved the demolition drive at and around the Paseo de Turull, or maybe he was supposed to throw the packets of gasoline he had smuggled into the consecration ceremony at the ministers and then burn. I don’t think his plan included killing the Pope, because the siblings had no personal vendetta against him. Sure, organized religion of any kind corrupts everything, and when it’s combined with capitalism, it can wreak all kinds of havoc. But, yeah, it didn’t seem like Hector was targeting the Pope; he was using the attention that the Pope was attracting to make a spectacle out of the ministers’ death. Helena was supposed to destroy Torrens’ office, but her trauma response kicked in after seeing that Gaudi painting, and she went straight to the roof to die by suicide. Meanwhile, Susana was meant to suffocate in the Montjuic Cemetery mausoleum, which was where most of Hector and Helena’s family was buried. Since Milo and Rebeca had found out about Hector and Helena’s true identities, they passed on the information to Jordi and his team, who were present at the Sagrada Familia. They located Hector and took him down by shooting him in the shoulder. Instead of giving himself up to the authorities, Hector self-immolated. He was hospitalized, but his chances of survival were slim to none. Milo and Rebeca reached Torrens’ office, but were unable to prevent Helena from self-immolating and jumping off the roof of the building. That said, before leaping to her death, Helena subtly hinted that Susana was at the aforementioned mausoleum, thereby allowing Milo and Rebeca to rescue her before she suffocated to death. If Helena was so hell-bent on killing every single one of her and her brother’s oppressors, I don’t think she would have given them that hint. During her last moments, I think she was struck with the realization that her quest for revenge was flawed, which was why she essentially allowed Susana to live.
No, I don’t feel that Helena forgave Susana for being ignorant about what Torrens was doing at La Ferradura and “accidentally” ruining the siblings’ childhood. That said, putting Susana in her family mausoleum—a type of tomb that the common folk can’t afford even in their wildest dreams—probably opened her eyes to the fact that her rebellion was a little hollow and myopic. Helena and Hector’s idea of their family was that they were poor, and then these money-hungry villains took whatever they had left. But, as explained by Crespo (the data analyst at the police station), Helena and Hector’s family used to be extremely rich, hence the mausoleum; it’s only later that they fell on hard times. Now, you don’t get rich without breaking a few eggs. So, what if the hardships the siblings were facing were karma for what their ancestors had done to the poor? Yes, what Pinto and Torrens had done to Hector and Helena was reprehensible, and they got what they deserved. What about Susana, though? She was just looking out for the kids who had become homeless. And in the siblings’ attempt to make this grand nationwide statement against capitalism, something that their own family had benefited from back in the day, they had taken a swing at the wrong person. Therefore, even though Helena was unable to forgive Susana for signing that order that sent them to La Ferradura, she probably decided that the judge should live because she’ll certainly do her job more responsibly after going through this whole harrowing experience.
What Happened To Bachs And Bastos?
In addition to the topic of capitalism and hurting the poor in the name of development, City of Shadows shed some light on corruption in the police. While most of the cops as well as the judiciary were working towards catching Hector and Helena, Bachs was busy leaking confidential information to Mauricio so that he could get some kickbacks, and Bastos was focused on putting Milo out of commission, most probably to protect Torrens. Bach’s salary was probably not enough to pay for the alimony; meanwhile, Bastos owed his entire professional career to Torrens, and hence, he felt that he needed to protect that pedophile. Both Bachs and Bastos had no kind of personal vendetta against Milo, but their greed made them treat him like their enemy. Bachs had probably entered this profession with the intention of ensuring that justice was served. But somewhere down the line, the complications from his personal life overshadowed his duty, and he started using his professional connections to make his personal life somewhat easier. He forgot that in that process he was maligning his colleague, who was already facing the repercussions for assaulting Jordi; he was struggling to deal with Marc’s death, and he was always stressed about Hugo’s well-being. For Bach, as long as his personal and professional lives had some semblance of balance, it didn’t matter to him that he was sacrificing Milo. Well, thankfully, when Jordi learned about this, he conveyed it to the concerned authorities, and Bachs was promptly suspended.
The same can’t be said about Bastos, even though what he was doing was far more heinous. He was trying to hinder Milo’s investigation because he knew that Milo would draw the line between the serial killers’ motive and Torrens’ pedophilia. The reason why Bastos wanted the serial killers to be stopped was because they were close to destroying the foundation that was probably sending a paycheck to him so that he’d turn a blind eye to Torrens’ illicit activities, not because it was his job to stop those who took the law into their own hands. Hector and Helena were the two victims of Torrens that we know of. Based on the ex-commissioner of police’s assumptions, there’s no way to say how many other children Torrens had molested. Hector and Helena lashed out; meanwhile, there are countless others who are suffering in silence. They wouldn’t have had to go through all that had Bastos done his job and put Torrens behind bars. Was that promotion really that important to him? How do police officers like him live with themselves? Do they really sleep peacefully at night? I don’t know. Either way, Jordi told Rebeca that Bastos would face some kind of disciplinary action for being a corrupt cop. How harsh would his punishment be? That’s a big question mark. Maybe with the Torrens Foundation in a state of turmoil, Bastos won’t enjoy the privileges he’s had till now, and he will be appropriately penalized for everything he has done, including meddling with Milo’s investigation.
Was Hugo Put In A Mental Hospital?
As mentioned before, throughout the course of the investigation into the serial killings, Milo was dealing with the loss of his nephew, Marc. The reason behind his death was much more confounding than the central murder mystery, to be honest, because we got the information about Milo’s backstory in bits and pieces. Milo and Hugo’s father suffered from schizophrenia, and he supposedly killed himself. Hugo had a similar affliction, and that took a toll on his wife, Sara, and son, Marc. It was not clear if Marc suffered from the same thing, but Hugo accused Milo of giving him the pills that apparently led to his death. Milo knew that Marc had taken the pills that were prescribed to Hugo, and yet, he blamed himself for Marc’s death. Hence, every dead body or potential suicide victim that he came across, he saw a reflection of Marc in them. It was a manifestation of his guilt that he didn’t do enough to save him from an early grave. He kicked himself for not giving Marc access to the best mental health experts in the city, and he didn’t want to repeat the same mistake with Hugo. There was enough evidence to suggest that Hugo will not get better in this lifetime. He was stuck in a seemingly endless loop where he kept blaming Milo for Marc’s death. He needed to be institutionalized.
Hence, in City of Shadows’ ending, Milo accompanied Sara to the mental institution to have Hugo admitted, thereby taking a major step that he had been deliberating on for quite a while. Maybe by giving Hugo the treatment that he needed, he’d be able to forgive himself for “failing” Marc. Because until and unless he’s able to get over the trauma of Marc’s death, he won’t be able to focus on his career. It’s not clear how long Milo intends to serve on the force. However, after solving one of the biggest cases that the city had ever seen, I think Milo will be in high demand. Maybe he’ll come across many other people who have been wrongly labeled criminals because of their mental health issues, and it’s possible that Milo will be able to teach his teammates, from personal experience, to take a measured approach while dealing with such individuals. In the show, he regularly suffered from panic attacks. How would he help others fight their demons if he wasn’t fighting the ones in his head? Of course, admitting Hugo won’t completely solve everything in his life. He will still have to go to therapy and work on himself. He will need to have long-postponed conversations with Sara and maybe convince her to get therapy too, because she has been through a lot as well. Once Milo has done all that, I suppose he’ll be able to bring this chapter of his life to a close and focus completely on his job as well as the betterment of the mental health of the people of the city.
Why Did Rebeca Stay By Milo?
Rebeca’s concluding moments in the show are low-key the saddest aspect of City of Shadows, because the actress playing the character, Veronica Echegui, is no longer with us. So, seeing her talk about choosing her future missions more carefully and her telling Milo that she doesn’t mind staying with him in the waiting room felt very melancholic. I don’t know if Rebeca was written with Veronica’s battle with cancer in mind, but seeing how Rebeca’s mother had fought with cancer and the fact that Rebeca had such an emotional reaction to Eva’s (a former educator at La Ferradura) fight with cancer, I think Veronica’s personal life was subtly woven into the story. A lot of us have seen what cancer can do to a person, but only the individual tackling it on a personal level knows what’s going on. So, through those moments of empathy and resilience, I suppose Veronica was subtly showing us how we should treat cancer patients, especially when they have gone past the point of no return, even though we are stressed and in a hurry. Because no matter how bad of a time we able-bodied people are having, a cancer patient has it worse.
Movies and TV shows are the closest thing to immortality that humans have achieved. So, even though Veronica is gone, she continues to live on through all the characters she has played throughout her career. When Rebeca says that she doesn’t mind staying with Milo, I think it’s also Veronica’s way of assuring her fans that she’ll always be with them in spirit. Given how City of Shadows has been labeled as a limited series (which hopefully won’t be renewed for a second season, thereby forcing the writers to reckon with Veronica’s death), viewers and fans of Veronica’s work are free to imagine Rebeca going on countless adventures, with or without Milo, and making the world a better place by solving difficult cases. I know that this is a very bittersweet note to end this article on, but the thing about reality is that it inevitably catches up to the world of fiction. We can forget about the finiteness of life while watching movies and TV shows, but the cruelty of death is that it will always find a way to remind us that everything around us is fleeting and incredibly temporary. Sure, we can be sad and nihilistic about it, but we can also cherish the time we have on this planet, thank those who stay with us through our tough times, celebrate those who deserve your admiration, and leave the rest up to fate, destiny, karma, or whatever else you believe in. Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the ending of the show. If you have opinions on the same, please, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
