Yahoo News Baptiste writers hint at more twists after episode 5 kills off *SPOILER*
Note: Contains spoilers for episode five of Baptiste.
The fifth episode of Baptiste was the BBC One thriller's most bloodthirsty yet, as Edward Stratton's ex-wife and her new husband paid the price for his recent misdeeds, while gangster Constantin (Alec Secareanu) was murdered by his vengeful bosses – or was he?
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Baptiste creators/writers Harry and Jack Williams give us the inside track on Constantin's demise, Martha's betrayal, Genevieve's surprising decision and further twists to come in next week's finale.
You certainly enjoy putting Edward through the wringer. Why kill off Clare (Clare Calbraith) and Carl (David Michaels)?
JACK: Episode five was the first one where we brought another writer on – Kelly Jones wrote the episode and we worked on the story with her. I think we had taken the decision to kill them by that point – sometimes the story does things that you'd rather it didn't do!
Despite Edward's, in some ways, laudable motivations for doing this [stealing the cash] in the first place, he's unleashed something which is very dark in terms of the Brigada Serbilu, and it's unstoppable.
It's just a reminder to him, to us, and to Julien (Tchéky Karyo), that the stakes in this are very literally 'life or death'. You do not f**k with these people. There's no room for error or discussion or disagreement. It's a very, very harsh world.
That's a useful thing, to remind the audience that these are not the kind of villains who say, 'We'll get you next time!' They mean it. When they want to kill you, they come and kill you.
The episode ends with Julien concluding that Martha (Barbara Sarafian) has betrayed him and the whole operation. Presuming that's the truth, is it also fair to assume that she was the one who tipped Constantin off about Baptiste's investigation in the first place?
HARRY: I would say that the police have access to what's going on here and it'd be better to pass on information [to the Brigada Serbilu] from inside the investigation. And she's the very person who knows exactly what's going on. That's a fair assumption.
[laughs] He said carefully!
What about Constantin's death? Is that as clear-cut as it appears? Was he murdered by Brigada Serbilu or could there possibly be more to it?
JACK: With every murder in this show, there's always that possibility!
His death is explained in episode six in quite a satisfying way, and is quite important to where the story goes. So yeah, that uncertainty is helpful, but it's resolved in episode six.
Given Genevieve's agenda against Constantin, and how much she hated him for what he did to Lucas, it's quite surprising that she agrees to his immunity deal. How did you guys justify that?
JACK: I think it shows what kind of character she is. She hates them for what they've done, but she isn't someone who's going to be motivated by just her own self interest.
It says a lot that she's able to just compartmentalise and get the job done, and aim for the larger goal of bringing down a very large organisation who traffic women, rather than sacrifice that for revenge.
I think it's important that people jump on that. It says a lot about her, and what her strengths are as a character.
Her face-off with Constantin in the car is a terrific scene – did you always know that those two would have to come face-to-face at some point?
HARRY: That actually came very last-minute. They didn't meet until a couple of drafts in, I think.
I love the moment where she realises that he's being squeezed and he's in a tricky position, and she starts to laugh. It's got a wonderful shape to it. But no, it came very late in the day, that. It's a great one.
JACK: I think when we first talked about the scene, initially it was a threatening-type scene. You've seen those. They're quite stock. I think, like Harry said, what distinguishes this scene is the fact that he's under as much threat from Brigada as she is. He's not the man in charge. He's a tiny cog in a very big and scary machine.
The moment she realises that, and we realise that, we go, 'Oh, God, what is going on?' Even this guy, who we see decapitate someone in the first scene of the show, is also terrified.
I think that that's a really interesting moment, and I think that that's what distinguishes it from the usual 'Here comes the bad guy to threaten you' kind of scene. That's what excited us about it.
This episode's pre-titles scene catches us up with Christina – Natalie's captive sister – for the first time since episode one. Did you debate how often you'd need to check back in with her, to update us on where she was and what she was going through?
HARRY: Yeah, we moved it around a lot. We had a bit at the end of episode four, and then it carried onto episode five. But actually we just felt that you've got to follow the story, and go where you're being led naturally.
We'd established that place and that world and it's not somewhere you want to spend too much time in, because it's so awful and horrible. There's enough there.
I think we kind of felt that less is more – and certainly we do come back to that at the very end, and figure out what's going on.
JACK: We certainly plotted more scenes originally with Christina. But it started to feel like it was too close to The Missing: 'Here’s the girl in a place, and we have to find her.'
Actually, the point of this series is to go beyond that, and say, 'There are lots of girls, and this gang are trafficking them' – and trying to make a broader point about the trade, and how they carry on.
Obviously, we want to glimpse it, to get a sense of, as Harry said, the horror of this world. But our feeling was, when we saw her too much, it started to feel a bit like The Missing, and suddenly it wasn't about the gang and the money and what it represents, it's about one specific girl.
So yeah, it was a real balance. Things came in and out, and were moved around in the edit. I think the balance we have now is enough to know that she's important to Edward, but we're really looking to make a larger point.
Finally, even though she's gone, Kim sends Greg (Tristan Gravelle) on a journey of discovery. What hints can you give about what he might uncover?
HARRY: Kim definitely, in her former life, with her work with Brigada Serbilu, knew that that wasn't an organisation you could just walk away from. She'd made plans for all eventualities, if anything was to happen to her.
JACK: Yeah. What I love with episode five is that when Julien confronts Constantin, these characters who have been on the back foot and controlled by circumstances, they start to control events.
We move on from running from this gang, or reacting, or keeping our families safe, to actually: how do we bring the fight to them? How do we actually start challenging what it is they do? What's in this box that Kim left for Greg is a huge part of that.
Baptiste concludes next Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
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