Vortex

The story centers around Ludo, a police investigator that has the perfect life. His job is good, his wife Melanie is happy and content, and the couple are very much in love, living out their life alongside their daughter, Juliette. However, all of this changes when Melanie heads out for a run one morning. Instead of her returning, it's Nathan, Ludo's best friend at the police station he works at, who rocks up and tells him that Melou has died.

Fast forward to 2025 and Ludo is called to the scene of a crime that's eerily similar to that of Melou's. A woman called Zoe Levy has died on the same beach, and happens to be wearing the same pearl ring. Armed with future tech that allows one to recreate a crime scene in virtual reality, Ludo pops on his glasses… and sees Mel running. It turns out he can actually communicate with her and together, they set out to find the killer. But with 11 days until Mel is due to die, will they do it in time? And what consequences could this have for them?

Episode 6 of Vortex starts with Ludo watching Hector like a hawk, now realizing that he's the real killer here. After the shocking conclusion to the previous chapter, Ludo races back home and realizes the glasses are gone. He has no way of warning Melanie who the real killer is. This was Parvana's doing, as she shows up and admits that she's the one who's taken the glasses… and thrown them away.

There's 90 minutes left until Melanie dies in 1998 but Parvana believes she's doing the right thing, given how traumatized Juliette was after seeing Melanie on the beach.

Parvana tries to explain that everything Ludo has now – this perfect family with two kids and a stable job – is because of Melou passing away. Ludo is having none of it and believes he needs to warn Nathan. He races out, acting like a man possessed, believing he can change the past, regardless of consequence.

Ludo hurries to the police station, ringing Kim en-route (who's still searching Nathan's house) and warns that it's Hector, not Nathan, as the killer. He next rushes to the station to tell Nathan the same thing, apologizing for suspecting him. They need to get top Hector immediately, otherwise he could destroy evidence and their chance will be lost. Unfortunately, Nathan refuses to indulge him and points out he's off the case – and he should stay out otherwise he could lose his job too.

Back in ’98, Hector locks Melanie inside his house and points out that he's been in love with her since school. He refuses to leave without her and he even has a ring for her. And guess which ring? Yep, it's the pearl one. Now, Melanie actually knows about this given the police photos she saw in episode 1 and she suddenly realizes just who Hector is.

Hector puts the ring on her finger, but Melanie claims to be feeling unwell and manages to slip into the bathroom. There's not long until Melanie dies – 8 minutes at this point – and while she hurries out Hector's house and tries to escape, heading, inevitably, down to the edge of the cliff, Ludo in 2025 confronts Hector at the car wash.

Ludo marches up to Hector and accuses him outright of murder. When Hector smiles after Ludo warns he has DNA that's being checked against the bodies, Ludo snaps and smacks him across the face with a stiff right hand. Hector follows him into the bathroom and blindsides him.

With shattered remnants of the mirror Ludo's face became acquainted to just now, Hector stabs Ludo right through the gut and leaves him on the bathroom floor, drowning in his own blood. While he dies, we cut back to 1998 as Hector catches up with Mel down by the cliff-edge. Mel gets her gun out, and thanks to all that target practice with Ludo across the season, manages to shoot Hector dead, right in the same spot that Ludo was killed.

With Melanie still alive, the timeline changes. We cut to 2025 and Ludo wakes up on the ground absolutely fine. He's very much alive but Hector's car is gone. It's 11.13am and Ludo chuckles incredulously as he realizes the time of Mel's death has passed and the future has been changed. Ludo is still wearing his wedding ring and back home, Parvana and Sam show up.

Ludo grabs Parvana and hugs her tightly, kissing her. Melanie is still alive but Ludo is not actually married to her but actually still with Parvana. The difference, however, is that Juliette is very different.

Every action has a consequence, and Ludo finds this out the hard way. He shows up to see Juliette, who passed her bar exam 3 years back. Their relationship is estranged and she's pregnant. It turns out, in this timeline Ludo snitched on Melanie and she's actually in prison. This explains why Juliette hates him.

Melanie was on the run for 15 years for killing Hector and kidnapping Juliette. It was Ludo who found her and brought her into the police station. So although Melanie is still alive, is her life any better now? Parvana warned that this could happen and the timeline would be messed up, and it seems her premonition has come true.

Ludo rings Parvana and tells her he loves her, explaining that he needs to see Melanie first to get some closure. He heads into the prison and sits opposite Melanie. The pair reach out to touch hands, with tears welling in both their eyes. "I’ve been waiting 27 years," She says, as the pair chuckle and the episode comes to a close.

Read More: Vortex Season 1 Review

Is Melanie's fate any better now than it was? And has Ludo's meddling with the timeline made much of a difference? Of course, on the one hand the case is resolved and Hector is stopped from killing anyone else, plus saving all those different women, but it also comes at the expense of Melanie's life being completely altered and upended.

Juliette's life has been completely destroyed too and although she's pregnant and a successful lawyer, she's also had to grow up without her parents, which kinda echoes that earlier timeline we saw of Juliette smoking weed and lazing about. Albeit, this version isn't anywhere near that extreme!

The series has been a decent watch though, especially with this chapter which dives into thriller territory after a big investigative effort. I think many people (myself included) thought the killer was going to be Nathan since episode 1 and to see that actually being upended given it's a red herring, is a nice way of subverting expectations.

This has been a good watch overall though and while one could argue the ending is a bit open and ambiguous, there's enough here to make for a solid watch all the same.