Hostage ending explained: The finale of the Suranne Jones Netflix thriller broken down

Netflix really smashed it out of the park with political thriller, Hostage, and it's definitely been one heck of a ride for the highly bingeable 5-episode run.

Suranne Jones is mesmerising as fictional Prime Minister Abigail Dalton, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband, Alex, is kidnapped.

Building the tension, Alex is kidnapped when Abigail is on the cusp of a historic meeting with French President, Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy).

As a wife and mother, Suranne's formidable character doesn't just have to navigate the disastrous turn her life has taken as a person of power - she also has to contend with it under the scrutiny of being a working mother.

There's a lot going on, and plenty of cracking underlying themes looking at the misogyny and battles women are forced to contend with just to exist in the work environment - especially when they hold such a powerful position as Abigail.

Do you still have questions about the Hostage ending? Let's take a deep dive into exactly what happened in the final episode.

Hostage ending explained

The Hostage finale begins with a flashback showing Abigail Dalton as a junior minister, facing a difficult decision.

Viewers find out she once choose to evacuate British troops from Belize following an attack by Guatemala, knowing there wouldn't be enough time to save the local allies who had supported them.

Essentially, in saving the soldiers, Abigail sealed the deaths of the Belizean allies, setting off the chain of events that she found herself faced with in the present day.

We find out disgruntled former British soldier, Michael John Shagan (Martin McCann) was the person who kidnapped Alex Anderson and the other aid workers in French Guiana.

Shagan been one of the soldiers evacuated from Belize, and had been forced to leave his pregnant Belizean fiancé behind. Sadly, she'd been killed, and Shagan had never come to terms with the loss of his partner and unborn baby.

He'd teamed with Saskia Morgan (Sophie Robertson), who used the French President's stepson, Matheo Lewis (Corey Mylchreest), to get closer to both Abigail and Vivienne.

Saskia had been working alongside both Shagan and General Livingston (Mark Lewis Jones).

Together, Saskia, Shagan and General Livingston were fuelled in their kidnap plot by disdain for Abigail. Saskia and Livingston for her cost cutting measures ending their careers, and Shagan for the trauma he'd suffered following her fateful decision as a junior minister.

By planning the crisis, the trio hoped the need for a military resurgence would force Abigail's measures to be overturned and full numbers restored to the armed forces - and Shagan could have his long-awaited revenge.

Who died at the end of Hostage?

Vivenne Toussaint dies in the Hostage finale. She and stepson Lewis, with whom she'd been romantically involved, found a laptop at 10 Downing Street confirming Saskia's involvement in the kidnap plot.

However, Lewis became suspicious that Saskia was more clever than to leave a blatant piece of evidence lying around, at such a prominent location.

His fears prove founded when the pair look closely at the laptop and it turns out to be concealing a bomb - which explodes and kills Vivienne.

Shagan also ends up dead, killed by Abigail's daughter, Sylvie (Isobel Akuwudike). During a tense moment, Shagan threatens Abigail and Alex while Abigail pleads with her daughter not to shoot him, knowing the police are about to show up.

But Sylvie is pushed over the edge when Shagan admits to being responsible for the death of her grandfather, Max (James Cosmo), and she goes ahead and shoots him anyway.

How does Hostage end?

In the closing scenes, there's a small time jump to three months after Sylvie shot Shagan.

Abigail has resumed her position at 10 Downing Street with Sylvie and Alex, and is about to address the nation.

Following a moment of emotional support from her husband and daughter, Abigail lets the country know there's to be a general election.

Her aim is to have a fresh start, and begin rebuilding the trust she once had with the people who elected her to such a powerful role in the first place.