Channel 5’s The Inheritance starts with a really intriguing mystery and solidly sets things up for a riveting climax, but unfortunately ends with a ridiculously frustrating twist. It is not that what happens at the end of it is logically unacceptable, but the makers should have done certain things differently if it was supposed to finish this way. In this article, we are going to take a closer look at the miniseries and analyze its ending in order to clear all the doubts that you might have in your head. I am hoping you all are reading this only after watching the series, but in case you haven’t managed to watch it yet, then this is where you should stop.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Miniseries?
Dennis Watson, father of Daniel aka Dan, Sian, and Chloe, suddenly drops dead at his house. Although he was old, Dennis didn’t show any signs of having any illness. He barely drank and didn’t have any addictions either. One thing he loved to do was make home videos of his family when everyone was together. Dennis’s wife died of cancer some time ago.
As if their father’s unfortunate demise was not enough, Danniel, Sian, and Chloe receive a huge shock when they find out that their father, who loved them so much, hasn’t left them a single penny from his enormous fortune. According to the solicitor, everything Dennis ever had, including their family home where the man took his last breath, is going to one Susan Watson.
Who Is Susan Watson?
Well, Dennis clearly wasn’t the uncomplicated man his children thought he was, given that he kept his second marriage to Susan a secret. The trio (I hope you don’t mind me using this for Dan, Sian, and Chloe) can’t believe this. Considering they were really looking forward to the money that was coming their way through the natural attrition of Dennis, they find the truth a real hard pill to swallow. It is particularly difficult for Dan, a restaurant owner and chef whose business is failing, and who’d actually come to seek his father’s help when he discovered Dennis’ lifeless body. Dan has made his situation further troublesome by borrowing twenty grand from loan shark Glen, who also happens to be Sian’s hot-headed former husband. He obviously took the loan, assuming paying it back wouldn’t be much trouble when he received his share of the inheritance.
But as things stand, Susan is very much there to claim what is hers, as per the legal documents. The trio suspects foul play and quickly forms theories like Susan manipulating their “innocent dad” for the money. However, Susan continues to stand firm on her ground and claims that although her marriage to Dennis was a relatively new thing, they were actually together for fourteen long years. This effectively means Dennis was cheating on his sick wife, but in this story, that is not a matter of concern.
What Is Chloe Hiding?
While it seemed like the trio had never met Susan before, it was soon revealed that Chloe, the youngest of the siblings, had been aware of her father’s affair for a while. She hid it from her family in order to protect them, which was a novel thing to do after all. Chloe, a mother of two, is married to Pete, a banker who appears to be a loving and supportive husband. And despite the show tricking us into believing that Pete might not be what he seems like, he doesn’t turn out to be a rotten apple by the end, breaking the genre mold.
Anyway, while Chloe was aware of Susan and Dennis, she didn’t know that Susan was actually the ex-wife of Dennis’ former best friend, Michael. The trio had very little memory of their father’s best friend, who disappeared from their lives for obvious reasons. But when Dan approaches Michael in order to find out whether the latter had any idea about Susan, Michael angrily reveals the shocking truth to him. After ruffling through their father’s documents, the trio discovers that Dennis was sending money to two separate companies: Gaudete and DRD1. The question that instantly pops up in their heads is the obvious one: is Susan behind these two companies?
Who Is Nathan, And What Does He Have To Do With Sian?
In the midst of all the chaos and confusion around the inheritance and Dennis’ death, Sian starts dating real estate agent Nathan, who comes to estimate the value of Dennis’ house. The two hit it off really well, and Sian, who has found it really difficult as a single mother, is genuinely happy after ages. This is obviously not taken that well by Glen, who continues to threaten Dan about the money and eventually comes to the resolution that Dan can make things right by helping Glen meet Charlie, his son. Needless to say, Glen is legally forbidden to see both Sian and Charlie thanks to his past activities.
Despite Susan forbidding them to go into the house as it is clearly her property now, Sian continues her attempt at finding evidence inside the house that the trio can use against their stepmother in a legal battle they’re hoping to win. She does find a half-empty bottle of bioethanol, a kind of very potent alcohol which can actually aggravate a form of amnesia. This does not exactly prove that it was Susan after all, but is enough for the Coroner to warrant an investigation.
Was Dennis Really Killed?
With the existence of the bioethanol bottle, which is too much of a coincidence, the trio’s belief in their father getting murdered only solidifies, especially with a certain Detective Morris coming into the equation as an investigator. Susan continues to tell everyone that she is innocent and has nothing to do with Dennis’ death. Meanwhile, Gaudete turns out to be a company registered under Michael’s name, although he claims that he has absolutely nothing to do with it, and it was all Dennis. With this information, Dan goes to see Michael again in order to convince him to give him the Gaudete money, which Michael doesn’t need and will solve Dan’s “Glen problem”. That doesn’t turn out well, as Michael shockingly blows his own head off with a shotgun in front of a traumatized Dan.
Who Killed Dennis And What Was The Motive?
The suspense continues to boil as both the first and second husbands of Susan have fallen dead within a very short span of time. Glen continues to harass Dan, and despite considering taking his offer of making his nephew meet his prick of a father, Dan has a moment of conscience and backs out of it in the end. This expectably frustrates Glen, and he ends up ambushing Sian and Charlie, which agitates Sian. After finding out Dan is the reason for Glen finding a way into her life, Sian understandably gets really mad at her brother. It is also revealed that DRD1 happens to be a company that Dennis registered under Dan’s name in order to help out for the restaurant business, which Dan had conveniently hidden from his sisters. Meanwhile, Glen also pays Nathan a surprise visit and makes it physically clear that there will be consequences if Nathan continues his relationship with Sian. This effectively makes Nathan pull a vanishing act, and Sian rightly suspects her former husband has something to do with it.
Trouble doesn’t seem to leave Dan, it seems, as Morris suddenly takes him in for questioning after finding out that the Gaudete money has been transferred to Dan’s account from Michael. Dan does find a lifeline when Pete offers to give him the money that he owes to Glen but with a certain condition- Dan has to give away his restaurant to Pete and Chloe, although he can stay on as a creative force. Dan has no choice but to accept Pete’s proposal, as this gives him an opportunity to get rid of Glen for good. However, as fate would have it, Dan has an even better stroke of luck when Susan decides to withdraw all her claims from Dennis’ wealth and give it away to the three siblings. She tells this to Chloe, who shares this piece of news with his siblings. Chloe also discovers Michael’s suicide note when she snoops around Susan’s bag and finds out Michael loved Susan till the very end, as well as a mention of a certain James, who has made a return. Meanwhile, Susan strangely talks about some sort of “evil” when Chloe asks her about the reason she’s giving away the fortune. Unfortunately, though, The trios are doomed again soon when Sian comes across Susan’s dead body lying in their family home. As you would expect, Susan didn’t get the chance to convey her desire to the solicitor and make the necessary legal changes, which would have saved The trio a lot of trouble.
Just when you are thinking all the doors have been closed for the trio and they’ll go home empty handed, Morris calls Chloe and shares a very interesting piece of information about a certain death of an old man that happened seven years ago in a manner very similar to the one of Dennis’. And to make things more convenient, we also get to know that man also changed his will and gave everything to a certain gardener fellow that he hired a while before his death. What the trio ignored before was the fact that their father also hired a gardener before his death, and Susan did tell them that she never saw this gardener in person. It was not that hard for us to figure out who this gardener is after receiving all this information. Who else but our realtor, Nathan?
But why? Well, that’s where this series falters. Firstly, Nathan, being the adopted son of Michael and Susan, is dropped on us out of nowhere. And considering Nathan was always supposed to be the main villain, it would have been better if the series had focused on Michael and Susan a bit more. Instead, we are given too much of Glen and his unpleasantness. Anyway, my primary job is explaining and not questioning, so here’s why Nathan, aka James, did it. The simplest answer would be that Nathan was always a psychopath, and he had always detested people who were born with silver spoons—in this case, The trio. So he took it upon himself to make the wrong right in his book of judgment, just the way he did all those years ago when he managed to make that other old man give away all his wealth to him. I am assuming that with all that wealth, he managed to set himself up as a fake realtor. Unfortunately, in the case of Dennis, though, as much as he liked the new gardener, he clearly loved Susan more than anyone else, so naturally, it was Susan who got everything and not Nathan. This ruined Nathan’s plan, and he had no other option but to eliminate his mother, which he did. The “evil” that Susan earlier mentioned to Chloe is none other than her own adoptive son. He is also the cause of Michael’s suicide, who couldn’t accept his son turning out to be the murderer of his best friend. The problem here is that the series has done a really botched job in terms of explaining all these to the audience.
What I also found to be hilarious is Glen appearing to be the savior when The trio is about to get burned alive by an enraged Nathan in Dennis’ house. The house does burn down as Nathan sets the fire, but the trio gets out alive thanks to Glen. Thankfully, Sian makes it clear to Glen that this one good deed is not going to work in his favor. It is unclear if The trio would get their share of inheritance after all, as legally, it should go to the next-of-kin of Susan, but the series decides to leave us with a striking image of Dan, Sian, and Chloe looking at their family home on fire, which will soon turn into ashes.
