What happened to Annabelle? This is the question that has driven Channel 5’s The Wives from the very start. And now that the finale has finale dropped, we know The Wives ending — and yes, we know the shocking truth about Annabelle.
The gripping thriller followed Beth (Jo Joyner), Natasha (Angela Griffin) and Sylvie (Tamzin Outhwaite) as they set out to discover what had happened to their sister-in-law, Annabelle (Christine Bottomley), who disappeared during a family trip to Malta one year ago. Needless to say, as the three sisters-in-law got deeper and deeper into the mystery, they uncovered more and more uncomfortable family truths.
Here’s everything that happened in the riveting finale of The Wives.
The Wives recap
The show has certainly taken us through some serious ups and downs over the course of its six episodes. A lot has happened. The basic overview is this: Beth, Natasha and Sylvie, all sisters-in-law in the Morgan family, decide to get to the bottom of the disappearance of their fourth sister-in-law, Annabelle, who went missing during the family’s annual summer trip to Malta last year. Annabelle left behind her husband Charlie and daughter Sky. Although Annabelle was initially presumed dead, Charlie’s new girlfriend raises some suspicions with the three sisters-in-law.
What really happened to Annabelle?
It turns out, Annabelle didn’t fall from the cliffs of Malta to her death. Instead, she had faked her death last year and gone into hiding. In the final episode we find out why.
It turns out, local Luca (Louis Boyer), who had been having an affair with Sylvie, had been paid by someone to kill Annabelle. Annabelle found out about the plot, paid him off, and faked her death. Luca then threatened to kill Annabelle’s daughter, Sky, if she ever came forward with the story. Over the course of the series, Annabelle had been in contact with Sky under the online pseudonym OceanMagic22.
Annabelle reappeared in the sisters’ lives when they attempted to lure ‘OceanMagic22’ out into the open. Luca tracked them to the meeting spot and pulled out a gun, but Annabelle came to the rescue, hitting Luca with a van.
Mark Cassar/Gaumont Ltd/Channel 5 Television
Who paid to have Annabelle killed?
After reuniting with her sisters-in-law, Annabelle explained that the plot had all been arranged by her husband, Charlie. Why? Apparently, Annabelle had tried to leave Charlie, but he didn’t want to lose her — or, more importantly, her money.