'Patience's Finale Opens Up “Pandora's Box” & Tees Up Season 2

The sixth installment of Patience, which is the show's Season 1 finale, “Pandora’s Box,” is a story of eco-terrorism and double agents where Metcalf nearly dies. This has been a fun season of television, and I’ll admit my perspective softened after interviewing writer Matt Baker and seeing the series through his eyes. It makes sense that he chose this story for the finale rather than the serial killer plot that closes Astrid’s first season, a case which requires the two leads to be a lot more in sync than their relationship has yet become in this version.

A man dies on a commuter bus after vaping, coughing, and collapsing. We then see his shirt is immensely bloody. Once Metcalf arrives, she needs convincing to wear a mask on the scene, which is somewhat surprising in a post-COVID world*. Even though her initial suspicion is blunt force trauma, Dr. Parsons is not ruling out a possible infectious outbreak of tuberculosis.

(*Astrid, which started airing in France in 2019, is one of those shows that ignored the COVID-19 outbreak. Season 2 was already written, and the show just decided to go with it, since many shows at the time were taking the position that people at home did not want to be reminded of the pandemic when they tuned in.)

At the morgue, Parsons reports the victim is TB negative, and the blood on his shirt was bovine, not his own. Instead, however, he has symptoms of inhalation anthrax. Metcalf is immediately worried about her exposure, but she’s assured this type of anthrax is only spread through contact with infected animals.

The victim is identified as Wes Hutton, and DC Akbari (Ali Ariaie) finds footage on Wes’ phone tying him to an eco-terrorism group called the Climate Defence Force (CDF). Hunter can’t dig into the files because they’re restricted by Zara Blackwood (Flora Montgomery) of the counterterrorism office. Meanwhile, Metcalf starts to feel ill just as Parsons learns there was no anthrax at the slaughterhouse where Wes worked; he was infected some other way.

The York police are taken off the investigation when Metcalf goes to Blackwood for access to the files. Blackwood is cagey and flippant, stating no reason the police must stop looking into Wes’ death and its possible link to eco-terrorists. But Metcalf won’t be deterred and is not dropping this case.

It’s Patience to the rescue! Using sources other than the restricted file, she pieces together another one of her evidence trees. She finds that Jean Crick (Cat Simmons), the founder of the CDF, is currently serving time for arson that killed a worker at a meat plant. There’s also evidence that the CDF was cultivating anthrax to infect the meat industry.

Despite being benched, Metcalf interviews Jean in jail. Jean is dying but full of rage. Metcalf tries to make her admit she ordered Wes to infect the livestock, but only upsets Jean into a coughing fit. Hunter calls Metcalf to report that Wes’s real name is Roland Mitchell. (Except it’s not; more later.)

When Metcalf goes off alone to investigate Roland’s house (there’s that pattern again of not waiting for backup), she finds Jean’s sister Vicky (Sabina Arthur) and Jean’s son Noah. Vicky recognizes Roland and is shocked he’s dead. She claims that being Noah’s father changed him, and he wanted to leave the violence behind. Metcalf notices another man upstairs, Sam Fincher (Shane Redondo), who bolts at the sight of her. She gives chase, but he knocks her down with a hard blow to the face. Hunter and Akbari arrive just in time to catch Sam.

Baxter is sheepish, but Blackwood enjoys suspending Metcalf for defying direct orders to stand down. With our team off the case, Blackwood interrogates Sam, who insists he had explicit orders to protect Roland and Noah, but Blackwood believes Jean directed Sam to kill Roland. Hunter is unconvinced but is blocked from taking any further action.

As a last bit of tidying up, Hunter visits Roland’s mother (Sonia Ritter) to inform her of his death. But when she insists on seeing his picture, she realizes it’s not her son. Hunter calls Patience for help because, in addition to the misidentification, two passengers from the bus have contracted anthrax. Home alone, Metcalf coughs up blood and passes out.

Patience is reluctant to go against the rules, but Hunter begs her to look at the CCTV footage from the bus. When she sees that “Roland” has been vaping, she realizes everyone on the bus would be at risk of infection and suddenly knows why Metcalf has been feeling sick. Patience races to Metcalf’s place and finds the detective unresponsive on the floor. Metcalf is rushed to the hospital but is in a coma. Both Hunter and Patience are emotional and share a conviction to find the perpetrator.

Amidst all this, Patience and Elliot have another adorable moment. Patience has been reading a book on the science of human attraction, a gift from Metcalf, to help her parse her feelings about romance. She mentions the book to Elliot. She’s unsure if she’s attracted to him, which probably means she isn’t…yet. Elliot holds onto this kernel, and it sweetly blooms into a kiss she gives him just moments later. This leads to their first real kiss.

With Elliot’s help, Patience learns Parsons can access restricted files under a law about public health emergencies. Hunter and Patience approach her to test Roland’s vape and request the file but she’s resistant; Parsons could be risking her job. But Hunter and Patience reveal they suspect anthrax was stolen from police evidence by someone on the inside and used to kill Roland. Parsons relents.

Patience inspects the restricted file. Hunter visits Jean, now on her deathbed, and she clears her conscience. They bring the evidence to Baxter: “Roland” was Tyler Rose, an undercover officer assigned to infiltrate the CDF. He and Jean fell in love, he revealed his secret, and renounced his police life for her. Tyler later stole the real Roland’s identity when he died from the arson that Tyler and Jean committed.

Further, Patience and Hunter have figured out that the smug Blackwood is behind everything. Though she plays the “no comment” card under questioning, Hunter and Baxter connect her to Tyler and vape cartridges tainted with anthrax that she mailed him. Blackwood and Tyler married secretly years ago so they could continue working together in counterterrorism. When she saw footage of Tyler with a new family after she thought he was dead, Patience believes that jealousy “tipped her over the edge” and she plotted to kill him.

Metcalf recovers, and Patience is so overjoyed she initiates a hug – another first for their friendship. Alfie asks what’s inside the puzzle box Patience’s mother left, which inspires her to finally open it. But it’s empty. Frustrated and angry, Patience inspects the box. When she peels back a label with her mother’s name, there are numbers on the back. A new puzzle has emerged!

An overall enjoyable season, but there was room for more divergence from the original. The finale comes in for a soft landing rather than a big splashy ending. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity. Nearly every case wraps up with a slew of exposition instead of action and dampens the punch. Notes for next season and beyond!

The first season of Patience is available to stream on the PBS App, PBS Passport, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. Season 2 is expected to arrive in 2026.