'Curfew' Series Ending Explained: Who Killed Helen Jones?

History has proven time and again that no revolutionary administrative system or social reforms are foolproof enough, no matter how practical or noble their foundations are—unless the ones upholding and enforcing them are honest in their attempt. Paramount+’s British crime drama, Curfew, emphasizes this through example in the first season finale of the six-episode miniseries. The series chronicless England in an alternate future where, in order to ensure the safety of women, nighttime curfew has been imposed upon every male member of society, except for emergency responders, that is, and to make certain that the prohibitions are maintained, a tag gets affixed to their ankle. 

With the curfew in effect for three years, divisive reactions emerge among people—when the brutal murder of Helen Jones raises questions regarding the effectiveness of the curfew. While identifying the culprit becomes a matter of significant importance, an investigation led by Detective Pamela Green and rookie Detective Eddie uncovers a string of mysterious and troublesome events related to Helen’s associates and their relationship with her. After pointing fingers at a myriad of possible suspects through five episodes, the finale lays it all out as the shocking revelation acts as a commentary on the cycle of abuse and violence perpetrated by men and also the disturbing effect of it, which forces victims to comply. 

Spoilers Ahead

Who Killed Helen Jones?

While Helen’s best friend, Sarah, was quick to take the blame of her murder on herself, it was clear since the beginning that she was trying to cover up for someone else’s crime, and also the fact that she presumably knew who the real killer was. For a brief while, Sarah becomes a suspect after it is revealed that, while working at a Woman Safety Centre, she accidentally killed Paul Towsend by using a taser on him, and Helen, who had witnessed the events occur, later publicly lashed out at her best friend. The narrative focus shifts to Sarah’s daughter, Cass, who was extremely vengeful towards her mother and Helen, as they had deliberately sabotaged her father’s car to get him detained for not complying with curfew. As a rebellious teenager, Cass never felt the curfew laws were justified, and after knowing her mother—a curfew collar tagger herself—had exploited the law for her own means, Cass became bitter towards her. Helen was Cass’ class teacher, and Cass knew about Helen’s side gig as a camgirl; knowing this, Cass tried to humiliate Helen by blackmailing her and using an incriminating video to expose her in public. Cass had also stolen a tag-coder, which could be used to free men from their tag collars, and it seemed that a vengeful Cass might have been behind Helen’s murder as well, and Sarah is covering up for her daughter’s crime. However, the truth turns out to be much simpler and more malicious than previously thought. 

Sian Williams had brought her family—her husband Ben, and their sons—Max and Noah—from the States to England in order to take care of her ailing father, and as per regulations, all the male members of the family had been affixed with an ankle tag. However, Max’s tag wasn’t installed properly, which means he was free to move in and out of his house at night without alarming the authorities. It was Max who foiled his classmate Cass’ plan of exposing Helen, and as Pamela rightly deduces, Max had fallen for his teacher later on as well. As Max propositioned her on the night of the tragic event, Helen had rejected his proposal, and Max, who had been subconsciously learning horrid lessons from his father, Ben, who was horribly abusive and manipulative towards his wife, Sian, was unable to accept the rejection and tried to make advances towards her without her consent. A weirded-out Helen tried to leave, when Max, in his enraged state of mind, bashed Helen’s head with a rock until she breathed her last. Sian decided to cover up for her son by dumping Helen’s car in a lake, but disgusted by the fact that Ben’s cycle of violence has pulled their son inside of it as well, Sian decided to make a statement and leave Helen’s body outside the Woman Safety Centre. Also because Helen had learned about Ben’s abusive, violent behaviors with her, and Sian felt extreme guilt after learning about her fate. 

Following this, Ben became extremely panicked and wanted to get out of the country with his family as soon as possible. A manipulative Ben had entrapped Sarah in a relationship with him already; it was easy for him to force Sarah to take blame for Max’s action and coerce her into bringing him a tag-coder by abducting Cass. However, despite getting himself freed using the tag-coder brought by Sarah, Ben was unable to free his sons, as by now Pamela had arrived at his doorstep with an entire police unit—as Ben’s truth was exposed at the end. Ben makes a last-ditch effort to force Pamela to cut a deal, first by holding Sian’s father hostage and killing him, and afterwards by holding Cass at the end of his knife. However, Cass was able to free herself, and Pamela proceeded to incapacitate Ben just in time. Identifying Max to be the real culprit, Pamela detained him and his parents in custody, and yes, Sian too, as she was an active accomplice in the crime. Noah, the youngest son, loses his entire family, and Eddie, the innocent, rookie detective, tries to comfort him. 

Will Pamela Expose DCI Ferguson’s Secret?

Another major subplot the series highlighted was Pamela’s own arc and her perspective regarding curfew and its necessity. Pamela had lost her daughter to the brutal acts of a man—mere days before the curfew laws came into effect, and reasonably, she feels the system is completely justified, and even before the beginning of Helen Jones’ murder investigation, she was fully convinced that the crime was committed by a man. However, as she learns more about the truth about Helen and the people associated with her, the myth around curfew started showing cracks, and ultimately she discovered with Eddie’s help that her chief, DCI Ferguson, was actively sealing off cases of homicide where women were the suspects—without anyone’s knowledge. With a vote regarding the justification of the existing curfew system around the corner, Westminster had instructed Ferguson to keep every piece of information that might cast doubt over the effectiveness of curfew under wraps. What they failed to realize was that safety cannot be assured by locking up a particular section of the population—instead, a holistic, methodical approach to reform and mental counseling is needed to ensure the safety of the women. However, as Pamela confronted the case administrator of all the sealed cases, she taunted Pamela with her daughter’s murder, which put Pamela in a conflicting situation. As the finale ends, Pamela is confronted by the press, and it remains unknown whether she is going to reveal the truth behind the effectiveness of curfew or maintain the existing order by staying silent—after getting manipulated by her daughter’s memory. 

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