'Medusa' Recap And Ending Explained: Who Tried to Kill Barbara?

Netflix’s Colombian crime-drama series, Medusa, is one among the numerous ‘expose the rich’ narratives of which the streaming platform has now possibly built an archive. But despite following more or less expected storylines and plot twists that are common in such narratives, Medusa is unique in the way it tries to venture through the crevices of the human subconscious by formulating a heady concoction of emotional entanglements, family relations, identity, passion, jealousy, regret, trauma, and, most importantly, the horrors of privilege and patriarchy. Said Chamie and Claudia Sanchez, the writers of the series, expertly handled a myriad of subplots while keeping the central focus on a (not quite) murder mystery—and by the end of the twelve-episode first season, most of the narrative threads connect perfectly into a cohesive whole.

The deft cinematography greatly utilizes the picturesque Colombian coastline, which creates a juxtaposition between the manmade affluence and the scenic natural landscape—very indicative of one of the series’ central themes of duality between superficial appearance and true nature. All in all, Medusa has a lot to offer still, as indicated by the ending of the first season, and if the continuation shapes up to be as engrossing as this one, I am sure that viewers will crave more.

Spoilers Ahead

Why Did Barbara Start Suspecting Her Family?

Every single episode of Medusa begins with psychologist/philosopher a quote from Carl Jung’s about life, relations, human existence, and unknown truths of our subconscious—which is indicative of the theme of each episode. 

The story of Medusa is centered around Barbara Hidalgo, a biologist and the new CEO of the Medusa conglomerate, who has quite a reputation for being cunning, uncompromising, and ruthless in her approach to assuming control. The Hidalgo family, led by Barbara’s father, the patriarch Damian Hidalgo, can be considered unofficial royalty of the coastal city of Barranquilla, and his family company, Medusa, has a total grip over the city’s economy—right from trade to sports to infotainment, practically everything. To get to the position she is in, Barbara has pulled a lot of strings and made enemies out of her extended family—who are a scheming and vile lot, comparable to the snakes on the mythological figure Medusa’s head. Needless to say, taking control over such an enterprise makes Barbara one of the most powerful persons in the city, and it is no wonder that an assassination attempt is made on her life by detonating a sticky bomb on her luxury yacht when she is alone in the middle of the sea. Barbara gets attacked by a bunch of crooks who steal her family ring by cutting off her finger and take all her belongings that she had on her. Police quickly bury the investigation within a week after Barbara’s severed finger is recovered, and the Hidalgo family members, all of whom are members of the board of directors of Medusa, vote Barbara’s brother Cristian to be the CEO. Police detective/private investigator Carmelo Danger, who was assigned to the case, suspects the involvement of the Hidalgo family members in the assassination attempt and ensuing cover-up.

However, Barbara survives, as an indigenous woman, Eluney, rescues her and, taking her to their community, helps Barbara to recuperate. The shock of recent events causes Barbara to suffer from bouts of amnesia, as she forgets the person she used to be and the relations she shared with her family and people close to her. Barbara returns to her family, and Detective Danger approaches her with his suspicion, which prompts the duo to search for the culprit on their own. It becomes quite clear to Barbara that the person in question might be someone from her own family after her former assistant, techie Gabriel Chafir, reveals that before her accident, she had collected incriminating intel on every Hidalgo family member who was a member of the board of directors. Barbara blackmailed her family members to gain their vote and become CEO of the company. This is reason enough for any of them to put a hit on her or band together to take her down. However, as Barbara struggles to remember the password to unlock the files that contain the said incriminating intel, Gabriel assists her in the decryption process and becomes one of her close confidants.

Why Did Barbara Break Things Off With Danger?

Barbara’s husband Esteban was having an affair with Medusa’s supply manager, Tatiana, and the duo was defrauding the company in secret. After being married for over two decades, Barbara had suggested Esteban explore their sexuality by having an open marriage, but cheating on their spouses was never on the cards. However, out of sexual jealousy, Esteban couldn’t help but cheat on his wife, and the possibility of Barbara’s death allowed him to dream of a new life with Tatiana. After Barbara returned, Esteban realized that her amnesia has turned her into a completely changed person, and he wanted to rekindle their relationship once again for the sake of their daughter, Maya. Tatiana felt betrayed, and after learning about Esteban’s secrets, Barbara tried to poke at her insecurities, which prompted a rift in Tatiana’s relationship with Esteban—who continued to hide his role in all this by lying to Barbara. Knowing that Barbara is aware of their actions, Esteban makes arrangements to escort Tatiana out of the country, but in the midst of all this, Tatiana is revealed to have taken her own life. Esteban comes under investigation after his affair becomes public, and under Damian’s command, he issues an apology to save the company’s face. However, he is a self-serving coward who wanted to stay with Barbara only for the Hidalgo fortune. 

In the course of their investigation, Barbara and Danger grew close. The detective was flirtatious in nature, and still struggling to reconnect with her past life, Barbara felt she could trust Danger, who assured her he would protect her and reveal the truth about the culprit who tried to kill her. However, after Esteban comes to know of Barbara’s connection with Danger, he reveals the truth that he had employed the PI to keep tabs on her before the accident, and Danger fell for her. Also, Danger had installed hidden cameras around Barbara’s mansion, which, according to him, was to ensure her security—but his creepy, stalker-like tendencies were pretty apparent. Barbara broke things off with Danger after learning the truth. Danger’s past comes into focus when attending a therapy session; he reveals that, formerly as a cop, he was working for a drug lord named Ciclope, and while raiding one of his drug dens, Danger lost his dear friend/colleague Saul. Ever since the incident, Danger had been trying to hunt down Ciclope, to no avail, and in order to provide for Saul’s family, began a PI service as a side gig. 

Why Was Camilo Taken Into Custody?

Barbara’s uncle, Camilo, voted for Cristian to become the next CEO in exchange for personal benefits. As Danger tracks his activities, it is revealed that Camilo had been grooming a sex worker named Diego ever since he was a minor, and he was one of a number of victims who’d suffered at the hands of Camilo. Previously, Barbara had blackmailed Camilo into voting for her after finding out his heinous secret. To keep Diego under his control, Camilo wanted to gift him a bar, which he wanted to purchase through Medusa’s account, and Cristian could have allotted him the resources. However, Cristian came under fire after it was revealed that he’d plagiarized one of the chief projects of Medusa, known as Eternals, which was created by Barbara as an experimental research project on unique fungi species. Cristian refused to allot money to Camilo, and this caused a rift between him and Diego. Danger used this opportunity to dig for dirt on Camilo, and Diego even revealed that Camilo once contemplated having Barbara killed. Eventually, Camilo was taken into custody, and the public shame caused his wife, Jackie, to suffer from a stroke. Their son, Jacobo, a good-for-nothing bloke who was threatened by Barbara as well after she had come to know about his tendency of sleeping with elder women to mooch off of them, considered her to be responsible for his parents’ predicament. 

Did Barbara and Cristian reconcile with their mother, Esperanza?

As revealed from the encrypted files, before the accident, Barbara was trying to reconnect with her mother, Esperanza, who left the Hidalgo family when she and Cristian were still young. At present, Barbara learns from her father and brother that she was partly responsible for Esperanza leaving the family, as Barbara had discovered that a neurotic Esperanza was cheating on Damian. However, as Barbara musters enough courage with Gabriel’s help to reach out to her mother after all these years, she learns what a crooked, devious monster her father Damian is. Damian and Camilo used to sexually exploit the female employees of Medusa, and after Esperanza came to know about this, she confronted her husband and threatened to leave the family with her kids. Due to unfortunate situations and coincidences, Damian was able to portray Esperanza as a mentally troubled individual, and even though she never had any extramarital affairs, Damian portrayed her as a promiscuous woman to their children to tarnish her image. In fact, after Esperanza left the Hidalgo family, Damian had her under his grip as he kept her drugged and abducted for a long time. Which is why, after getting freed from her captivity, Esperanza didn’t return to her children—Barbara and Cristian, as in her traumatized state it was impossible for her to return to that family. 

Anyway, as Barbara is able to reconcile with her mother, she encourages her to share the truth with the world. Cristian, who for so long lived under his father’s thumb, decided to join hands with his sister to vote Damian out of his own company, and he too reconciled with Esperanza at last. 

What Was Barbara’s Relation With Eluney?

Before her accident, Barbara had an intense, passionate relationship with Eluney, the indigenous woman from the native community of the Colombian mangrove area, an anthropologist by profession. Barbara had sought her help to find mental balance. Eluney had shared her ancestral secret of using the unique psilocybin mushrooms to unlock the potential of the mind, and this became the foundation of Barbara’s Eternals project. Before the accident, Barbara was so close with Eluney that they even got married in an indigenous ritual, and Barbara had promised to acknowledge the importance and role of the indigenous community while sharing their secrets for the betterment of the world. However, as Barbara recovered from the accident, she failed to remember the connection she had shared with Eluney and the promises she had made to her community. To add to the misery, under Damian and Cristian’s guidance, Medusa took the sole credit for discovering the mystical properties of the fungi species.

As a result, Eluney, feeling betrayed, shared the truth with the world, which resulted in Medusa Conglomerate coming under heavy criticism. However, after learning the entirety of the story, Barbara apologized to Eluney and kept her word by the end by employing her as one of the members of the board of directors. Additionally, Eluney was given the responsibility to protect and preserve the culture of the guardians of the mangroves—the native communities. Eluney had made peace with the truth that Barbara was a changed person and there was no way to mend their past connection any longer. Eluney later provides Barbara with another mystic herb, Guarahi, to assist her in the journey of spiritual exploration.  It should be mentioned at this point that Gabriel becomes a victim of the secret conspirator as his car is sabotaged, and due to a brake fail incident, he ends up getting into an accident, although later on he continues to assist Barbara in her investigation as usual. 

Why Did Ursula Put out a Hit on Barbara?

While all the drama is going on, Ursula, Damian’s second wife and Barbara’s stepmother, decided to put a hit on Barbara while she was with Maya. Like other members of the family, Ursula and her daughter Viviana had become victims of Barbara’s extortion. Ursula controlled every aspect of her daughter Viviana’s life and wanted her to be Damian’s successor in taking control of Medusa by presenting her as the ideal daughter. However, Viviana secretly took drugs, and after learning of this, Barbara supplied her with cocaine to further incriminate her. Additionally, Ursula messed with Damian’s medications to use his frail mental condition to her advantage, as she was keen on seizing absolute control by positing her daughter as the chief of Medusa by any means. Barbara had learned about this situation as well but didn’t reveal the truth to her father in exchange for Ursula backing her up. At present, as Viviana reveals the truth about her situation with her mother, a vengeful Ursula decides to send a hitman for Barbara—although in her own words, she wanted to put a mortal fear in Barbara. Thanks to Danger’s timely intervention, Barbara and Maya are rescued. Ursula is apprehended by the cops, but she escapes consequences for her actions thanks to Damian’s influence. Danger and Barbara reconcile, and with Gabriel’s help, Barbara learns that Damian is trying to use Esteban to take her out of the country to avoid further mess in his life. Barbara exposes Esteban’s role in defrauding Medusa, and he gets detained by the cops. 

Who Tried to Kill Barbara?

In prison, Esteban comes across a fixer named Caligula, who is revealed to have supplied Tatiana with the intel to make sticky bombs. This makes it seem that Tatiana was the culprit all along, and for the moment the case is closed. However, Danger had found out that Tatiana didn’t take her own life after all, as her suspected murderer is seen through surveillance footage. Additionally, Danger finds himself in the crosshairs of this unknown culprit, as he nearly gets poisoned to death. 

When everything finally seems to have settled down, Barbara relinquishes her claims on Medusa and decides to move out with Danger and Maya. The Hidalgo family, minus Damian and Camilo of course, are seen enjoying Barranquilla Carnival, when Gabriel abducts Barbara, and he is revealed to be the true mastermind behind all this. Even though Barbara fails to remember, Gabriel had fallen for her before the accident, and she had rejected his proposal. Unable to accept the rejection, guided by his toxic incel mindset, Gabriel had conspired against Barbara with Tatiana, and gaining the recipe for sticky bomb from her, he himself created the incendiary and attached it to Barbara’s luxury yacht. When Barbara returned after losing her memory, this cunning bloke saw it as an opportunity to once again try to establish a romantic connection with her. A jealous Gabriel eliminated Esteban from the picture by murdering Tatiana and framing him for the crime and also deliberately sabotaged his own car to pretend to be a victim of the unknown culprit. Finally, Gabriel realized that Barbara would not choose him as she fell for Danger, and Gabriel tried to kill him by poisoning his drink as well. 

Danger figures out Gabriel’s connection in all this and manages to rescue Barbara. A month later, as Barbara and Cristian proceed to take Medusa in a positive direction, the biggest shocker is revealed by Danger during the final moments of the first season. Gabriel is revealed to have taken his own life in prison and has written a cipher on the prison wall, which indicates someone from the Hidalgo family to be responsible for his death. A confused, anxious Barbara looks around her, as she is once again back to square one—anyone from her family could have done it, and they still have every possible motivation to do so.

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