Created by Joe Murtagh, “The Woman in the Wall” is a BBC mystery drama series now streaming on Showtime from Paramount+. It follows a woman as she tries to uncover the truth about a dead woman’s corpse that she finds in her house. Meanwhile, a young detective from Dublin arrives in their town for a murder investigation. While they try to find the culprit, the miniseries digs deeper into Ireland’s controversial Magdalene Laundries that led to several women’s suffering. Ruth Wilson (The Affair, Luther) plays the troubled woman, whereas Daryl McCormack (“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” “Bad Sisters”) plays the Dubliner detective. Spoilers ahead.
The Woman in the Wall (BBC Miniseries) Recap:
What happens in ‘The Woman in the Wall’?
Set in 2015, “The Woman in the Wall” follows a woman and a young detective as they try to find the truth about a murder in a small Irish town – Kilkinure. The series deals with some dark themes and sheds light on the infamous Magdalene Laundries – which benefitted from several women’s silence & complacency. Besides Ruth Wilson & Daryl McCormack, The Woman in the Wall‘s cast includes Hilda Fay, Simon Delaney, Philippa Dunne, Chizzy Akodolu, Lynn Rafferty, Mark Huberman, Dermot Crowley, and Frances Tomelty.
Episode 1: Back to Life
In Kilkinure, Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson) wakes up in the middle of a road. She believes she sleepwalked there and walks back home. Once inside, she notices a knife stuck in a wall frame. She removes it and puts the frame inside a dark room. On the radio, she hears the news about the exploitation of several mothers by Catholic-run Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes. Afterwards, Nimah (Philipa Dunne) asks her to join her and other women to speak about the same institution. Lorna returns home to find an envelope & a phone. She opens the letter that mentions this person knows where her child is. On the phone, Lorna sees a text message asking her to meet at a pub. It leaves her even more confused and unsure about what happened the night before.
In Dublin, Detective Colman Akande (Daryl McCormack) learns about the murder of a priest in Blackrock. While looking around for details, he reveals that he knows Father Percy Sheehan (Stephen Brennan). This man looked out for Colman when he was a kid. The police believe the Father possibly died due to blunt trauma. But they cannot find the priest’s car. Back in Kilkinure, Sgt. Aidan Massey (Simon Delaney) finds that car on a roadside, possibly a sign of an accident. Lorna joins other women who were exploited by the mother-and-baby homes referred to as Magdalene Laundries. These institutions forced women to work for no money, in near silence, away from the world. The people in charge also separated them from their babies. Now, the women campaign for justice.
Other women speak about the cause and deem it important that they take constructive action. It brings back the painful memories for Lorna. On the other hand, she cannot shake the feeling that something terrible happened the night before. Meanwhile, Colman arrives in Kilkinure and starts asking for any information on Father Percy. Amy Cane (Hilda Fay) feels no remorse for the dead man and says he’s horrible.
It doesn’t sit well with Colman, who knew only the other side of him. By then, Lorna finds a box full of information about the institution. Later at night, Lorna sleepwalks outside her house with an axe – and puts fire to Percy’s car. The next day, while at work, she recalls seeing a dead woman in her house. It reminds her of a sister who distanced her from her baby. She realizes that she hid the woman’s corpse in her house, behind a wall.
Episode 2: Show Thyself
Lorna isn’t sure whether she’s responsible for the woman’s apparent murder. She sees a call coming on this woman’s phone. Someone named Dara wants to meet Aoife (Fiona Bell) to see if she’s fine. Meanwhile, Detective Colman finds a photo of the man who was driving Father Percy’s car. However, he cannot find any photo of the woman who sat next to him. He soon learns that the man’s name is Dara O’Halloran (Ardal O’Hanlon). At the local store, Lorna notices Clemence (Caoimhe Farren) and recalls an incident from their time in the Laundry. Clemence wanted to escape so that she could be with her child.
In the present, Lorna musters enough courage to meet Dara in a pub. She pretends to be one of Aoife’s friends and tries to get some information about her. Around that time, the police arrive there to arrest Dara. Colman notices a hooded woman (Lorna) running away. But she manages to sneak out before he can catch her. Soon after, Lorna walks up to Clemence’s house to speak with her. But her brother does not allow her. At the station, Dara admits that he killed the Father. However, Colman thinks he is lying. Dara reveals that his wife, Aoife was a nun who worked alongside Percy. While trying to find the missing Aoife, Colman suspects that the hooded person has something to do with the murder & the arson.
The detectives go meet Sister Eileen (Frances Tomelty), who worked with Father Percy. Although she has nothing good to say about Aiofe, she notes that their institution helped young women who were ‘unwanted’ by their families. She also hates that they received no compensation for (what they claim to be) years of service. Later, Colman sees video footage that shows a hooded woman with an axe walking around the place of arson (putting Father Percy’s car on fire). Around that time, Clemence’s brother finds her dead in their house.
Episode 3: Knock Knock
Colman continues to have terrifying nightmares – where he finds himself stuck in a long & dark tunnel. Later, at the station, he tells Aidan to check if Lorna has something to do with the recent crimes. While the whole town attends Clemence’s funeral, Lorna can’t keep her mind at peace. Colman notices that and decides to question her. Michael Kearney (Mark Huberman) stops him from doing so. Amy gets drunk seeing Clemence die before getting justice. She confronts James Coyle (Dermot Crowley) in that moment of pain & anger. Clemence’s brother hands over a photo to Lorna, saying the girl in the middle is Clemence’s daughter – Breda. He reveals that, before her heart attack, Clemence met a nun who handed over the photo.
Later, Colman brings Lorna to the station to interrogate her about the murder. Aidan expects Colman to understand the gravity of the situation and the torture she survived. Later, Colman learns that Aiofe once worked at The House of the Sacred Shepherd. During further investigation, the local taxi driver tells Colman that he dropped Aiofe outside Lorna’s house. Meanwhile, a young woman – Olivia, knocks on Lorna and mentions that she is Aiofe’s daughter. She reveals that Aiofe wanted to bring the truth about the church to light. With her help, Lorna discovers a box of evidence about the missing children. But she suspects Olivia lied about her identity & leaves abruptly.
This new lead takes Lorna closer to discovering the fate of her missing daughter. Once she returns home, Colman comes in to ask questions. She hands over the evidence of her daughter – Agnes, having died about a year after her birth. Suddenly, she starts hearing the sounds from behind the wall, but Colman doesn’t. Moments later, she admits to killing Aiofe. Then, she breaks open the wall looking for her. However, they cannot find Aiofe, as she suspected.
Episode 4: The Cruelty Man
Aidan gets angry at Colman because he bothered Lorna despite his warning about her medical condition. Niamh comes to check up on Lorna. She asks Lorna whether she really killed someone. Lorna hands over a document that mentions details about her daughter’s death. Niamh believes James Coyle can help them to find where she is buried. She asks James about it, but he changes the topic and starts speaking about their plea’s success. Meanwhile, Lorna looks through the burial cemetery archives on her own but finds no information. So, she steals a box of their records and brings it home.
In Blackrock, Colman enters late Father Percy’s house to find a list of names written under the title – Lazarus house. Colman notices that Percy’s phone is not in his house and thinks someone took it. Back at his house, he asks his adoptive mother, Lola (Chizzy Akudolu), about his birth. She recalls how Father Percy helped her through an institution named Lazarus House. Being a non-white couple in Ireland, she & her husband made peace with this priest, who lent them a helping hand. So, they didn’t ask many questions and trusted Percy’s judgment. Upon hearing that, Colman realizes that the House of the Sacred Shepherd probably continued with illegal adoptions even after they were reportedly shut down.
Colman finds a photo of Percy with Bishop Brendan Rice (Brendan Coroy). So, he goes to meet the Bishop. The minute Colman asks about the House of the Sacred Shepherd, Bishop backs off & takes a defensive stance. Later, he calls Colman’s office to report abuse – even though Colman merely asked a simple question. So, his senior tells him to take a permanent leave. Meanwhile, with Michael’s help, Lorna realizes that only 3 of the 298 missing children have graves. While hoping to know the status of others, she meets Sister Eileen and asks whether they buried her daughter. Eileen refuses to feel any remorse for her actions and rather threatens Lorna for investigating this matter.
Eileen calls Aidan to take Lorna with him. Once at the station, Aidan gets emotional, remembering how he enabled the actions of a cruel institution. Lorna returns home and paints a message outside her house that says – ‘The sisters of the seven joys murdered my child.’ Meanwhile, Colman enters a local church to find a tunnel, which he remembers to have seen in his dreams. So, he again asks his mother about the past. She reveals that the Church put him & other non-white kids separate from others & called it the ‘Reject Room.’ Later, in past records, he discovers his death certificate under the name – Colman Ivers. That brings him & Lorna to a groundbreaking discovery – the missing 295 kids might still be alive.
Episode 5: Ex Gratia
After finding the additional evidence, Lorna and Colman become unusual allies in pursuit of the truth. She shows him a photo of Clemence’s daughter – Breda – even if her death certificate is in the records. While they decide to investigate further, James brings up good news for the female survivors – the state is ready to recognize the Kikinure Convent as a Laundry. But to proceed, all the petitioning women need to sign a particular document. By then, Lorna & Colman reach a church and realize that Breda’s photo (the one Clemence got from Aoife) was taken outside its front door. So, they go meet Breda.
During their conversation with her, they realize that Breda’s adoptive parents paid money to the Church to adopt her. It seems like their management brainwashed her adoptive parents to believe that they ‘saved Breda.’ That’s how Lorna & Colman realize that the case is about child trafficking – meaning, the House sold these babies for money while falsifying their deaths. Even Lola thinks that she paid a ‘donation’ to adopt Colman. Lorna realizes that their deal with the state will stop them from making a case for a church in the future. So, she goes to stop other women from signing the document. However, they are too tired of the shame & guilt others make them feel. So, they consider the state’s acceptance as a good thing, nonetheless.
Suddenly, a drunk prick walks in the middle of their discussion and dehumanizes Amy despite all that she has been to. The apathetic monster continues to hurl insults. So, she slaps him hard. Lorna feels sorry for Amy and agrees to let her sign the document. On the other hand, Colman & Aidan go over the names of hundreds of dead children with no burial records.
Colman learns a surprising truth about James Coyle, who used to go by the name – Jim McCullen. James/Jim began the racket of an adoption agency and made people pay money by claiming it was a donation. While Colman finds this fresh suspect in the murder case, Lorna learns something strange about Aoife – Aoife had a condition that made it seem like she died. The same happened back in the convent, where she woke up moments after her apparent death. At the time, people considered it a miracle of resurrection.
Episode 6: A Little Resurrection
Who killed Father Percy?
After learning about Aoife’s condition, Lorna realizes that Aoife might not have been dead when she put her behind the wall. In the past, Aoife left the church because of her immense guilt of enabling a child trafficking racket. She couldn’t bear the thought that she used people’s beliefs against them. Decades after this incident, she went to meet Father Percy to speak about it. He still continued to defend it, saying they helped the parents who adopted the children.
Seeing Aoife not buy it, he got upset and tried to strangle her. So, on the spur of the moment, she hurt him, which likely led to his death. After this incident, Aoife met Clemence & showed her Breda’s photo. Then, she went to Lorna’s house and saw a box full of evidence. Once again, she felt a pang of guilt about these poor souls. As a result, she went into a state that made it look like she was dead even though she was alive.
The Woman in the Wall (BBC Miniseries) Ending Explained:
Does Lorna meet her daughter in the end?
Colman reveals his suspicion that James Coyle/Jim is connected with Percy’s murder. While looking at some pictures from the past, Lorna notices a building for St Alma’s Primary School. She recalls Breda telling them that – the children who didn’t get adopted were sent to this school. Right after, Lorna notices a sign of Sisters of the Seven Joys in another picture. So, to investigate further, she goes to meet a man in charge at the school. He initially sympathizes with her and what she has been through – only to show his true colors by making her feel guilty for asking questions & accusing them of cruelty.
On the other hand, Colman meets James and accuses him of child trafficking & murder. However, James provides an alibi to prove that he couldn’t have murdered Percy. Colman stays back and calls the last person in his records. A woman picks up who was just a few seats away from him. This woman is Leslie, who claimed to be Aoife’s daughter before. After the missed call, she asks James why he called her. He realizes that someone stole his phone and realizes this can lead to her arrest. So, he immediately takes her backstage and asks for her silence (he does not want to reveal the details of their crimes). The moment Colman reaches backstage, Leslie starts running. Eventually, he arrests her. Even then, she does not believe that she did anything wrong.
Amy sees the name of her daughter among other children who were sold by the School of Sacred Shepherd. With Aidan & other women who were made to sign the petition, she goes to confront Sister Eileen. The nun says these women are helpless since they signed the document that expected their silence. That’s when Aidan steps forward & decides to take the stand. Back at her house, Lorna searches through her house to find Aoife’s body up the stairs. Aoife perhaps walked up there herself, but suffocation may have led to her death. Later, Lorna finds out a photo of her daughter from back when she was young.
At the end of “The Woman in the Wall,” Lorna goes to prison for her connection to Aoife’s death. Soon after, Detective Colman finds her daughter’s whereabouts and arranges a video call between them. So, finally, Lorna gets a chance to interact with her daughter.
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