Barracuda Queens (Season 1) Netflix Recap and Ending Explained: Sweden has its own “Bling Ring” story with Barracuda Queens, a delightful, crisp, and inconsistent miniseries on Netflix. Named after their childhood friends’ group, the Barracuda Queens refers to a real-life group of teenage girls in Djursholm, Stockholm, who begin a charade of burglaries to pay off huge debts. But once they get away with them and their obsession for thrills grows, they become full-time robbers, striking many homes in the affluent suburbia of Stockholm. The six-part series focuses on how they committed the crimes and what was their underlying motivation.
Social commentary on the frivolity of the acts themselves, as well as how easily they got away, on the merit of their money, substantiates the drama well. Barracuda Queens is brilliant in patches but overall, cannot escape the patchiness that comes with its subject matter and context. In this piece, we bring you an entire recap of the series along with an explainer of the wild ending and how everything materialized.
Barracuda Queens (Season 1) Recap:
Episode 1, “I Regret Bastad”
Episode 1 of Barracuda Queens introduces us to the characters and how they were compelled into committing these remarkable burglaries. The investigation into their crimes began on October 26, 1995. But before we can see any more of that, we are transported to the time earlier in the year when it all began. The girls – currently four in number – go on a wild trip to Saint-Tropez. Their partying continues till the wee hours of the morning. Klara falls asleep in the bathtub at the hotel with the tap running. It causes serious damage to the property and the management vows to send her a bill for it.
All of them are majors except for Klara’s sister, Frida. Life resumes normally after the trip for them. Except for Mia, the other three belong to quite wealthy families. Their lineage comes from “old money,” which means that they have to live up to stringent expectations. Klara is studying to be a lawyer. She panics when she sees the bill from the hotel – 75,000 krona. The sisters go to Louise’s house, who assures them they will figure something out. That is until she sees her own credit card bill of 100,000 krona. The trio is in serious trouble and will get reprimanded by their parents.
Mia works for a wealthy couple, Gustav & Gunerilla. The friends converge at a party for Niklas at Louise’s house. Mia’s parents are divorced and she learns that her father’s young partner, Sara, is pregnant. The group is introduced to Amina Khalil, a well-read art student, who also comes from a wealthy family as well. Calle hits on Amina but doesn’t get anywhere. Klava and Niklas are a couple and the latter dreams of having a family with the former. On a whim, Klara picks up Margareta’s watch, Louise’s mother, from the bathroom.
While having time to themselves, Mia opens up to Louise about how different her life is from theirs. It is a constant theme of confrontation in the show for her character. In all this chaos, Klara realizes the next morning that she has forgotten to study for the test. She asks a random student outside the school to plant chits for her in the washroom. But unfortunately, she is caught and suspended from school. Margareta discovers her watch is missing and suspects the house help, Janina. Klara takes the watch to a pawn shop to get roughly 15k for it.
When they meet again, Louise tells them about Janina getting fired. Klara comes clean about stealing it. The group, instead of reacting adversely, is led to a positive train of thought by Louise, who points out the fancy jewellery Amina’s mother, Laila, wore at the party. Since Amina and her family will be going to Cairo that weekend, Louise plans a heist at their place with the other girls. Klara is unwilling at first but understands the urgency. They are able to break into the house but scamper when they learn that Amina is home! She stares at them with incredulous eyes, nicely setting up their next encounter.
Episode 2, “You’re a Girl, It’s Different”
Klara and Frida catch Laila and her husband talking to their friends about the break-in. Amina has already given her statement to the police. But the girls haven’t been apprehended yet. Louise is the most chilled out among them and goes to Tobbias’ house that night. He is her romantic interest and a family friend, whose house is nearby. She sees him punching in the security codes and he also reveals that the house is empty for most of the year. They have sex that night but Louise has more sinister plans. Klara concedes to the group the next day at school that she is getting anxious by the day about the robbery attempt.
Amina shows up at Louise’s house and confronts her. She says she didn’t tell anything to the police, and when she learns why the girls wanted to steal, she proposes that “art is very expensive,” indicating that she might be interested in joining them. Louise, who is worried that Tobias hasn’t called her yet, shows up at his house. Tobias makes it clear that they cannot have a relationship as she is Calle’s sister and that she has a “reputation” of sleeping around. Louise walks away teary-eyed. Back at home, Calle confronts her about her encounter.
That is when he says, “You’re a girl, it’s different.” Louise proposes targeting Tobias’s house that night. This time, the plan works out much better. They steal whatever they find to be expensive and Louise insists that they have a glass of Tobias’s super expensive champagne – which he didn’t let her open that night – to leave a message. It turns out that Mia’s mother is having an affair with Alex, their tennis instructor at the club. Also, Frida and Klara’s mother is having an affair with Louise’s father.
Louise takes the paintings she stole to Amina’s house. Amina knows an art gallery owner, Andre, who can help them sell the paintings. Andre is able to sell them albeit at a reduced price since they’re stolen. While Amina gives Louise the money from the sale, her housekeeper overhears them talking about “stolen goods.”
Episode 3, “I Want More Money”
Both sets of adults and their children go to separate parties. Gunilla condescendingly proposes to Margareta that she use “imported help” who “really knows how to clean.” Trisha, who works in Amina’s house, is from the Philippines. They also discuss Cissi’s affair with Alex. Cissi is Mia’s mother. The girls take an early exit from the party to rob Gustav and Gunilla’s house. Amine joins them on their sojourn this time. Customarily, they drink champagne and investigate the house for worthy stuff. At the adults’ party, Margareta notices tension between her husband and Viveca, Klara and Frida’s mother.
They play a weird game where the men drop their house keys in a bowl and the ladies randomly pick up a set of key from it. As the girls are trashing their place, Mia spots Gustav coming home with Corinne, one of the wives. Before they can be caught, the girls escape, as Gustav and Corinne get cosy with each other. Amine’s father is paired with Margareta, who is ready to get intimate. But he refuses, citing his “good marriage” with Laila. Cut to Laila strip teasing for Viveca’s husband, Claes, really putting a pin in the last remark. Frida brings home a rabbit from the place they robbed. Klara asks her to get rid of it before anyone notices.
As they’re leaving, Margareta spots them with it but doesn’t suspect anything. Margareta mentions to her husband how she knows Vivieca “cheated” to get him. But she doesn’t know about the affair. Trisha puts up a demand of 3k to Amine, who instantly gives it to her to avoid any mishaps. The police show up at Frida and Klara’s house the next morning. Since Margareta had seen them, they had to concede that they found the rabbit in Gustav and Gunilla’s garden. Mia’s fingerprints are taken because she works at the house.
The girls convene and decide to lay low for the time being. Unfortunately, Mia is asked to clean up the mess at the house, which she helped create. Klara has a quiet night in with Niklas, still preoccupied with the thought of what is to come next. The others go to Andre’s place, where unwittingly, the group leaves Frida alone with Andre at the exhibition. He flirts with her and like a predator, takes her inside his office “to show her a painting.” But she is physical with him willingly. As it goes on, she starts to get uncomfortable and asks Andre to stop; but he doesn’t.
Mia and Louise’s car slides from the road and they meet an accident. They cannot do much about it as they were drinking and will be in trouble if they report it. Frida comes home, disturbed, and Klara comforts her. Frida makes Klara promise that she will not tell anyone else. Mia and Louise make a pact to say that the car was stolen from the exhibition.
Episode 4, “Cheers to Never Fighting Again”
Ultimately, though, Mia is taken to the hospital as she broke her arm. She tells Cissi, her mother, the truth. She goes to Margareta, who asks her to keep it mum. Margareta instructs Louise to make sure this is suppressed. While on the call, Mia, Louise, and Klara have a fight. Mia wants to sell the stuff as she cannot work for weeks; Klara is upset they left Frida in the lurches; Louise is in the middle of it all. While at Louise’s place, Amine runs into Calle, who asks her on a date and she says yes. But they won’t tell Louise this. The pile of secrets is building up!
Mia is forced to sit through a romantic dinner with Alex and Cissi after her father didn’t let her stay with him. Amine tries to play the peacemaker between the girls by talking to them individually. A meeting is set in the countryside in Louise’s summer house. They try to ease the tension over dinner by discussing personal problems. Louise confides in them about the car crash. Mia mentions how she and Cissi are looked down upon by the others’ classist parents. Klara brings up her cheating incident and they have a laugh about it.
Frida brings up Andre and breaks down while saying he violated her. The group comes together and promises to each other that they will never get into a fight again. During a trek, the girls happen onto “a cabin in the woods.” No, there’s nothing scary about it. But what is scary is how easily they fall into their bad habit and steal from the place. The owner comes back and sends his dog into the jungle as the girls scamper for cover. They are able to escape, just about. The girls store the stuff they stole and a car in Carl-Johan’s barn, who is Margareta’s cousin. A montage shows how the girls committed around 8 robberies between September and October, clearly establishing that they are now full-fledged thieves.
Officer Lena, who is investigating the robberies, makes a statement on TV that Carl-Johan sees. He goes to the barn and confirms his suspicion. We also see Mia taking a pearl necklace surreptitiously from the stash. Is this how they get caught?
Barracuda Queens (Season 1) Ending Explained:
What happens after CJ finds the stash in the barn?
CJ calls Margareta’s house and talks to Louise. He asks her to remove all the stuff from the barn by the end of the day. Otherwise, he goes to the police. Only Amine and Louise are free to drive up to CJ’s house. Louise threatens CJ and he is forced to accept the situation. He stays quiet for now. Mia sells the pearl necklace and buys expensive dresses. Cissi sees them and Mia lies that Margareta paid her off for the accident. As Cissi threatens to call her, Mia gives her some of the money she has from the robberies. Cissi is quiet for now too!
Frida walks home to Viveca and Margareta’s husband, Lars, running around naked. Louise has got nothing better to do and asks Amine to either drink or steal together. But Amine and Calle have their big date that night and she cannot do anything. Trisha has now gotten greedy and asks Amine for more money. She gives her emerald earrings that Trisha later pawns under her own name.
How does Klara put the gang in trouble?
While having dinner with Niklas’ family, Klara gets uncomfortable when he keeps referring to her good grades and how perfect she is. She also has a lot to drink and the combination of the two forces Klara to come clean about cheating in the civil law exam and also admitting to the burglaries. Niklas and his parents do not take her seriously. But as he drops her off at her house, Klara breaks up with him. Frida tells her the truth about what she saw between Lars and their mother. Amina and Calle’s date goes really well and they have sex in his room.
Louise doesn’t know this and walks in on them, although she doesn’t see Amina’s face. Later that day, Louise suspects her when she goes to Amina’s house and sees that she has just gotten up. Lars announces to Margareta that he wants to divorce her, having found love and inspiration in Viveca.
What triggers Louise’s bid to burn the stolen stash of things?
The family has planned a trip to CJ’s barn. Surprisingly, Margareta says she will not break up their family and is alright with the arrangement. During dinner at CJ’s, Louise notices that CJ has taken a lot of the stuff from the stash and brought it inside his house.
Louise gets really annoyed with Calle after she finds out the truth about Amina and him. In her anger, she also confronts CJ in private. But he doesn’t back down. This antagonises her further and she animatedly walks to the barn with CJ and tries to burn everything by pouring gasoline on all of it. CJ has a gun in his hand, and in trying to stop her, fires it. The bullet injures Louise near the ribs who gets into the stolen car and drives away. She is speeding ferociously and constantly losing blood. He is finally stopped by a police patrol car.
How are the Barracuda Queens caught?
That is when Louise is brought in for questioning. She says that the car belongs to CJ, who is questioned next by the police. He is awkward, and unprepared, and raises serious doubts in the minds of the officers. When Margareta learns about this, she strictly asks Louise to “keep it in the family.” Frida and Klara are shocked to learn from Claes about the adults’ “swapping of partners” when Frida confronts Viveca about the cheating at the dinner table.
Gunilla is contacted by the pawn shop where Trisha pawned the emerald earrings since they belonged to her. In a fit of anger, Mia quits the house when she overhears Gunilla mentioning it. The girls converge to discuss this development. Mia says she pawned off the necklace on the other side of the town and it should be untraceable. Amina doesn’t tell them about sending the earrings to Trisha. Louise brings up Calle and Amina’s relationship and she finally tells them the truth about Trisha.
The group goes off on her for not letting them know. Louise and Amina tie down Trisha in the basement and threaten her to keep shut. Just minutes later, the police show up at Amina’s house to question Trisha. She keeps her promise for the time being. But the officers are once again not convinced. A wave of distrust overwhelms the group. This is the final nail in the coffin.
The police finally connect the dots; the five empty champagne glasses playing a part in it. Trisha is fired by the Khalils. Calle comes over and Amina breaks up with him. All the girls are brought in for questioning and the catch is that they didn’t get their stories right. Any conflicting answers and they will be in trouble. And that is exactly what happens. In another drama, Lars is shocked to hear from Viveca herself that she will never leave Laes. That is what Margareta told Lars as well.
Claes sees men inside his house and calls the police. They are from Alarmica but who called them is unclear. The police decide to search CJ’s house before letting the girls go. They also apprehend the Alarmica guys. To our utter shock, CJ’s barn is empty. The girls are let go of and the men who are caught red-handed concede to the burglaries. The Barracuda Queens are not caught!
Who saved the Barracuda Queens?
Margareta is divorcing Lars and asks Louise to take her friends to clean out Lars’ office. Along with the dentist’s chair and other things, the girls find all the stolen goods stashed inside. It was Margareta who took timely action when Louise was shot. She went to CJ and got everything out of the barn. She also paid off CJ. None of the other parents know about this. Jokingly, The Queens ask, “Where should we strike next?”
