Spoilers: Agatha Christie's 'Seven Dials' Ending Explained

I really did not care for Netflix’s latest, Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials. At only three episodes, one would imagine it could maintain our attention. On the contrary, it was quite the chore. In my case, there was a lot of zoning out and rewinding, and maybe a moment or two where I dozed off and had to restart episodes. It took much longer than it should have, so I’m going to make this ending-explained recap very short and simple by using visuals.

The series is set in 1925 among a bunch of rich, upper-crust British types. Here’s Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent. She is the lead.

At a dinner party during the opening episode, it appears that she is smitten with Gerry Wade, who intimates that he’s going to propose to her. Here’s Gerry.

However, that night, two friends — Bill and Ronnie — prank Gerry by leaving eight alarm clocks in his room because he has a habit of sleeping through anything. When all eight alarm clocks go off and he doesn’t wake up, Bundle investigates and finds that Gerry is dead. At some point, she reasonably concludes that he was killed based, in part, on the fact that one of the alarm clocks is missing.

Soon thereafter, one of the pranksters, Ronnie, is also killed.

With his final words, he utters something about “seven dials.” “Seven Dials” is frequently referenced. It is both a nightclub and, as Bundle learns, a clandestine organization. They look nefarious, like this:

There’s also Superintendent Battle from Scotland Yard, who is investigating the murders of Ronnie and Gerry and trying to tell Bundle to stay out of it. His motives are unclear.

Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham, is scattered, prickly, and doesn’t like people. She lost her son in the war and her husband, supposedly, to the Spanish flu.

Bundle also has a friend, Jimmy, who is helping her investigate the murders.

One of the people she questions is Gerry’s sister, Lorraine.

The MacGuffin here is a secret industrial formula developed by Dr. Matip that makes metals really strong. In 1920, someone shot and killed his sister while trying to steal it from him.

So, Dr. Matip is going to sell the formula to the British government. There is a plot to steal it and sell it to the enemy. It turns out that Bundle’s friend, Jimmy, and Gerry’s sister, Lorraine, are behind that plot. Lorraine killed Gerry because he overheard a conversation and discovered her involvement, and Jimmy shot and killed Ronnie because he got too close to the truth.

Bundle eventually learns all of this, only to also find out that Jimmy and Lorraine were acting on behalf of … Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham. Jimmy, Lorraine, and Lady Caterham are arrested by Commander Battle, who turns out to have been a good guy all along.

At the end of the series, we also learn that while the Seven Dials is a clandestine organization, it is not nefarious. It acts on behalf of the good guys. In fact, Bundle’s father was one of its lead agents, and he did not die of the Spanish flu but while trying to protect Dr. Matip five years earlier. In the final moments, Commander Battle asks Bundle to join the Seven Dials, and she accepts.

This should save you from three mostly dull hours of Netflix viewing. Trust me: There are better things to watch (like Riot Women).