The Tourist Season 1 delivers a suspenseful and mind-bending conclusion, tying together the mystery of the protagonist’s lost identity. The series follows Elliot, an amnesiac man stranded in the Australian Outback, as he pieces together his past while evading dangerous enemies.
As the truth is revealed, Elliot is forced to confront his dark history, leading to shocking revelations about who he truly is. With intense twists and emotional depth, the ending leaves viewers questioning whether Elliot can escape his past or if it will consume him.
Lost memories resurface with shocking consequences (Photo: The Tourist/GK Films, Columbia Pictures, and Spyglass Entertainment)The show’s gripping conclusion provides closure while leaving room for interpretation, making it a memorable psychological thriller.
Luci (Shalom Brune-Franklin) manages to put Kostas (Alex Dimitriades) in touch with his long-lost brother, whom he had believed to be dead for years. The conversation takes an unexpected turn, with his brother urging him to embrace a different path in life.
Instead of heeding this advice, Kostas listens to his hallucinations and attempts on Luci’s life. During the struggle, Elliott (Jamie Dornan) seizes Lachlan’s (Damon Herriman) gun, leading to a violent confrontation.
A Twisting Path to Truth and Betrayal
Kostas does not survive the encounter, and Lachlan, determined to find his wife, speeds off. Luci, however, suffers a gunshot wound to the stomach. Elliott, desperate to save her, places her in his car along with the bag of money and drives towards a hospital. Unfortunately, she succumbs to her injuries before they arrive.
Seeking assistance, Elliott reaches out to Helen (Danielle Macdonald), but Ethan answers the call instead, warning him to stay away from her. Helen insists on going to Elliott’s aid, but Ethan (Greg Larsen) reacts harshly, threatening to call off their engagement if she makes any attempt to help.
Unable to tolerate his ultimatums any longer, Helen calls off their engagement before reaching out to Elliott once again. At the same time, Lachlan manages to track down his wife, eliminating Kostas’ men in the process and securing her freedom.
To divert suspicion away from himself, he goes to the police and pushes the blame for Rodney Lammon’s (Kamil Ellis) death onto Helen. As evidence, he presents footage of her spending time with Elliott at a Mexican restaurant, attempting to frame her as an accomplice.
Just before Helen leaves to find Elliott, she comes across news reports that paint both of them as murder suspects. With Lachlan spearheading the investigation, she realizes that her only option is to flee with Elliott.
Their escape quickly escalates when the police pursue them, forcing them to take hostages inside a restaurant. During this time, Helen reaches out to a friend for help in uncovering evidence of Lachlan’s corruption.
In an attempt to buy time, Elliott demands that the hostage negotiator bring him Lena Pascal, a woman who keeps appearing in his fragmented memories. He believes she holds the missing pieces of his past. Just as law enforcement is about to storm the building, Helen receives a crucial photograph.
Captured by a speed camera, the image shows Lachlan driving away after killing Lammon, with Elliott handcuffed in the passenger seat—directly contradicting Lachlan’s fabricated story. The revelation leads to Lachlan’s arrest, while Helen is released.
Elliott, on the other hand, remains in police custody, awaiting bail. Eventually, Lena Pascal is brought to him from Adelaide, and she reveals a grim truth—she had been a trafficking victim under his orders.
Forced to smuggle heroin into Australia by swallowing the bags, she later had them surgically removed by one of Elliott’s associates. She recounts how Elliott used to make her practice smiling so she could appear relaxed at the airport.
This explains why his memories depict her as happy. She also reveals that two other women lost their lives when the heroin packets burst inside them, a tragedy Elliott was responsible for. Shaken by this revelation, Elliott leaves Kostas’ money with Sue, whose husband had been killed by Billy.
He then attempts to take his own life by crashing his car. When he regains consciousness in the hospital, his memories have fully returned. Helen visits him, but after reading his police report, she decides to sever all ties with him.
A Second Chance or a Final Goodbye?
Once discharged from the hospital, Elliott spirals further, drinking vodka and taking a dangerous amount of pills. Meanwhile, Helen confides in a coworker, who advises her that although she cannot excuse Elliott’s past actions, everyone deserves a chance to make amends.
Just as Elliott resigns himself to his fate, his phone vibrates with a message from Helen—an emoji of a burrito, representing a private joke between them. A small smile forms on his face. Who is The Man in The Tourist, played by Jamie Dornan?
A past too dark to escape, a future uncertain (Photo: The Tourist/GK Films, Columbia Pictures, and Spyglass Entertainment)Throughout the series, it is revealed that The Man, portrayed by Jamie Dornan, is Elliot Stanley—a former accountant who once worked for international crime lord and drug trafficker Kostas (Alex Dimitriades).
Earlier in the year, he had crossed paths with Luci Miller (Shalom Brune-Franklin), a con artist who operated under different aliases and was also Kostas’ fiancée. Their connection soon turned into an affair. Together, they made the bold decision to steal $1 million from Kostas and escape to Australia.
However, their relationship remained turbulent, leading to multiple breakups along the way. Determined to recover his money, Kostas sent his enforcers, Marco and Billy, to track down Elliott and Luci. Marco, who was more sympathetic towards Elliott, secretly warned him.
Acting quickly, Elliott hid the stolen money in the Outback and left his phone inside a stuffed koala at a petrol station, ensuring Marco would have the location. Unfortunately, before he could make his next move, Billy ran him off the road, causing the accident that resulted in his memory loss.
Later on, it is revealed that Marco had suffered dire consequences for his betrayal. Billy discovered that Marco had tipped off Elliott and responded by burying him alive in a barrel underground. The phone calls Elliott had been receiving, pleading for help, had been from Marco all along.
As for the diner explosion, it was Luci who planted the explosives. Marco had arranged to meet her there, but she had grown suspicious of him and feared she couldn’t trust him.
Does Elliot survive in The Tourist season 1?
The conclusion of The Tourist does not explicitly confirm whether Elliott survives after consuming the pills and vodka. Helen, who had wrestled with her feelings about Elliott’s past, eventually decided to extend him a second chance.
She reached out to him with a simple yet meaningful message—a burrito emoji, symbolizing their inside joke and the happiness they once shared. The last glimpse of Elliott shows him reading Helen’s message, a faint smile forming on his lips.
This final shot leaves room for interpretation, offering a glimmer of hope and the possibility of redemption. However, since the series ends at this moment, there is no clear answer regarding whether Elliott fights to stay alive or succumbs to his self-destructive actions.
