The Ending Of The Irregulars Season 1 Explained

The Irregulars did the unthinkable: It sidelined Sherlock Holmes in a Sherlock Holmes adaptation. Ultimately, this bold choice made for a more interesting series, and a finale twist that no other story about the world's most famous consulting detective could pull off. In the final moments of The Irregulars season 1, Sherlock joins his love, Alice, in the purgatory space between worlds as their daughter Jessie closes The Rip.

Seeing Sherlock choose to go with Alice rather than stay in Victorian London with his daughter and surrogate daughter, Bea, drove home the season's larger theme of found families and the lengths people will go to for love. Because even with its abundance of supernatural shenanigans, this teen fantasy series always kept its human stories front and center. Even the show's "monsters" were simply people seeking solace from their grief or a reconnection with lost loved ones.

Of course that doesn't mean the ending of The Irregulars was devoid of action — quite the opposite, in fact. In the finale, Bea, Watson, and Jessie realize The Linen Man promised Sherlock that if The Rip was opened, Alice would be set free. This leads the trio — alongside Spike, Leo, and Billy — to head to the old plague pit (and current London Underground construction site) in hopes of stopping The Linen Man's plan.

In the end, it's Jessie who uses her abilities as an ipsissimus to turn The Linen Man's powers back on him, which ends with him plunging to his death. She then learns her mother is the one responsible for opening The Rip in the first place, leaving her with no choice but to close it once again, even though it means Alice will be trapped there for eternity. As you can see, there's a clear winner in terms of which character experiences the most growth over the course of season 1, and it's Jessie Holmes.

While Jessie is shown exhibiting strength no one except maybe Spike believed she possessed in the finale, Bea and Watson were both left to confront their abandonment issues head on. In order to save London and the world, The Rip had to be closed, but closing it meant Bea would have to lose her mother again, while Watson would have to let go of Sherlock.

Throughout season 1, Bea and Watson were at odds with one another, but deep down these two characters carry the same pain. Watson has been living with the guilt of opening the first Rip for years, while also nursing a crush on Sherlock that proved to be destructive for both parties. Meanwhile, as a result of Watson's actions when she was a child, Bea lost her mother, and had to become a de facto parent to Jessie.

Over and over, the show emphasizes just how hard it is for Bea to trust people, because in her experience, everyone ends up leaving her. This feeling is compounded by Alice and Sherlock disappearing into The Rip, and her boyfriend, Prince Leo, revealing he made a bargain with his mother to marry another royal, Helena, in exchange for springing Billy from prison in the previous episode. Likewise, Watson realizes if he doesn't let Sherlock go, Jessie will be pulled into the Rip, as well, which leads to him physically and metaphorically letting go of the man he loves for the greater good.

The final scene of the season doesn't set up a potential big bad for season 2, or mention anything supernatural at all. Instead, Bea visits Watson at 221B Baker Street where she shares her fish and chips with him, and breaks down over Leo leaving for Europe with Helena. As she cries that everyone always leaves her, Watson finally steps up as the parental figure Bea so desperately needs and promises he's not going anywhere.

In an interview with Digital Spy, actress Thaddea Graham, who plays Bea, revealed the scene between Watson and Bea is her favorite of the entire series. "When we first meet Watson, Bea says yes to working with him out of necessity, because they need the money, and she's worried about Jess," she said. "But immediately she thinks, 'I do not like you. You're a bit of a d*ck.'"

But as the season progresses, the unlikely duo ultimately discover they share quite a bit of common ground, which culminates in the finale's moving last scene. "Watson has suffered a loss in a very similar way to Bea," Graham continued. "He just understands the gravity of it all... She's never really had an adult in her life. Her mum died when she was 3, and she never knew her dad. To have an adult — a grown-up — to share that weight and that burden with is monumental."

It could also be a sign of things to come in season 2. Although the series hasn't been formally renewed by Netflix yet, it seems likely the next season will focus at least in part on the new dynamic between Watson and Bea, as they navigate the next round of supernatural mysteries plaguing London.