Upamanyu Biswas
In the final portions of Netflix’s ‘Subteran,’ Camilia races against time to rescue her son from his captors, unleashing all her programming skills to ensure that Matei comes to no harm while Tanase persistently harasses her from all fronts. Matters get particularly complicated when the truth about the mob boss’ younger daughter comes to light, triggering a new wave of emotion and anger from the antagonist. Meanwhile, his other daughter, Tili, and her beau, Dracu, forge ahead on their path, struggling to escape from Tanase’s grip while serving him to the best of their ability. Although the story ends somewhat amicably, a whole host of new developments promises more hurdles in the future for the central characters as they get pulled deeper into a web of corruption and crime. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Subteran Season 1 Plot Recap
The story begins with Camilia, an IT consultant, returning home to her son Matei and boyfriend Luca after a day at work. Luca is a detective working undercover with an informant named Marius Roman to find concrete evidence to nail the city’s main crime boss, Nicolae Tanase. The pair have recently unearthed a valuable list of names belonging to corrupt officials on Tanase’s payroll. However, his financial accountant, The Bank, stole the list and Tanase’s crypto money. The Bank is in cahoots with Marius, helping him find anything on Tanase in exchange for his personal rewards. At night, Luca shows up at the Grand Hotel Bucharest, where The Bank is lying low. The Bank tells him that the list and Tanase’s fortunes are stored in an old, modified Compaq laptop that modern devices cannot easily hack.
Luca video calls Camilia to test the authenticity of the device in the hotel room. Moments later, Tanase’s daughter, Tili, shows up disguised as a sex worker to assassinate both Luca and The Bank. Camilia witnesses the whole ordeal on her phone in real-time. In the aftermath, Tili collects The Bank’s other laptop and absconds, failing to realize that her father’s crypto documents are stored on the ancient Compaq laptop. Subsequently, the device ends up in the police storage, complicating matters for Tanase, who orders his main enforcer, Dracu, to find it somehow. Tanase’s younger daughter, Crisi, follows Dracu to his hideout, hoping to help in her father’s business without sitting back all the time. She and Marius, who operates by the name of Bones within the crew, take a trip to Luca’s home, where they run into a distraught Camilia, who is still mourning her boyfriend.
While interrogating Camilia, Marius and Crisi learn that the IT worker is an eyewitness to Tili murdering Luca. Crisi tells Marius that Camilia must be killed as she could jeopardize Tili’s future. However, when Marius resists, a fight breaks out inside the small apartment, which results in Camilia shooting Crisi in the chest. She dies, and Marius reveals the truth about his allegiances, telling Camilia that he only intends to keep her safe and is working against Tanase. Fearing that Crisi’s death will result in catastrophic consequences, Marius informs Camilia that she must disappear or Tanase will come after her. The pair begin working together, albeit reluctantly on Camilia’s part, as she tries to figure out how best to keep her son safe while also ensuring that Tanase is brought down for good.
Subteran Season 1 Ending: Does the Drug Deal With Lars Go Sideways?
Although unhappy about her arrangement with Marius, Camilia slowly warms up to avenging Luca’s death and bringing Tanase to justice. She and Marius infiltrate the ranks of Tanase’s men and orchestrate a heist mission to retrieve the Compaq laptop from within the police precinct. They retrieve it, but an altercation within the group subsequently leads to Camilia escaping with the computer. Eventually, Tili and Dracu learn the truth about Camilia’s part in Crisi’s death. The former ends up visiting Camilia’s mother’s home, injuring the older denizen and abducting her grandson Matei in the process. In the meantime, Camilia is able to break into the laptop and transfer all the information and Tanase’s crypto finances to her device. Soon, Tanase calls her to negotiate for the release of her son in exchange for her delivering the mob boss’ money.
As it turns out, Tanase is desperate for the finances to be sent back to his accounts as he is currently in the middle of a significant deal with the drug lord Lars, who demands on-time payment upon the delivery of goods. When the day of the deal finally arrives, Camilia has to escape her momentary imprisonment at the police precinct to rush to the Royal Palace Ballroom, where Tanase is in direct contact with Lars. The drug lord is put off by Tanase’s hesitancy to pay him instantly, threatening to kidnap Tili if Tanase fails to execute his promises. However, no such development is required as Camilia shows up in the nick of time to save his bacon. She transfers the money to Tanase’s account, which allows the mob boss to pay Lars off, letting their deal come to an amicable conclusion.
Why Does Tili Shoot Tanase? What Happens to the Mob Boss?
Lars leaves after receiving his payment, citing that the drama of Tanase’s family is getting on his nerves. Camilia also asks to be excused, as she has fulfilled her part of the bargain and finally has her son Matei with her. However, Tanase tells her to stop as he still feels aggrieved about Camilia killing Crisi. The protagonist insists that they are equal in terms of debt, as Tanase had Luca killed. When Tanase shows no signs of giving up his pursuit, Camilia tells him that despite transferring the funds back to him, Camilia still holds control over his money owing to a clever program she installed. Their discussion is cut short as internal fractures within Tanase and Tili’s relationship begin to crop up. Tili points the gun towards her father, causing him to erupt in anger and order Dracu to shoot her instead. When he doesn’t, he rushes Tili, who shoots him.
After the constant belittling from her father at every turn, Tili’s attack on him is both personal and born out of the desperate situation she is in. She has constantly been compared to Crisi and caricatured as the bad offspring, instilling a sense of inferiority and rage, which bubbles forth in her aggression towards her father. Additionally, she sees an opportunity to take him out of the equation and become the successor of his criminal empire. Following the gunshot, the contingent of police officers outside the estate rush into the place. In the ensuing chaos of smoke, gunfire, and sparks flying everywhere, Tili and Dracu get their hands on Matei and run away before the cops can surround them. Meanwhile, Camilia, Marius, and Cornel are arrested and locked in police custody. Later, Tanase is shown to be alive and well, albeit stuck in a precarious situation.
How Does Camilia Rescue Her Son?
After Tanase’s takedown, Cornel and Chief Detective Tatu are brought in for questioning by Chief Prosecutor Golescu. The former prosecutor finally reveals the details about how he started the undercover operation into Tanase’s operations and how he involved Luca and Marius in the clandestine project. Cornel, Camilia, and Marius are released from their cells straight afterward. Golescu allows for their release owing to his new partnership with Tili. Camilia informs Marius that Tili has sent her a meeting location where she can retrieve her son by returning Tanase’s money. They rush to the house, where Tili stomps her authority over proceedings by asking Camilia to hand over the cash before she harms Matei.
A fight between the two women breaks out, forcing Marius to engage Dracu in physical combat. During the scuffle, Dracu shoots Marius and proceeds to take down Camilia. However, Tili, fearing that Camilia’s death might mean the end of her possibility to get the money back, shoots Dracu. He slumps down to the floor as a beaten Camilia agrees to hand over the money to Tili, realizing the true colors and ruthlessness hiding behind her elegant facade. After the protagonist transfers the funds, she informs Tili that there are no more reasons for her to continue pursuing her. Instead, if Tili kills her, then the files about Tanase’s corrupt inner circle will be released to Interpol without any delay. Subsequently, Camilia is able to escape with both Matei and a gravely injured Marius, closing the chapter on her intense past few days.
Does Prosecutor Golescu Begin Working For Tili? Is Marius Reinstalled Into the Department?
While Camilia manages to resolve her issues by the end, the final moments of the season essay the rise of a troubling figure, Chief Prosecutor Golescu, who uses the downfall of Tanase’s empire to strengthen his own position in the police department. He becomes increasingly more tyrant-like, arresting Chief Detective Tatu on false charges and backstabbing a recovering Tanase at the hospital. The ending scene shows Golescu holding a press conference for the gathered media, where he informs them about the heroics of the undercover cops in bringing Tanase down and how the department is stronger as a result. His prominence is greatly highlighted, showing how much of a formidable threat he might be going forward despite playing the role of a passive side character throughout season 1.
Intriguingly, Golescu also reinstalls Marius into the police force, possibly using it as a clever political strategy to gain even more influence. The latter is distraught at witnessing the injustices happening within the precinct while also being powerless to change it. With Tili now sponsoring him, Marius is free to reign supreme over the police department, ensuring that the corruption cycle continues despite Tanase’s rule’s end. It could mean that Marius has to continue being the sheep in a wolf’s den in a possible future season. His battle against systematic corruption has followed him from the criminal underworld to the halls of the police precinct. Thus, it will be interesting to see how he navigates the landmine before him and whether Camilia can help him somehow.
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