‘Monsieur Spade’ Ending Explained: How Does Clive Owen’s AMC Crime Drama Conclude?

Monsieur Spade, AMC’s limited crime drama from the creators of The Queen’s Gambit and Oz, aired its Season 1 finale on Sunday, February 18, bringing detective Sam Spade’s (Clive Owen) latest investigation to a close.

When we last left Spade, he’d learned his home was bugged and realized George (Matthew Beard) and Cynthia Fitzsimmons (Rebecca Root) were bad news. He nearly reunited with Philippe Saint-Andre (Jonathan Zaccaï), but instead, the episode ended with Jean-Pierre (Stanley Weber) confronting Philippe and getting killed.

AMC teases Monsieur Spade‘s finale with the following Episode 6 synopsis: “Spade discovers who has been following him. Philippe sets up a deal for the boy that quickly goes sideways, leading to a dangerous confrontation on the old town bridge. A mysterious newcomer arrives, uncovering secret identities and agendas.”

Over the course of the action-packed episode, so much more unfolds. So we’re here to break down all the major moments. Wondering how Monsieur Spade Season 1 ends? Looking for a finale recap? Or curious to know if we’ve seen the last of Owen’s Sam Spade?

Decider’s Monsieur Spade Ending Explained article has you covered.

Monsieur Spade Ending Explained:

Monsieur Spade Episode 6, which premiered Sunday, February 18 on AMC, kicks things off with an emotional flashback. We see Jean-Pierre and Marguerite (Louise Bourgoin) in bed together, and we learn Marguerite looks so sad because Jean-Pierre about to leave for the service. He gets up, puts his uniform on, places dog tags around his neck, and kisses her hand before heading to the kitchen for some coffee.

In a moving present-day shift, we see Marguerite in the kitchen holding two cups of coffee, but she’s no longer with Jean-Pierre. Spade and Chief of Police Patrice Michaud (Denis Ménochet) are sitting at her after informing her of Jean-Pierre’s death. She asks about the boy, learns Jean-Pierre went to help him, and also learns Philippe helped Jean-Pierre get out of the war. She everyone to leave so she “can sit and scream in peace,” then tearfully reads a letter from Jean-Pierre that says, “If you’re reading this, it means I’m gone either by my own hand, or another’s. I have no choice but to disappear in order to protect and free you.”

Outside, Spade (still smoking cigarettes) sees a man in all black speed past on a motorcycle, prompting him to follow on foot. Once he reaches a garage and finds the motorcycle driver who’s been following him since Philippe showed up, we learn that it’s — wait for it — Henri (Oscar Lesage)! Henri swears he was simply trying to ward Spade off from getting involved in the whole mess and says he shot at the window, not Teresa, claiming, “I never miss.” Spade calls him “a sap who’s been sucked into OAS bullshit” and after a brief fight, Spade tells him to stop trying to protect them before he gets himself killed.

When Spade arrives home, a visitor — Mr. Khan — awaits. He tells Spade he’s a PI with a specialty in industrial sabotage who’s trying to find Zayd (Ismaël Berqouch), take him back to his family, and punish those who get in the way. When the man leaves, Spade knocks on Teresa’s door and learns she’s missing. Using the old pencil and notebook trick, he gently shades a blank piece of paper to reveal the last thing Teresa wrote: “Bonjour Monsieur Spade.” He shakes his head in amusement and turns to leave the room, but he’s stopped in his tracks by a closet full of Gabrielle’s (Chiara Mastroianni) clothes. He grabs a scarf and flashes back to a memory of them beside the pool. She tells him she thinks the pool will be good for him, and he says he’s not much of a swimmer. She says she’s nearing the end and hopes he’ll stay on the property after she’s gone. He asks her to see another doctor in Paris, and she declines, saying she’s giving him everything and leaving so he won’t have to watch her die. He’s frustrated and heartbroken knowing she’s set in her decision, but before the flashback ends the two share a sweet moment in the pool. “Whenever you want to see me come down here,” Gabrielle says. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She takes her clothes off and gets into the water, then Spade follows and suddenly his naked swims are making me teary eyed.

In present day, Spade asks Helena (Clotilde Mollet) if she knew Teresa was altering Gabriella’s clothes and she says, “Who do you think showed her how to use the sewing machine?” When Spade gets upset, Helena swiftly puts him in his place, saying, “They’re not your clothes. Gabrielle would have wished for Teresa to do with them as she pleased… Teresa just wants you to like her.”

Outside the police station, Maurice (Frank Williams) hears a man moaning in an alleyway and goes to investigate. Inside, his brother Patrice is looking at photos related to the case and quickly notices his brother’s absence. Spade is still at home having a drink, and while he and Helena have no idea where Teresa is, viewers do. She meets up with Henri and reveals she knows that he’s OAS because she stole his notebook. She says she wanted to know if he knew where Philippe was, and Henri assures her he can’t tell her or Mr. Spade about him, since he needs him alive. “There is a plan, one that is in motion as we speak. But I was only told to follow him,” he says. Before Teresa walks off, she makes a comment about being “two years older,” letting viewers know that she’s Spade’s daughter — not Philippe’s — after all.

Back in the alleys, we see George Fitzsimmons rendezvous with none other than Sister Angelique’s sister! The two start passionately making out and he tells her he has two tickets to tomorrow’s train from Lyon to Barcelona. We learn that she plans to ditch Philippe and he plans to ditch Cynthia, but shortly after the two part ways, Cynthia hits George with her car. “All this time I thought you bent more for the blokes,” she says before shooting him three times and throwing his body in her trunk. Where’s Maurice when you need him?! He’s still following the mysterious moaning in the alleyways, which leads him to THE MONK, who’s holding Teresa hostage with the same doll head knife she stabbed him with earlier in the series.

After Marguerite leaves the bar, she heads to Philippe’s mother’s house and pulls out a gun that was “a gift to Jean-Pierre from Philippe.” Philippe is crouching by a window in the other room, waiting for the exchange of Zayd, so he overhears everything Marguerite says. “Philippe always understood how John-Pierre felt being abandoned by his father and left with no money and an angry mother who wanted no part of them,” she explains. “John-Pierre told me that he always thought of Philippe as his older brother.” Her words throw Philippe thrown off his game for a moment, but when a car drives over the bridge and parks the plan is put into action.

Spade is on the move, Patrice gets tipped off about a woman with a gun and an Algerian boy on the bridge, and when Mr. Khan steps forward to meet Sister Angelique’s sister and Zayd, Philippe points a rifle at him from afar. Henri is also nearby with a gun, and when the man opens his briefcase to show the cash, shots are fired. The woman grabs the money and runs, while the man gets Zayd to the car. Marguerite tells Philippe’s mom that he killed Jean-Pierre and leaves. And the monk brings Teresa onto the bridge with a gun to her head. Zayd walks up to the monk, causing him to drop Teresa. The kids make a run for it as Spade and Henri try to stop the monk, but it’s Patrice who winds up saving the day.

In hopes of carrying out his plan, Philippe grabs passports and tickets and leaves his mom’s house. When he steps outside, Cynthia Fitzsimmons is waiting with a gun. She snatches his ticket and dramatically says, “I think you’re gonna miss your train. Too bad.” After Marguerite finds Zayd safe in an alleyway, Virginia Dell — a retired Lieutenant Colonel — gathers Spade, Marguerite, Cynthia, Philippe, Henri, and everyone involved with the child in a room. Ultimately, she takes him back home, Philippe is arrested for the murder of Jean-Pierre, Spade hears his old office in San Fransisco has a new tenant named Eddie Soloman, and he tells Cynthia to “go fuck yourself in the crumpet with a cricket bat.”

While watching Philippe get taken into custody, Spade and Teresa are sharing a moment. Teresa tells him, “I’ll be ok if you don’t want me around.” And he replies, “Do me a favor. Call me Sam.” The two stand there in their sunglasses looking like a badass father/daughter duo, and it’s implied that they, along with Marguerite, will take care of each other moving forward.

Back at home in his robe, Spade stores his gun, coat, and passport back in his closet signaling his return to retirement, but he keeps his hat out and carries it to the pool. He puts the hat on, takes the robe off, and stands outside naked in silence, until a voice yells, “Hey, Mr. Spade. Are you coming in or not?” With a splash, the end credits roll.

So is Spade retired for good? While we’d love to see more of Clive Owen in action, Monsieur Spade is a limited series with no current plans for continuation.