How did the four-part series end for Carly and the team?
Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Boiling Point episode 4.
Boiling Point managed to pack many a punch and pivotal moment into its short four-episode run on BBC One.
Coming after the major success of the hit 2021 film which was previously a short film, the new BBC series follows the team eight months after the cliffhanger of the movie, which saw Stephen Graham‘s irate chef Andy Jones collapse with a heart attack.
While the fate of Andy remained uncertain for fans, he returns in the sequel series in a more realistic sense, battling demons of his own and trying to find his place in the world without running a restaurant.
The four Boiling Point episodes centre more closely on the film’s supporting character Carly (Vinette Robinson) and her new restaurant, Point North, where she has employed many of the same staff from Jones & Sons.
Carly remains determined to create a working environment that’s not as chaotic, stressful or tense as Andy’s at Jones & Sons, but she soon realises that navigating the hospitality industry in this incredibly difficult current climate isn’t for the faint of heart.
The episodes follow different batches of characters, with the first episode seeing newcomer Johnny (Stephen Odubola) struggle with his new job in the kitchen, while other episodes have followed kitchen porters Jake (Daniel Larkai) and Holly (Hannah Traylen) as they struggle to make ends meet and turn to other avenues to make quick money.
But just how did things wrap up for Carly and the team in the final episode? With the restaurant taking on a special wedding booking to inject some much-needed cash into its revenue stream, is the future of Point North a certain one?
Read on for a full breakdown of the final episode of Boiling Point.
Boiling Point TV series ending explained
The final episode, like the other three, zoned in a specific group of characters. This time, with a front-of-house skew, providing some integral insight into some of the familiar and newer faces on the waiting staff team.
The episode opens with Robyn (Áine Rose Daly) practising her lines outside a studio, clearly preparing for an audition. It’s the same day that Carly and the Point North team are catering their first wedding, an unlikely avenue for them all – but something that’s being done for exposure, as well as to help out a friend of business owner Liam (Joel MacCormack).
As Robyn is waiting for her name to be called in the audition waiting area, she is clearly nervous and needs to use the toilet – but the one on site is broken. She has to leave the building and go to a nearby café to use one, but finds it’s occupied and leaves.
Upon leaving the café, it’s clear she’s been unable to make it to a bathroom in time, and we next see her in a toilet, having to change and also reaching for wipes in her bag. In the scene, we see a box of azathioprine, a medicine used to help treat conditions such as Crohn’s disease.
Back in Point North, service is busy and Dean (Gary Lamont) is wondering where Robyn is, asking Billy (Taz Skylar) if he knows what’s holding her up at her audition.
But it’s also Jamie’s (Stephen McMillan) first day back after taking a leave of absence for his mental health and self-harm incident in episode 2. The team welcomes his return with open arms and Carly tells him he can take breaks whenever he needs them.
When Robyn eventually arrives at the restaurant, Dean shouts at her in front of the kitchen, patronising her about her acting career dreams.
We also see that throughout the service, new sous chef Nick (Steven Ogg) continues to touch Camille (Izuka Hoyle) inappropriately, with Camille eventually having to confront him about not liking him.
He retorts that she’s “a little too big” for him, causing Bolton (Shaun Fagan) to see if Camille needs any help – but she says she’s fine.
On the restaurant floor, we also get some insight into Musa (Ahmed Malek) and Kit’s (Missy Haysom) lives, with Musa being asked about his tattoos which represent his family, and Kit being questioned about their identity as non-binary by some of the wedding guests.
While it’s a difficult conversation to have, Musa cheers up Kit after it, impersonating the woman in particular.
Jamie’s having a good time on pastry, managing to execute a whole wedding cake and individual desserts which have been stacked up on a tower. But when Dean tells Robyn to hurry up in to the kitchen, she knocks into the tower, causing some of the desserts to crash and Nick to explode at Robyn.
Robyn breaks down in the toilet and Billy comes to comfort her, but all is well with the wedding cake and the party applaud Jamie as he rolls it out.
After the wedding party, the team celebrate with some drinks and plan to go out for the night, but Camille asks Dean not to invite Nick. Carly is also unable to make the night out, saying she has plans of her own.
At the same time, we see that Andy has tried to visit Carly at home, but as she’s at the restaurant, it’s her mother Vivian (Cathy Tyson) who answers. She invites him in as the pair know each other and, when chatting, Vivian tells him that Carly needs help as she’s discovered that Carly has re-mortgaged the flat.
Later that night, we see that Carly has actually gone on a date with Darren, the man from Vivian’s church, who was asking after Carly. But it’s clear there’s no spark between them, and once Carly leaves the date, she heads out to the same club as the Point North crew, much to Holly’s excitement.
At the club, Jake and Jamie have a heart-to-heart about Jamie’s struggles, but Jake doesn’t reveal anything about his own recent debacles. The night is a good one for most of the team, apart from Billy and Robyn, who have an argument over Billy’s choice of words that Robyn is “sick”.
She tells Dean she wants to go home, and in the taxi ride home, she tells Dean about her Crohn’s disease and how it impacts her life, talking about why she was late to work that morning. Dean apologises to Robyn and says that he’ll help her.
The final scenes of the finale are of each member of the Point North team ending their night, with Emily at home with her dog, Billy looking sad in the club, Bolton one of the last ones on the dance floor and Musa helping a drunk Kit home.
What happened to Carly and Point North in Boiling Point?
Surprisingly, Liam turns up at the club and makes a comment to Carly that panics her about the future of Point North. He wants to have a conversation about it in a couple of days but Carly wants to discuss it immediately.
He tells Carly that their money situation has “taken a turn” and Liam explains that he’s filled out insolvency forms for Point North, meaning that the business is going to have to “wind down”.
Carly is left devastated by the news as she looks out at the dance floor at her team, who are unaware of the news to come. She continues to drink and kisses Holly out in the hallway away from everyone. But Carly pulls away and leaves a confused Holly in the club.
We then see that Carly has made her way to Andy’s house and Andy invites her in, where she spots his Alcoholics Anonymous book, telling him that it’s taken him long enough.
She’s angry as she asks Andy whether she did spot him at Point North and asks what he wanted. He tells her he came to apologise for everything he put her through and all the pressure he put her under at Jones & Sons.
He confesses that he thought Point North was brilliant, but Carly tells him that she has lost the restaurant and that she’ll have to tell her staff tomorrow that they no longer have jobs. Andy tells her that he’ll make her a coffee and the pair can sit down and discuss a plan of action to help save the restaurant, which makes Carly smile.
The final shot of the season is of Carly at Point North, looking stressed as she glances out at the restaurant.
Will Boiling Point continue?
Well, the future of the Boiling Point series has yet to be confirmed but director Philip Barantini is certainly keen on a second season.
Barantini said: “I would love to do another series, and I’m sure that everyone involved would, because there’s so much to explore in that world.
“It’s an ever-evolving, changing thing – people come and go, menus change. There’s always scope to change things around and I would love to explore the characters more. I don’t want to completely tie everything up in a bow, because that’s not what I’m about, but… it would be lovely.”
Meanwhile, another person who is keen for a continuation is actor Stephen Graham, who plays the film’s protagonist.
“In that same respect, there was a wonderful series, I felt, a few years ago called The Street, and what that did was it went into people’s houses and you got to find out what was going on behind those closed doors,” noted Graham.
“Whereas we had a street within this kitchen, we have all these characters, and hopefully we get time to develop [them], we would be able to focus on each character and you’ll get to see what’s going on in each character’s life.”
Boiling Point concludes on BBC One on Sunday 22nd October at 9pm, while all episodes available to watch on BBC iPlayer now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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