A Quebec-based police investigator named Chief Inspector Armand Gamache winds up in the village of Three Pines to look into a string of killings in the mystery series “Three Pines” on Amazon Prime Video. The residents of the sleepy town are shaken by Gamache’s entrance, which leads him to various mysteries that have been hidden deep within the town. The murder investigation of James Hill is shown in the seventh and eighth episodes of the show, named “The Hangman: Part One” and “The Hangman: Part Two,” respectively, when the investigator faces the killer of Blue Two-Rivers. Let us share our thoughts on the amazing events that make up the show’s first season finale if you’re interested in a deeper analysis. Spoilers follow.
Three Pines Recap
In the opening scene of “Three Pines,” Armand Gamache promises Missy Two-Rivers that he would look into the long-missing disappearance of Blue Two-Rivers, an indigenous young woman. Gamache decides to move the probe along after realising that the department has been ignoring the matter. To find out if Blue and her lover Tommy are still alive, he turns to his best friend and fellow police officer Pierre Arnot for assistance. Gamache receives a picture of the same from Pierre, who also informs him that Blue is in New York. Gamache informs the Two-Rivers family of the discovery, but they still believe Blue is dead.
Gamache eventually finds himself in Three Pines to look into CC de Poitiers’ passing. Realizing that she is Emilie Longpré’s relative provides the investigator with a window into learning more about her mysterious history. In the end, he cracks the case by identifying the killer—who happens to be CC’s daughter, who murdered her for failing to take care of their family. Blue’s mother Missy commits suicide to put pressure on the department to conduct a far more thorough investigation of the matter after Gamache dismisses Blue’s case by assuming that she is dead. The inspector keeps working on his inquiry despite having nightmares about Blue and becoming involved in Marc Fortier’s murder, which also occurs at Three Pines.
Gamache learns that Marc and Sophie had a close relationship, and he uses this information to prove that Marc was killed by Sophie’s father because the victim attempted to keep Marc and his daughter apart. When Blue’s lover Tommy’s brother Kevin calls Isabelle Lacoste, Gamache’s assistant, the investigation into her disappearance takes an unexpected turn. Kevin informs Isabelle that Blue and Tommy were killed by Sûreté-affiliated police personnel. When Isabelle investigates the situation, she learns that a patrol car was nearby. At the same time, Gamache looks into the death of Julia Morrow, a wealthy businessman’s daughter.
Gamache learns that Julia is Peter from Three Pines’ sister. He discovers during the research that the family never really got along beyond the ostentatious displays of love and concern. The investigator cracks the case by establishing that Maurice, a child of Charles, Peter’s father, and Julia, was the murderer. Julia was murdered by Maurice because she received the opulent hotel that Charles owned before he passed away, not him. Kevin is detained by a group of policemen as he makes his way to New York. He had already passed away from a heroin overdose by the time Isabelle and Gamache got at the prison.
After solving Julia’s murder, Gamache finds himself back in Three Pines because an outsider who had recently arrived in the community was killed there. Finding out who the person is and why he came to the town is difficult for the inspector and his team to do. They come to the realisation that Arthur Ellis is a false identity and the name of an executioner with Myrna’s assistance. According to Gamache, Ellis came to Three Pines in order to “execute” someone. Gamache solves a riddle with the help of a pine needle he finds near Ellis’ deceased body, and as a result, he finds Blue and Tommy’s bodies.
Three Pines Ending: Who Killed Blue and Tommy?
Gamache looks into a certain patrol car that was in the area on the day Blue and Tommy were last seen after Kevin reveals that Blue and Tommy were killed by police officers. Despite learning that the car belonged to Dan Chowski, he is unable to identify the second individual who was with him. Gamache also discovers a collection of bullets, which he sends to a lab in order to identify the firearms that fired the identical shots, along with the dead bodies of Blue and Tommy. Gamache is shocked by the test results when he learns that Chowski and Gamache’s best friend and fellow inspector Pierre used police-issue weapons to shoot Tommy and Blue to death.
Even though Pierre has seemed to Gamache as a trustworthy and innocent policeman, at the moment that he had to kill Blue, he was engaged in the illegal tobacco trade. Chowski eventually participated in his plan. The two of them considered stealing the shipment for their own trade because they were aware of Kevin’s unlawful activities. Blue recorded the entire situation on her phone, jeopardising Pierre’s plans. The cop shot her when she attempted to flee with the proof that would ruin Pierre’s family and career. Chowski, the person responsible for Tommy’s death, helped Pierre bury the partners.
Being a novice murderer, Pierre was unable to fully conceal the crime and frame Kevin. Gamache finds the two murderers thanks to the pine needles Pierre and Chowski irresponsibly left behind at Kevin’s home. However, despite his best efforts, Pierre is unable to come up with a new tale to distract Gamache from him and his deeds. Since the inspector has known Pierre for years, he can tell when the latter is lying, which aids in identifying Pierre as the murderer. Ironically, Gamache needs Pierre’s assistance to discover the murderer in order to unravel the mystery surrounding Blue’s disappearance.
However, Pierre only partially succeeds in distracting Gamache from the reality that Blue has passed away. The inspector believes Blue is still alive because he believes Pierre’s faked New York photo. Gamache, however, is further driven by his eerie nightmares to broaden the investigation, which brings him to Pierre and Chowski.
Is Armand Gamache Dead or Alive?
After failing to frame Chowski and Kevin, Gamache learns that Pierre is attempting to frame him for the deaths of Blue and Tommy. The inspector then confronts the killer. Gamache makes it obvious that Pierre must show up in court and face the trial, so Pierre shoots Gamache to get him out of there. In an effort to protect his family and career, Pierre resolves to murder his best friend of more than 40 years. Gamache could be able to survive the bullet wound even when Pierre shoots him. Soon after Pierre successfully disappears, Isabelle and Jean-Guy arrive on the scene and call for help to rescue Gamache.
It is anticipated that Isabelle and Jean-Guy would set up the necessary medical procedure to save Gamache’s life. Gamache has a good chance of surviving if emergency personnel can enter Pierre’s cabin, which is in a remote area, shortly. We can be optimistic that the inspector will live because Gamache doesn’t pass away in Louise Penny’s original novels. Furthermore, Pierre fires at Gamache outside of the “chest killing zone,” demonstrating that he simply intended to stop Gamache rather than kill him.
Who Killed James Hill/Arthur Ellis? Why?
James Hill, alias Arthur Ellis, was murdered by Mike and Angela Blake. Mike and Angela drove a truck that killed James Hill’s wife and daughter while they were students. Hill has been looking for the couple and two of their friends ever since the incident to inflict his vengeance on them. However, Mike and Angela arrived in Three Pines to put their past in the past and begin a new chapter of their lives before he could locate them. Hill nevertheless found himself in the sleepy hamlet while looking for his wife’s and daughter’s murderers. However, he is unable to recognise the couple because it has been a long time since he last saw them, giving Mike and Angela some breathing room.
Hill must have attempted to kill Mike and Angela when he eventually discovers them, though. Hill, however, is the one who perishes because the pair kills him out of terror for their own lives. The pair talks about how they were protecting themselves against Hill, which clarifies the reason for the former teacher’s death even if they don’t say they are the killers outright. Gamache, who is looking into Hill’s death, doesn’t immediately consider the need to discover two killers but eventually comes to the conclusion that a healthy guy like Hill cannot be killed and hanged by one person alone.
