Guilty Or Not Guilty?
Quicksand’s finale is easily the best episode of the series. After 5 episodes of build up, Quicksand’s finale brings everything together for an exciting, conclusive chapter to this crime drama. Several witnesses come forward with varying portraits of Maja, throwing even more questions into the fold. The first witness, communicating via a video call, paints a picture of an out-of-control 18 year old who influenced Sebastian to his demise. Flashbacks show a very different picture however, as Sebastian offers her drugs before leaving her to get high on her own while he parties in a different room. This is then contrasted again when Amanda’s Mum takes to the stand, spilling a heartfelt story about how close Amanda and Maja were and how there’s no way she could have killed her best friend. This proves to be too much for Maja who breaks down in tears and court is adjourned by the judge to let everyone compose themselves before continuing again. The third witness happens to be the most influential and someone Maja knows very well indeed. Samir takes to the stand. He has video footage from the night at Sebastian’s party,depicting Maja as a complete wreck, high on drugs and crawling around screaming at the camera. The real events of that night are then presented to us, as both Samir and Amanda try to help Maja through her high while Sebastian lines up cocaine on a girl’s breasts. Unfortunately, his Father is none too happy about this and as he returns home, he snaps, beating his son repeatedly; kicking and punching him until he cowers on the floor. Samir then confidently declares the real events of what happened that day in the classroom. Sebastian entered the room, shot Dennis and the teacher before turning the gun on Samir and firing. At this point, Maja then stepped forward and shot Amanda twice before shooting Sebastian. This seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of what’s happened but for one glaring issue which the defence pounce on without a moment’s hesitation. Given the direction of him ‘playing dead’ while this occured, her lawyer goes on to say it would have been impossible for him to see anything let alone both Maja and Amanda from that angle. After some squirming and uncomfortable home truths, Samir’s account is essentially relegated to hearsay as the judge hears the closing statements from both the prosecution and defence. This paves the wave for a nervous few minutes before Maja’s fate is decided – she’s cleared of all charges and free to go. As she’s driven home in a silent car ride by her parents, she remembers the final moments inside the classroom. She did shoot Amanda but did it by accident, aiming for Sebastian and missing. After then hitting her lover with three shots, she broke down in shock over what happened. We leave a teary eyed Maja back home and ready to put this whole ordeal behind her. Quicksand’s finale really does a great job building suspense and unpredictability right up to the final frame of the episode. Given we only find out the true nature of what happened inside the classroom 6 episodes down the line, Quicksand impressively manages to keep this mystery engaging and exciting throughout. With everything just about wrapped up and a satisfying finish overall, Quicksand is a reminder that sometimes the best stories are the most simple, executed to perfection. This is certainly the case with Quicksand as it bows out with as much finesse as it begun 6 episodes ago.
