Regarding the theory I posted this morning about a certain person being seen in a certain scene, it's been interesting to see the mixed reaction about whether it's the same person.
Here are some more comparison shots. Make your own conclusion. I say yes, others say no.
I thought it safe to bring this bit out of spoiler tags:
Sorry, that doesn't even make sense. Remember that Tony, Emily and Ollie broke down near Chalon Du Bois. X could not have known that they would be stopping there.
I happily admit that I can't incorporate into my theory why the car broke down at that particular place. But this has been a major stumbling block to all possible theories, because the breakdown seemed to be a random event that nobody could have set up (unless we get into very unrealistic territory, like the car being rigged with a GPS-linked device to make it break at that location!).
Do we actually know how close Challons is to the exact spot the car broke down? And more importantly, why did Tony phone that particular garage to come and tow the car?
One thing that struck me when I first watched Episode 1 is that a 55 reg Citroen Picasso would have been nearly new in 2006. It would have come with 1 years European Breakdown cover provided by Citroen (I had an 05 plate one myself!). The French equivalent of the AA/RAC would have come out and fixed a simple thing like that at the roadside. If it wasn't fixable at the roadside it would have been towed to an official Citroen dealership (and there are loads of Citroen dealerships in France, even in small villages. A town the size of Challons would definitely have had one) because an independent back street garage tinkering with a brand new car would void the warranty.
But don't we then see him walking back to the hotel and phoning Emily?
Yes we do, but I think we're being tricked into assuming those scenes happened sequentially. I agree with Weenie that the opening scene is actually the beginning of a scene that happens after Tony finds out the truth, and we will see a conclusion to the same scene in Episode 8.
OK, I've spotted a big clue which probably gives away the culprit/ending/motive. If you want to enjoy the final episode on Tuesday, please don't look at this spoiler.
All I will say outside the spoiler tags is that it's incredible that none of us spotted it before. The clue was there in plain sight with no attempt to hide it.
(If you want to discuss what's below, please keep it in spoiler tags so as not to spoil it for others.)
Episode 1, Scene 1. Tony speaks to a boy in the restaurant in Challons Du Bois (in 2014).
The man sitting next to the boy is............... Greg Halpern. Here is a side-by-side comparison of Greg and the man in the restaurant:
He's even wearing the same jumper! And nobody noticed until now!
The boy is credited at the end of Episode 1 as "Alex Duchamps" - the same boy who was kidnapped by his own father in 2009.
So I return to my earlier theory that after Alex was returned to his mother following his kidnap, she went ahead with her plan to take Alex abroad (the reason his father kidnapped him in the first place). With the help of a corrupt official, Alex's old identity was assigned to Ollie. Perhaps the real Alex was even given a new identity by the authorities to stop his father tracking him down. Therefore someone in authority (the Mayor?) knew that Ollie could safely assume Alex's old identity without there being any clash or duplication on any records.
So Greg is sitting there in the restaurant with Ollie. Greg is Ollie's father (or at least Greg believes he is).
The question that naturally follows from this is "why didn't Tony recognise Greg in the restaurant?"
Well, I think he did recognise him. And he recognised Ollie too. What we're seeing in Episode 1, Scene 1 is only one portion of the full scene. The scene will be revisited and concluded at the end of Episode 8. Watch it back, and an eerie calm descends over Tony's face. It looks like Tony is about to pounce and it's all going to kick off.
I guess that whatever money was paid to Greg in 2000 by Tony and Emily's father to buy his silence was the same money spent by Greg on paying various people to kidnap Ollie (Caid de Cite, the Mayor, or whoever).
One other observation: While sitting in the restaurant Greg is unfolding a map of Northern France, suggesting that he is unfamiliar with the area and is on his way to a particular destination. I wonder what has caused him to go to Challons with Ollie on a rainy evening in the winter? It's certainly not your average family holiday.
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That is truly astonishing that you are the first to notice that! It really is who you say it is in both scenes!
So are we really sure it is the French boy Alex in the first scene of the first episode ? I am sure someone else said he was listed as "Scottish boy"?
So if it is Alex who was kidnapped by his father and uncle for the short period in 2009, that means he was taken again after that and given to new family?
Tony looks so at ease and resigned in that first scene in cafe, maybe that is after he has all the answers and he knows why his own son was taken and given to another family as well?
Yes we do, but I think we're being tricked into assuming those scenes happened sequentially. I agree with Weenie that the opening scene is actually the beginning of a scene that happens after Tony finds out the truth, and we will see a conclusion to the same scene in Episode 8.
I'm not sure but It looks like a continuation to me - raining when he is indoors, raining when he leaves the bar and walks back to the hotel, he also appears to be wearing the same clothes throughout
In those stills it looks a bit like him but watching it in motion it's definitely not him. Good idea though.
I agree they look very similar, but didn't Emily's father die in 2014? The man in episode 1 looks quite a bit older. Had the hospice scenes been in 2006, I would've agreed it was the same person just aged a bit.
Lots of people seem to think Sylvie is the one behind it all - but in that case, why would she have been the one to alerted Tony to the picture of the boy with the scarf?
That is truly astonishing that you are the first to notice that! It really is who you say it is in both scenes!
So are we really sure it is the French boy Alex in the first scene of the first episode ? I am sure someone else said he was listed as "Scottish boy"?
So if it is Alex who was kidnapped by his father and uncle for the short period in 2009, that means he was taken again after that and given to new family?
Sorry, I made a small mistake in the post you just quoted - you're correct that he was credited as Scottish Boy in Episode 1.
What I meant to say is that Scottish Boy in Episode 1 and Alex Duchamps in Episode 7 are both credited as being played by the same actor, Adam Thomas Wright. That's how I made the connection.
No, I'm not saying it's Alex in Episode 1, I'm saying it's Ollie, but he's been given the old identity of Alex because the real Alex has been given a new identity to stop his father tracking him down again.
Regarding the theory I posted this morning about a certain person being seen in a certain scene, it's been interesting to see the mixed reaction about whether it's the same person.
Here are some more comparison shots. Make your own conclusion. I say yes, others say no.
I thought it safe to bring this bit out of spoiler tags:
I happily admit that I can't incorporate into my theory why the car broke down at that particular place. But this has been a major stumbling block to all possible theories, because the breakdown seemed to be a random event that nobody could have set up (unless we get into very unrealistic territory, like the car being rigged with a GPS-linked device to make it break at that location!).
Do we actually know how close Challons is to the exact spot the car broke down? And more importantly, why did Tony phone that particular garage to come and tow the car?
One thing that struck me when I first watched Episode 1 is that a 55 reg Citroen Picasso would have been nearly new in 2006. It would have come with 1 years European Breakdown cover provided by Citroen (I had an 05 plate one myself!). The French equivalent of the AA/RAC would have come out and fixed a simple thing like that at the roadside. If it wasn't fixable at the roadside it would have been towed to an official Citroen dealership (and there are loads of Citroen dealerships in France, even in small villages. A town the size of Challons would definitely have had one) because an independent back street garage tinkering with a brand new car would void the warranty.
Just an observation.
Sorry to put a damper on this but Greg is not on the cast list for episode 8 and neither are the Scottish family. It is the final list as it does not include Garrett / Ziane / Robert who have died during the course of the series.
I have another crazy theory,roll on Tuesday or I'll go completely mad dreaming up new scenarios !
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
I have another crazy theory,roll on Tuesday or I'll go completely mad dreaming up new scenarios !
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
Sorry to be so boring but is it possible the the actor (Adam Thomas Wright) was used to play 2 separate characters with nothing in common other than the actor. The *scottish boy " looks to me like he's wearing a wig. I know they're not the same age but maybe it was just a case of using him twice to make things easier for production. I'm sure the writers never ever thought that people (myself included) would become so engrossed in this programme that every little detail is dissected. Just a thought.
I have another crazy theory,roll on Tuesday or I'll go completely mad dreaming up new scenarios !
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
I have another crazy theory,roll on Tuesday or I'll go completely mad dreaming up new scenarios !
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
Brilliant theory, I'm really like that one. You may be onto something there.
Sorry to put a damper on this but Greg is not on the cast list for episode 8 and neither are the Scottish family. It is the final list as it does not include Garrett / Ziane / Robert who have died during the course of the series.
I'm firmly of the view that the BBC is sophisticated and intelligent enough to make certain omissions to the pre-published cast list, otherwise far too many people would notice particular names and it would ruin it.
This has already happened ahead of Episode 7 - some of the Duchamps' character names were not on the pre-published list. Even Alain's name wasn't on the list but he was in the episode.
After the money and talent that has gone into this series, the embargo upon the ending is very precious commodity to the BBC.
Sorry to be so boring but is it possible the the actor (Adam Thomas Wright) was used to play 2 separate characters with nothing in common other than the actor. The *scottish boy " looks to me like he's wearing a wig. I know they're not the same age but maybe it was just a case of using him twice to make things easier for production. I'm sure the writers never ever thought that people (myself included) would become so engrossed in this programme that every little detail is dissected. Just a thought.
Adam Thomas Wright was definitely the actor who played the scottish boy in ep 1. To me Alex, the french boy that was kidnapped, looked very different (even allowing for the wig)
also don't forget Alex would have been 8 in 2009 when he was kidnapped and Scottish boy is 13. (Adam Thomas Wright was 13 when this was filmed).
Yes we do, but I think we're being tricked into assuming those scenes happened sequentially. I agree with Weenie that the opening scene is actually the beginning of a scene that happens after Tony finds out the truth, and we will see a conclusion to the same scene in Episode 8.
YES! I too believe the last scene in last episode will be first scene from first episode.
Watch that first scene again and see how relaxed with himself he is at any other time in 2014.
He has learned the full truth and is at ease, looks like he has accepted his situation without a big fight.
Adam Thomas Wright was definitely the actor who played the scottish boy in ep 1. To me Alex, the french boy that was kidnapped, looked very different (even allowing for the wig)
also don't forget Alex would have been 8 in 2009 when he was kidnapped and Scottish boy is 13. (Adam Thomas Wright was 13 when this was filmed).
When did Tony make that payment to Greg? Around the time Ollie was born? If so, could it fit in with any theories revolving around sperm donation, surrogate mothership, or illegal adoption?
I have another crazy theory,roll on Tuesday or I'll go completely mad dreaming up new scenarios !
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
When did Tony make that payment to Greg? Around the time Ollie was born? If so, could it fit in with any theories revolving around sperm donation, surrogate mothership, or illegal adoption?
Adam Thomas Wright was definitely the actor who played the scottish boy in ep 1. To me Alex, the french boy that was kidnapped, looked very different (even allowing for the wig)
also don't forget Alex would have been 8 in 2009 when he was kidnapped and Scottish boy is 13. (Adam Thomas Wright was 13 when this was filmed).
I agree, Alex looks very different to Adam Thomas Wright. So I'm very confused as to why the credits said Alex was played by Adam.
To add to the confusion further, both the Daily Express article and the Missing poster said that Alex Duchamps was 6 at the time of the kidnapping. But he was much older that that - he was nearly as tall as the policeman who carried him out of the abductor's house!
Comments
Here are some more comparison shots. Make your own conclusion. I say yes, others say no.
I thought it safe to bring this bit out of spoiler tags:
I happily admit that I can't incorporate into my theory why the car broke down at that particular place. But this has been a major stumbling block to all possible theories, because the breakdown seemed to be a random event that nobody could have set up (unless we get into very unrealistic territory, like the car being rigged with a GPS-linked device to make it break at that location!).
Do we actually know how close Challons is to the exact spot the car broke down? And more importantly, why did Tony phone that particular garage to come and tow the car?
One thing that struck me when I first watched Episode 1 is that a 55 reg Citroen Picasso would have been nearly new in 2006. It would have come with 1 years European Breakdown cover provided by Citroen (I had an 05 plate one myself!). The French equivalent of the AA/RAC would have come out and fixed a simple thing like that at the roadside. If it wasn't fixable at the roadside it would have been towed to an official Citroen dealership (and there are loads of Citroen dealerships in France, even in small villages. A town the size of Challons would definitely have had one) because an independent back street garage tinkering with a brand new car would void the warranty.
Just an observation.
Yes we do, but I think we're being tricked into assuming those scenes happened sequentially. I agree with Weenie that the opening scene is actually the beginning of a scene that happens after Tony finds out the truth, and we will see a conclusion to the same scene in Episode 8.
I'm not sure but It looks like a continuation to me - raining when he is indoors, raining when he leaves the bar and walks back to the hotel, he also appears to be wearing the same clothes throughout
I agree they look very similar, but didn't Emily's father die in 2014? The man in episode 1 looks quite a bit older. Had the hospice scenes been in 2006, I would've agreed it was the same person just aged a bit.
What I meant to say is that Scottish Boy in Episode 1 and Alex Duchamps in Episode 7 are both credited as being played by the same actor, Adam Thomas Wright. That's how I made the connection.
No, I'm not saying it's Alex in Episode 1, I'm saying it's Ollie, but he's been given the old identity of Alex because the real Alex has been given a new identity to stop his father tracking him down again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vwdgm
Supposing the boys were actually swapped at birth,they are the same age,Greg was a hospital porter and could easily have switched the babies as revenge on Tony for the beating or knowing Ollie was his baby he wanted to make sure that Tony would not bring him up.
Then a few years later James breaks his ankle,has an operation and they find that the blood group doesn't match his parents.Mark does some detective work ,checks the hospital records and discovers who and where his real son is.He decides to follow them to France and just happens to be on hand when Ollie goes missing and immediately steps in to "help".
Emily's father was convinced that James was Ollie,maybe Greg admitted what he had done to the dying old man.So Emily has been bringing up her real son all along but of course is still grieving for the son she loved .Whether or not he was her natural child her love for him is very real.
Haven't worked out what Mark intended to do once he got to Ollie,my poor brain is frazzled,I need a relaxing cognac in a cosy wine bar,just me and Julien ;-)
I like it!
Brilliant theory, I'm really like that one. You may be onto something there.
I'm firmly of the view that the BBC is sophisticated and intelligent enough to make certain omissions to the pre-published cast list, otherwise far too many people would notice particular names and it would ruin it.
This has already happened ahead of Episode 7 - some of the Duchamps' character names were not on the pre-published list. Even Alain's name wasn't on the list but he was in the episode.
After the money and talent that has gone into this series, the embargo upon the ending is very precious commodity to the BBC.
Who was shot?
Adam Thomas Wright was definitely the actor who played the scottish boy in ep 1. To me Alex, the french boy that was kidnapped, looked very different (even allowing for the wig)
also don't forget Alex would have been 8 in 2009 when he was kidnapped and Scottish boy is 13. (Adam Thomas Wright was 13 when this was filmed).
Watch that first scene again and see how relaxed with himself he is at any other time in 2014.
He has learned the full truth and is at ease, looks like he has accepted his situation without a big fight.
Link to Adam Thomas Wright's IMBD profile
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3985556/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl
Meant to put that as a spoiler but it's public knowledge
So do I, apart from the last bit!! >:( >:( :cool:
Payment made in Feb 2000
Ollie born in Sept 2001
I agree, Alex looks very different to Adam Thomas Wright. So I'm very confused as to why the credits said Alex was played by Adam.
To add to the confusion further, both the Daily Express article and the Missing poster said that Alex Duchamps was 6 at the time of the kidnapping. But he was much older that that - he was nearly as tall as the policeman who carried him out of the abductor's house!
Thank you yendig! It worked - woooot!!! The trailer didn't quite fill in all the gaps though?