*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for The Cage.*
Across five episodes, viewers are quietly willing for casino workers Leanne (Sheridan Smith) and Matty (Michael Socha) to get their stroke of luck and be able to provide for their families. While they’re both robbing from their place of work and should arguably not be the ones we’re rooting for, it’s hard not to as we see the reasons that each of them needs cash quickly.
When they both discover they’re robbing from the casino that they work at, it could go badly but instead, a friendship is soon forged as they unite on their common goal. The only problem is their (kind of) boss Gary (Barry Sloane), who is in a whirlwind of trouble himself. He’s getting increasingly close to Leanne and is also breathing down Matty’s neck – what could go wrong?
The stakes continue to be ever high in the final episode as the walls start closing in around them, especially after a police raid on the casino. Thankfully, Leanne comes to Matty’s rescue but as they drive away together, what unfolds in that final episode? Read on for a full breakdown of the ending of BBC’s The Cage.
The Cage ending explained: Do Leanne and Matty get away with it?
When the casino gets raided, thankfully Leanne rescues Matty in her car and they drive off into the distance together. It turns out that Leanne took the money (£30,000, to be exact) and has it stashed in her car in a holdall.
Meanwhile, Gary tries to make a run for it but gets caught by Detective Sergeant Fen Ning (Sophie Mensah). He pleads with her, saying that he’ll give her someone that’s bigger than him in the operation. She reveals that he actually said something similar previously and didn’t keep his promise so arrests him.
Realising they should probably lay low until the dust has settled, Leanne and Matty decide to go on a weekend away of sorts. Matty goes home to retrieve some clothes but is still faced with the prospect of moving the drugs that he has in his possession. He listens to his voicemails and Paul (Louis Emerick) tells him that all he has to do is hand over the bag of drugs to an address in the Lake District and it should be simple.
When they get to Leanne’s, Matty is surprised that Leanne is bringing her son and also wants to bring her nan and daughter. They collect them and all seems well until they hit a snag and Leanne realises she’s got a flat tyre. Stranded on a country road, they wait it out and it’s there that Matty and Leanne say in a rather sweet moment that they’re each others best friends.
It eventually gets dark and they’re all sleeping, still waiting for roadside recovery when a police car eventually comes by to check on them, with the officer confused as to why they don’t just use a spare tyre. Leanne and Matty are obviously rattled by the officer’s presence for their own reasons but when he asks her to open the boot of her car, she does so – not realising what Matty has stashed in there.
Thomas (Anton Bibby) beats them to it and manages to hide the bag of cash but when the officer starts moving things around in order to get the spare tyre, he comes across Matty’s rucksack filled with what looks like wrapped Christmas presents. Matty tries coming up with a half-hearted explanation but with the officer realising Leanne has a Liverpool accent (and has thus been outed as being one of the people he’s been informed is on the run), it becomes clear what’s happening.
Instantly, Matty tries to run away but gets caught and tries shouting to Leanne that he couldn’t just leave the stash at his mother’s.
In the station, everyone is getting questioned about their involvement and it’s there that Gary’s mum Nancy (Geraldine James) agrees to be a witness, in a bid to help her son.
We then get a flash-forward to six months later and Matty’s now in prison. His cellmate has an illegal mobile phone and allows Matty to try to call her but he gets no answer, the same as usual, it appears. We then see Leanne and her family get together for the wake of her nan, who sadly passed away. Nancy is in attendance, offering her condolences and tells Leanne that she’s been thinking of her.
Outside, Leanne is surprised to see Gary, even though they’re technically not supposed to be talking to one another. Gary informs her that he’s not on bail and actually has no charges against him as the extra cash couldn’t be tied back to any illegal activity. Gary wants to check if there’s still something between him and Leanne but Leanne says that his aggression in the casino is too much and she doesn’t want to be with him. Gary gives her a card of his which has his new address in Tenerife and leaves.
In preparation for the trial, we see that both Leanne and Matty are pleading not guilty. When they’re both faced with each other in the dock, Matty tries talking to Leanne but she doesn’t want to, clearly feeling betrayed.
The evidence is stacked against them but they’re both intent on pleading their innocence, even though their legal counsel is advising them against it. In court, Matty starts to see the impact of what’s happened on Leanne’s family and her, clearly feeling the weight of the case and what he’s done.
What happens to Matty?
Looking to his own daughter Emily (Freya Jones), Matty then tells the court that it was all him and Leanne wasn’t involved. He changes his plea to guilty and says that Leanne didn’t know anything about the drugs or the money. The judge then orders Leanne to leave the dock and later, Matty’s mother’s letter is read out to the court. Although it’s something Matty doesn’t want read out, it provides context about his character and the fact that his older brother drowned when he was just nine years old.
His mother says that Matty has never been able to move on from what was supposed to be a practical joke but tragically, went very wrong. He was told to pretend to be drowning so that his older brother would rescue him. But his brother sadly drowned and Matty’s continued to blame himself for his death, not being able to move on from that time.
We then don’t get the final verdict but flash-forward again to Matty in prison, being hugged by Emily, who’s come to see him. This time is different though as she brings Leanne, who informs him that she’s got a place for her and the kids.
Leanne promises Matty that she’ll pay him back one day for everything he’s done for them but he says that she doesn’t need to. Emily then says that she thinks he’s a hero for what he’s done and that she’ll write him regularly. Matty’s on a high as he makes his way back to his cell and asks his cellmate for an hour on his phone so that he can listen to the new album from The Cure, which Emily recommended.
It turns out that Emily recorded the album for him via voicemail and he sticks his headphones in, smiling. We then see that actually, Leanne and her kids are now living with Nancy as together, they make their way to the casino. We also see Fen reunite with her family and Gary, sitting alone in his apartment in Tenerife, clearly missing home.
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The Cage continues airing tonight at 9pm on BBC One, and is available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.
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