Deadwind season 3 is a crime drama series that follows two detectives, Karppi and Nurmi, as they pursue a brutal murderer who leaves a strange symbol near his victims. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Sofia Karppi returns to work as a homicide detective in the Helsinki Police Department after a year of leave for covering up her daughter’s drug smuggling.
Silja Rautamaa, her new boss, assigns Karppi and her former partner, Nurmi, to a new case involving a woman brutally murdered inside a cage at an old animal hospital. The victim’s back was severed, and her arms and legs were wire-bound together.
When Karppi examines the victim’s photos, she discovers that the perpetrator has left a strange symbol on the body.
Rautamaa discloses that the victim was a 51-year-old woman named Tuuli Siren, who worked for a pharmaceutical company called Memfi. She was divorced and has a 28-year-old son, Ossi Siren.
Another homicide detective, Peltola, uncovers that the victim’s younger sister, Sanna Siren, works at the same pharmaceutical company.
Karppi and Nurmi pay her a visit, and she reveals that they’re working on a new opioid withdrawal medication called Rehaxin, with Tuuli as the project manager and Sanna as a chemist who oversees the laboratory tests.
Meanwhile, Tuuli’s drug-addicted son, Ossi, begins shooting at random people. Since he is the person of interest in the case, the detectives decide to apprehend him on his boat. When they arrive there, he starts shooting and flees.
Rautamaa calls Karppi and informs her that another dead body has been found with the same symbol nearby.
The second victim was Olavi Schultz, who worked as a consultant on the Rehaxin project. They also discover that one of the pharmaceutical company’s vans was stolen, which is captured on camera near the last murder.
Karppi receives an intriguing call regarding her late husband, Jussi, revealing that his death was not an accident. Karppi resolves to find out who killed her husband.
Rautamaa informs Karppi and Nurmi that human remains have been found in a sewer and orders Karppi to investigate.
Karppi discovers that at least four skulls have been unearthed in the sewer and that whoever killed them tried to dispose of their bodies chemically.
Nurmi receives a call from the hospital informing him that Laura, his ex-girlfriend, was discovered unconscious on the streets and is now suffering from temporary memory loss.
The next day, someone attacks Laura in the hospital. When Karppi and Nurmi arrive to investigate, Laura reveals that she knew the perpetrator.
He approached her on the street to inform her about a new medication that would not cause withdrawal symptoms or depression. He offered her a free spot in the test group, and she accepted because she wanted to kick her drug habit.
Karppi finds out that Krister Merihaara, Tuuli’s colleague, is the one who attacked Laura and orders all units to keep an eye out for him.
They come across Krister’s burned-out car and his body hanging upside down in an alley with the same symbol on the wall.
The four bodies from the sewer are identified as drug addicts who took part in a failed withdrawal medication test.
Laura Salo, the fifth participant, managed to flee. They also discover that Krister arranged these tests, but the detectives don’t know if he acted alone or with others.
When Ossi is found dead in his boat, Karppi and Nurmi search for more clues. They come across a hard drive on his boat containing multiple photos of a girl wearing a necklace featuring the same symbol as the one found near the dead bodies.
They discover that the girl in the photo is Nea Paarma, who committed suicide in 2019 after a heroin overdose. Karppi and Nurmi find a link between Tuuli Siren and Nea Paarma.
Nea was Tuuli’s patient who was depressed, but Tuuli did not provide her with proper depression treatment.
Amidst all of this, with the help of her colleague, Karppi uncovers dash cam footage that shows a woman with a birthmark behind her neck standing beside the road when her husband was hit.
Deadwind season 3 ending explained in detail:
Who killed Nea and Krister?
Karppi and Nurmi learn from Peltola that whoever killed Krister was left-handed, as is Sanna Siren. They search Sanna’s home and discover a hidden lab where she illegally created the drugs.
Before they could apprehend her, she locks them in the lab and flees. However, the symbol killer kidnaps and murders Sanna before Karppi and Nurmi can save her.
The detectives come to the conclusion that Sanna and Krister murdered Nea because she found out about their plan to create a poison that kills drug addicts without leaving a trace.
They staged her suicide by injecting a cocaine overdose into her. They needed proof that the poison worked, which is why they killed the addicts who needed help.
Krister wanted to make money with the poison as soon as possible, but when he messed up and Laura escaped, Sanna realized that he would be caught. She killed him and impersonated the same symbol near his body.
Do Karppi and Nurmi catch the symbol killer?
Karppi and Nurmi believe that Jouni Parmaa, Nea’s uncle, may have faked his death in an accident and is still alive, plotting his revenge.
Nurmi reveals that he dated Nea before she died. She stole his cocaine, which he was using at the time, and Sanna used that cocaine to kill her. Karppi suspects that the symbol killer is after Nurmi.
They dig deeper into Jouni Parmaa’s past by visiting an abandoned convent where he had spent the previous six months. They come to realize that Jouni Parmaa is the symbol killer when he attacks Karppi and flees.
Later that night, Jouni Parmaa kidnaps Karppi’s son Emil, who lives with his grandfather. He calls Karppi and threatens to kill her son if she doesn’t follow his instructions and kill Nurmi.
The detectives stage Nurmi’s death, and later Nurmi kills him before he could make a move on Karppi and her son.
Who killed Jussi?
When Karppi checks the messages on her husband’s phone, she learns that Jussi had an affair with someone.
Back at the head office, she confronts Peltola, one of her coworkers, after noticing that she has a birthmark behind her neck.
Peltola admits to having an affair with Karppi’s husband, Jussi, and arguing with him because he didn’t want to be with her. So, one night, during an argument, she pushed him, and a car hit him on the road.
Also Read: Wild is the Wind ending explained: Is Vusi dead or alive?