‘The Tourist’ Season 2 Ending Explained: What Did Elliot’s File Say?

The Tourist follows a car crash victim (Jamie Dornan) who wakes up in a hospital with amnesia and tries to uncover his past after suspecting that dangerous people want to kill him.

The first season sees the man learning the basics about himself and navigating the logistics of his situation– dealing with lawyers, doctors, and whatnot. He is told that his name is Elliot and he’s involved in a drug trafficking ring.

Elliot also makes amends with Helen, portrayed by Danielle Macdonald, a police officer whom he kidnaps while on the run but grows close with.

 The second season changes things up. Taking a darker route, the new episodes give greater insight into the people chasing Elliot and his family relations.

Elliot’s mother Niahm (Olwen Fouéré) is introduced, along with his enemy Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh) and Donal’s son Fergal (Mark McKenna).

With tons of twists and turns, and a budding romance between Elliot and Helen, the journey to the end of Season 2 can get confusing. Need help ironing out the details? Here’s a breakdown of The Tourist Season 2, now streaming on Netflix.

What Was on Elliot’s File?

Once again, the season finale of The Tourist sees Helen unsure if she can be in Elliot’s (now known as Eugene) life given his dangerous past. The episode opens in the aftermath of Donal’s death and it’s revealed that Elliot’s prints are all over the gun that killed him. Elliot denies his involvement in the death, despite having a motive. Helen visits Elliot at the police station and breaks up with him.

“I don’t know you,” Helen tells Elliot in a tearful monologue. “I don’t know who you really are and that… I wish that it was different. I wish that I could just be happy.”

“We still can be,” Elliot says. 

“I’m sorry,” Helen replies before standing up to leave.

Elliot tells Helen that he loves her and she says, “I love you too, but it’s not enough.”

Meanwhile, crime lord Frank (Francis Magee) is trying to convince Fergal to seek revenge on Elliot for killing Donal, and he hesitantly agrees after his family’s legacy is mentioned. Frank arranges for Elliot to be released from the police station. 

Upon being released, Niamh warns Elliot that Frank wants him dead. Elliot claims that the current feud is not his fate and he doesn’t want to be involved.

Helen goes to the airport and bumps into her ex Ethan (Greg Larsen) and his new friend Detective Ruairi (Conor MacNeill), and the detective tells her about Frank’s arrangement. They decide to team together to help Elliot. Oh, we love where this is going. 

Elliot takes a different approach and asks Fergal to help him hide from Frank, which lands them both in trouble with Frank. After a car chase, they meet with Niamh at Cassidy’s Pub, and she is doubtful of Fergal’s intentions.

Later, Helen, Ruairi, and Ethan — who have been digging into the secrets of Elliot and Niamh’s past — arrive at the pub, shortly after Frank and his gang has arrived. Before violence can break out over the latest revelation that Niamh killed Donal, Helen reveals that she has found the missing case from Frank’s father that Niamh stole.

Inside the case are love letters between Niamh’s mother and Frank’s father, which reveal that the two are half-siblings. Niamh tries to shoot Helen, but Elliot stands between them.

“We are not blood,” Niamh tells Frank. “We’ve spilled too much of each other’s to be anywhere fucking near that.” But Frank seems touched by the news. Elliot tells Niamh that she’s going to have to shoot him if she wants to get to Helen, and she refuses.

At this moment, Ethan offers some comedic relief, saying, “A lot of potential for incest here… with the two families.”

Niamh storms out of the pub and says she can’t forget the past, and Elliot and Helen kiss and make up. 

The episode concludes with a brief time jump that sees Elliot and Helen living in Amsterdam. Elliot has received a file with information about his old life but has been waiting for Helen to open it. She arrives home and expresses that she doesn’t want to open it and she’d rather stay present in the new life they’ve built for each other. Elliot burns the file in the fireplace. 

Hilariously, Helen carts them off to a theater and she encourages him to dance since Niahm insisted he was a skilled ballet dancer in his youth. Elliot shows off his skills as the file burns in the fireplace. Before completely turning to ash, it is revealed that the file reads that Elliot was a secret agent.

Well, that left us with a few burning questions.

Jamie Dornan on Elliot and Helen’s Relationship

Decider spoke with Dornan ahead of the Netflix release of the new season. The Irish actor expressed that Elliot and Helen’s decision to burn the file was a “good thing.”

“They need to try to have some normalcy in their lives,” Dornan told us. “They’ve gone to Amsterdam, it’s a fresh start. [Elliot’s] grown his hair a bit. They’re trying to live a normal life. The past in the past. Let’s get rid of that.” Though, Dornan acknowledges that because the viewers are aware of what’s in the file, the show has opened itself to “endless possibilities.”

“What happens next? How much of that will Helen and Elliot get to know? It felt like a ploy… like we could do more of the story. But I think for the relationship, it was probably the right thing to do… sort of wash them of all that crap. They don’t need to know any of that stuff. They close the door,” Dornan concluded.

Despite the setup for a third season, Dornan isn’t sure that it will happen. “I don’t know if there’s been conversations had about that. We’re staying out of all that and seeing if it happens. I don’t think it’ll happen. I’m pretty busy now until the end of 2025, so it’ll be a while,” he shared.