Hostage season 1 ending explained: What happens to the kidnapper John Shagan?

Hostage season 1 is a political thriller series that premiered on Netflix on August 21, 2025. The five-part limited series is created and written by Matt Charman and directed by Isabelle Sieb and Amy Neil. Annelie Simmons and James Levison serve as the show's producers, while Foz Allan, Suranne Jones, and Steve Searle are credited as its executive producers.

Hostage season 1 centers on two political leaders - the British Prime Minister, Abigail Dalton, and French President, Vivienne Toussaint. Their lives and careers begin to unravel after Abigail's husband, Alex, is kidnapped and used as leverage to force Abigail to resign.

Undeterred, Abigail and Toussaint work together to catch the criminal mastermind, John Shagan, who is killed by Abigail's daughter, Sylvie, in a final confrontation at the end of the series.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Hostage season 1.

The fates of Abigail Dalton and Vivienne Toussaint revealed in Hostage season 1

A still of Alex Anderson as seen in Hostage season 1 (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

The British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton, and the French President Vivienne Toussaint's personal lives intersect during a high-profile state visit. Dalton seeks Toussaint's help in fixing the country's broken healthcare system that has led to an insufficient supply of vital medicines, destabilizing the country and threatening her political career.

On the other hand, Toussaint's agenda for the meeting involves convincing her British counterpart to help her deal with the illegal immigrant crisis affecting France. She proposes putting French soldiers on the UK soil to stop immigrants from crossing the English Channel and entering France illegally.

However, their diplomatic talks are interrupted when Abigail's husband, Dr. Alex Anderson, is abducted during a medical trip in French Guiana. The kidnapper demands Abigail's resignation within 24 hours, but she refuses to comply. Toussaint offers to help find the culprit, but she is forced to back away after the kidnapper threatens to reveal her secret affair with her stepson, Matheo, to the public.

Julie Delphy seen as Vivienne Toussaint in Hostage season 1 (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

Instead of caving in, Dalton and Toussaint decide to team up and expose the criminal mastermind. They put up a united front in public and announce Alex's kidnapping as well as Toussaint's blackmail in a press conference. Their teams put together a rescue mission that successfully rescues Alex and his fellow doctors from captivity.

Infuriated by the turn of events, the kidnapper, John Shagan, places a bomb inside a laptop and ends up killing Toussaint inside 10 Downing Street. The ensuing backlash forces Abigail to step down, leading the Defence Secretary, Dan Ogilvy, to take her place and declare a nationwide emergency.

General Livingston takes advantage of the situation and proceeds to instate military rule in Britain. However, Abigail and her team members, including her trusted advisor Kofi Adomako, detain him in time. His allies, Shagan and Saskia, make a last-ditch attempt by abducting Abigail's husband and daughter, Sylvie, along with Matheo.

During the final confrontation of Hostage season 1, Sylvie takes matters into her own hands and shoots Shagan to death.

Shagan's true motives in Hostage season 1 explained

A still from the Netflix series Hostage season 1 (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

Back in 2017, John Shagan was deployed in Belize when the Guatemalan army invaded the region, forcing Abigail to order her troops back home to safety. Shagan had to unwillingly leave behind the local woman he fell in love with, who was also six months pregnant with his child. After she was killed by the Guatemalan forces, a grief-stricken Shagan vowed revenge on Abigail.

Meanwhile, Shagan's commanding officer in Belize, General Livingston, planned to launch a military coup and remove Abigail from power. Shagan joined the mission, along with Matheo’s girlfriend, Saskia Morgan, as they were unhappy with Abigail's handling of the Belize situation.

On the other side of the English Channel, Toussaint’s personal assistant, Adrienne Pelletier, wanted to oust her boss as she disagreed with her politics and the general direction she was taking the country in. She teamed up with Livingston's group to get rid of both leaders, believing that they were acting in the best interest of their countries.

Watch all episodes of Hostage season 1 exclusively on Netflix.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by DEEPALI