The Day of the Jackal made a big mistake killing (SPOILER)

The Day of the Jackal ended its first season with a shocking death that may be a bad move for the show!

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for the season 1 finale of The Day of the Jackal.

The Peacock adaptation of the classic novel followed the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), a freelance assassin, trying to kill tech billionaire Ulle Dag Charles. Meanwhile, MI-6 agent Bianca (Lashana Lynch) was tracking him down. 

The penultimate episode had the Jackal succeed in killing Charles, only to be injured while escaping. Meanwhile, Bianca was tracking him down, only for her boss Isabel to shut her down. Bianca worried that someone higher up didn’t seem to care if Jackal succeeded or not. Outraged at this, Bianca quit the agency. She went home to her husband to apologize and seemed ready to move on.

However, pushed by her superiors, Isabel told Bianca she needed her back on the case. Despite her husband’s concerns, Bianca agreed and she and Vince jetted off to Spain. They tracked the Jackal to a house where the Jackal got the drop on them to kill Vince.

Bianca and the Jackal traded some words, with Bianca telling him this could only end badly. It did… for her as with a single bullet, the Jackal killed her. Just to ensure this wasn’t a fakeout, we saw her body and later Isabel (who’d gotten promoted), told Osi (Chukwudi Iwuji) that Bianca had gone rogue. She didn’t know Osi had gotten a text from Bianca telling him that she was working on Isabel’s orders. 

So Bianca is gone and in doing so, the show has made a big mistake.

Why Bianca should have lived

In some ways, Bianca’s death makes some sense. Her obsession leading her to a dark end sadly fits the character, and it shows how ruthless the Jackal is. It’s also a big twist to bump off what appeared to be the heroine of the story in such a sudden fashion, no dying words or such, just one shot and she’s gone. 

However, the way the story flows makes this a bad move. Now, if this was a limited series, it could be logical to wrap up Bianca’s storyline. However, the show has already been renewed for a second season, meaning the Jackal is once more going to be hunting a new prey. That should have meant Bianca would continue her own chase for him.

The potential was great with Bianca secretly working “off the books” for MI-6, meaning she couldn’t count on their resources or protection if things went badly. Lynch could have been stellar showing Bianca losing herself a bit, forced to make dark moves, cross the lines, let go of her “black and white” viewpoint to accept a shady world. That she could become a twisted mirror for the Jackal was fodder for great storytelling.

There was also Bianca’s marriage, and how this could put pressure on it, and Bianca is so focused on catching the Jackal, she ignores how bad she’s getting. There was also how the Jackal might end up respecting her along the chase. Not to mention, Bianca trying to befriend and/or use the Jackal’s wife, Nuria could have given us some fantastic scenes. Imagine Bianca asking Nuria how she could love a murderer and Nuria getting under Bianca’s skin with her own obsession.

Instead, Bianca is dead, meaning someone else has to take up her cause. It may be Osi, but while Iwuji is a great actor, it wouldn’t be the same as Lynch. That they weren’t close enough to justify Osi trying to avenge his friend also robs that storyline of some impact. 

The producers clearly had expected a second season with the way the series ended with the Jackal prepared to continue his work. This means they could easily have written Bianca surviving as the cat-and-mouse game between her and the Jackal was the focus of the season. Having some new character filling that part won’t be as meaningful as Bianca’s story continuing. 

While Season 2 of The Day of the Jackal looks intriguing, it still seems a huge waste to kill Bianca as her character arc could have made a second season even better, and her loss may be a hurdle that causes the series to stumble. 

The Day of the Jackal is streaming on Peacock.