In Who is Erin Carter?, Erin Carter, a substitute teacher, struggles to keep her daughter safe when her dark past starts catching up to her. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Erin Carter moved to Barcelona with her daughter, Harper, five years ago to start over. She is now a substitute teacher at the school where Harper studies and is looking forward to having a full-time job there to complete her perfect life with Harper and her husband, Jordi.
Erin is also struggling with her growing daughter, who is always disturbed and sometimes makes desperate moves. Things begin to fall apart for her and her family when Erin and Harper find themselves in the middle of a robbery at a supermarket.
To protect her daughter, Erin takes down one of the robbers and shoots him during the struggle. The robber recognizes Erin before passing out. Erin becomes a hero, but she isn’t comfortable with the publicity she is getting.
Certainly, there is some trouble that Erin is running away from. Emilio, Jordi’s best friend, who is also a cop, saw the moves Erin pulled off in the CCTV footage from the supermarket. He warns Erin that she only took out one of the robbers, who is now dead; the other one is still alive and out there.
The other robber eventually finds her way to Erin during one of the school’s musical shows. The other robber is Margot Müller. She demands something from Erin. Emilio watches Erin kill Margot.
Although he is a cop, he helps Erin hide the body. The thing is, Emilio has been helping Erin because he needs her skills for a job. Emilio wants Erin to break into the house of Benecio Agustin, a crooked lawyer who is connected to a gang, and install spyware on his laptop.
Erin almost gets caught doing so but escapes successfully. However, Agustin captures her picture before being killed by Emilio, who drives his car onto him.
Agustin has sent Erin’s picture to his personal assistant, Valeria. Erin fears that Valeria will spread her picture, and she will be exposed. Emilio gets busy working on Margot’s case when her body is discovered, so Erin tracks Valeria down herself.
Valeria was in the process of running away with Agustin’s money. Erin comes, and her plan fails with Agustin’s gang coming to find the stolen money. Valeria is killed for the money.
Erin survives, while Emilio, who is told to drop this case due to insufficient clear evidence, learns about Erin’s past while working on Margot’s case.
Erin was kicked out of the police academy after hitting a bully in her class. She then worked as an undercover agent for the CIO, Centralized Intelligence and Operations, and joined Thomas Ramsey’s gang. The CIO was looking to bust Ramsey and his people.
DI Jim Armstrong trained Erin. During her time with Ramsey’s gang, Erin met Harper and Harper’s real mother, Lena Campbell. Erin carried out her mission successfully. During the shootout between Ramsey’s gang and the CIO, Erin saw Lena getting shot.
Erin escaped with Harper, and upon realizing that she was disposable to the CIO, Erin decided to leave with Harper and the gold she had secured for herself from this mission called the Harwich job.
Emilio asks Erin for help, and when she tells him to drop Agustin’s case, considering the risks involved, he goes all by himself. Erin’s life falls apart as she is busy trying to keep her past a secret.
Erin lets Jordi know the truth, and he is shattered to learn that she was lying all the time. Erin looks for a friend in Emilio, who is chasing Agustin’s case.
Emilio falls into a trap, and he comes face-to-face with the real mastermind behind the gangs he is investigating. The mastermind is Daniel Lang, the father of a student from the school where Erin works.
Erin comes to Emilio’s rescue, but it’s too late. Emilio dies, and Daniel asks Erin to stay away from this case. Erin can’t let Daniel buy his way out of this again. She goes to kill Daniel but lets him go, considering that Daniel’s son is nearby and he shouldn’t see his father dying.
Amidst all of this, Harper’s real mother, Lena Campbell, who is alive and in prison, learns about Margot’s death and Erin. She breaks out of prison in hopes of taking revenge and reuniting with her daughter.
Lena tracks Erin down and confronts her. Erin offers the gold she stole from the Harwich job if she leaves her and Harper alone. However, Lena takes the gold and shoots Erin down.
Lena then goes back to Erin’s house to wait for Harper. Once Harper arrives, Lena fails to muster up the courage to show herself. Harper and Jordi leave. Minutes later, Daniel’s men come and kidnap Lena.
Who Is Erin Carter? ending explained in detail:
How does Lena know Daniel?
Daniel brings Lena in for information on Erin. Lena recognizes Daniel. She reminds him that she has lived in his house. It turns out that Daniel was the one who bankrolled Ramsey’s various operations.
He doesn’t even know that the rat who ruined the Harwich job was right under his nose all the time. Lena assures Daniel that she has taken care of Erin.
Moments later, Daniel gets the news that Erin is alive. Daniel orders the deaths of Erin, Harper, and Jordi. Lena begs Daniel to let Harper go. She offers Daniel the gold from the Harwich job. Daniel then changes his mind and orders his men to leave Harper out of this assassination.
Does Harper accept Lena?
Erin comes back home, all injured. After helping Erin out, Jordi takes Harper to the house of Olivia, Erin’s best friend, since this place is dangerous for Harper right now.
Lena is allowed to go and reunite with Harper, but Daniel still has his people looking over her. Lena reunites with Harper, who has seen how far Erin can go for her. Now she only cares about whether Lena is going to help Erin or not. Lena hugs her daughter, but Harper pushes her away.
Olivia and Jordi come, and Olivia reminds Lena that it doesn’t matter what she wants; what matters is Harper. When Daniel’s gang fails to capture Erin, Daniel orders Harper and Jordi to be picked up.
Does Lena die?
Lena is tasked to hunt Erin down and bring her to Daniel if she wants Harper safe and sound. Lena now understands that Erin took Harper because she thought Lena was dead. Furthermore, Erin gave Harper a home and a family, something she couldn’t have back then.
The two women team up to take Daniel’s gang down. A point comes where one of them has to draw the fire while the other goes to save Harper and Jordi.
Erin volunteers, but it’s Lena who makes the sacrifice and dies in order to help Erin find a way to her family. Before making the move, she asks Erin to tell only the good things about her to her family.
Erin goes to rescue her family. Daniel has them. Erin arrives and tells her family to go out. Daniel claims that he sees Erin for who she is, and he hopes her family sees that too. Erin then kills Daniel before he can get his hands on his gun.
What happens to Erin and her family?
Erin and her family move on. Harper accepts Erin as her mother; she says Erin will always be her mother. While they are on vacation, Erin crosses paths with DI Jim Armstrong from the CIO, who had trained her. She had run away with some of the gold from the Harwich job.
Jim says he doesn’t want to ruin Erin’s holiday by arresting her, but he claims holidays always come to an end. For Jim, Erin is trouble, but he has always found a use for trouble. Jim lets Erin go and enjoy her holiday.
Erin talks to Jordi, who sees Erin as someone who would risk everything for her family. When asked what they should call her: Erin, or by her old name, Kate Jones, Erin says she is Erin Carter.
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