Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Carry-On!
Netflix’s Carry-On features a massive criminal conspiracy that involves all kinds of players, so here’s what the villains’ plan was, who the members of the group were, and what they actually wanted, explained. Netflix has released a lot of crime thrillers throughout the years, but what makes Carry-On unique is its Christmas setting, with the movie being part of a niche genre that was created by the Die Hard movies. Like other films in the genre, Carry-On‘s story is motivated by a group of terrorists with mysterious motives, with their true plans not getting revealed until the end of the film.
2024’s Carry-On stars Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek, a low-level TSA agent who is given a shot at a promotion to work on the security line. On his first day, however, Ethan is contacted by Jason Bateman’s criminal villain, known only as the Traveler. The Traveler tells Ethan that, if he doesn’t let a certain bag through security, his wife will be killed. Ethan then has to determine what is actually in the bag and figure out how to keep everyone safe while not alerting the Traveler to his plans. However, Ethan has no idea how big the conspiracy actually is.
Everyone Who Was Involved In The Carry-On Operation
The Group Of Villains Has A Lot Of Members
Carry-On‘s criminal conspiracy had a lot of members, but the most present one was Jason Bateman’s the Traveler. The Traveler acts as the ringleader of the group of criminals, with him working for a mysterious organization and being tasked with making sure that the Novichok nerve agent is successfully released on a specific plane. Theo Rossi plays the Traveler’s right-hand man, with him being known as the Watcher. Throughout the film, the Watcher sits in a van in a parking deck and monitors the airport, with him using a sniper to occasionally get in on the action.
The group was also assisted by a mysterious woman with blue hair. Very little is known about this character, although she is seen giving Ethan the earpiece that he uses to communicate with the Traveler, as well as bringing the Traveler a parachute later in the film. A mysterious man posing as Agent Alcott also gets involved, with him infiltrating the police in order to eliminate Detective Elena Cole. These are the four main members of the conspiracy, although there are two other unwilling members of the group seen throughout Carry-On.
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Mateo Flores is the one who is tasked with bringing the bag through security, with him being the one who was initially supposed to release the Novichok nerve agent on the plane. It is revealed that the criminals have kidnapped Mateo’s husband, with him being forced to do this if he wants his husband to live. This is similar to how the final member of the group gets involved, with the Traveler forcing Ethan Kopek to let Mateo through security if he wants his wife to live. However, Ethan eventually goes rogue and makes it out alive, while Mateo isn’t so lucky.
Why The Villains Were Targeting Grace Turner
She Was A Politician Who Was Seemingly Uninvolved
Although the Traveler initially makes it seem like the villains just want to kill random civilians on a plane bound for New York City, this turns out not to be the case. By the end of the film, it is revealed that the Traveler actually wants the nerve agent to be released on a plane headed to Washington D.C., with a specific politician named Grace Turner being the target.
Throughout Carry-On, several Grace Turner political ads are seen, with her discussing a piece of legislation that is designed to protect democracies that are in danger. If this legislation got passed, it would benefit weapons manufacturers immensely. However, it doesn’t have the votes, leading to a group that is associated with the weapons manufacturers to attempt to assassinate Grace Taylor.
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Although it may seem counterintuitive to assassinate the politician who is supporting the bill that they want passed, it actually makes sense. The villains hope that, by killing Grace Taylor, the United States is tricked into thinking that the assassination was carried out by a country that would be negatively impacted by the legislation. This would then garner more support for the bill, allowing it to get successfully passed.
How The Russians Were Involved In The Plan
The Villains Wanted To Blame Russia
The nerve agent that the villains plan on using in Carry-On is Novichok, a weapon first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. By using this specific nerve agent, it will further put the blame on Russia, as they are one of the countries that will be most significantly impacted by the bill. The villains believe that, by pitting Russia and the United States against each other, that the United States will surely react by passing the bill. This will line the pockets of the weapons manufacturers by bringing them the main thing that they profit from: war.
Who Was Jason Bateman’s Character & What Did He Want?
The Traveler’s Motivations Are Completely Mysterious
Jason Bateman’s Traveler is an incredibly mysterious character, as very little is known about him. The Traveler says that he is just in it for the money, with him being hired to make sure that the plan goes off successfully. The Traveler states that he isn’t a terrorist because he has no political, religious, or ideological motivation, with him not particularly caring about the legislation that his employers want passed. To the Traveler, this is just another one of many jobs.
One of the few details that the Traveler reveals about himself is that he has a son. However, since the Traveler is constantly lying to Ethan, this could be a lie as well. The answer to this mystery will probably never be known as, by the end of Carry-On, the Traveler is killed after Ethan closes him in a fridge with the Novichok nerve gas.
What Happened To The Blue-Haired Woman?
She Is Carry-On’s Big Loose End
With the rest of the criminals dead at the end of Carry-On, there is one loose end: the blue-haired woman. The blue-haired woman is last seen giving the Traveler a parachute, with her never being seen after this point. It is possible that she simply escaped during the madness of the day’s events, as her coworkers all ended up dead. It could also be that, much like Mateo and Ethan, the blue-haired woman was unwillingly roped into the crime. The Traveler’s death would have given her a chance to be free, with this being one of the biggest questions by the end of Carry-On‘s story.