The series I’ll Find You, a fresh adaptation of a Harlan Coben bestseller, has just delivered its season finale on Netflix. It’s time to parse the final revelations of this thriller and analyze its major twist.
Whether you relish or loathe his airport-thriller prose, Harlan Coben is undeniably one of the pillars of contemporary thrillers, cranking out novels at a machine-like pace. Since his 1990 debut with Sans un adieu (Play Dead), the American author has delivered roughly thirty novels translated into nearly fifty languages. A global triumph materialized by more than 90 million copies sold, making his name a byword for high-octane, bankable thrillers.
Such a gold mine was bound to attract the appetite of producers. So we were treated to Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One and the TV spinoffs like One More Chance and Just One Look. But all of this took on a new dimension in 2018 with Netflix signing an exclusive deal to adapt fourteen (!!!) of his novels. The latest entry in this deal, the rather middling I’ll Find You marks the first American foray of this alliance, led by Sam Worthington and Britt Lower. The series is finished, it’s time to deconstruct the ending.
SPOILER ALERT !!!
Explanation of the Ending of I’ll Find You
For the record, I’ll Find You opens with the ordeal of David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), imprisoned for five years in a high-security prison for the presumed murder of his own son. His prison routine is shattered when his sister-in-law, Rachel Mills (Britt Lower), slips him a troubling photo where, in the background, a boy bears the same scar as his son. Convinced that his child is alive, the father escapes to begin a desperate hunt.
Eight episodes later, the season finale finally reveals the identity of the culprit and, in true Harlan Coben fashion, the criminal is hiding where you least expect. It was Rachel’s ex-boyfriend Hayden Payne (Milo Ventimiglia). This wealthy sociopath orchestrated the kidnapping of the little boy to raise him secretly as his own son under a false identity. To protect his lie and his status as the ideal father, Hayden becomes the real killer behind the case, going so far as to kill his own mother, Gertrude, to hide the truth.
Once the truth is uncovered, with the help of agent Greer (Logan Browning), David and Rachel infiltrate the sprawling Payne estate to retrieve the boy, Matthew. Hayden manages to flee, taking the child with him. It all culminates in a forest shootout, during which David is shot, and agent Greer kills Hayden.
The epilogue jumps eight months ahead to the funeral of Lenny Burroughs, a Boston cop who had come too close to Hayden Payne. David has miraculously survived his gunshot wound, and his conviction has been overturned. Meanwhile, Rachel has decided to cash in by writing a book recounting the case. As for the young Matthew, he has been returned to his family.
On the supporting front, Ronald and Cheryl welcome a new kid, ex-cop Adam launches his own private agency after getting fired, and Greer takes the lead of Boston’s police squad. The final seconds offer a tender moment between David and Rachel, the two holding hands. Sam Worthington has praised the ending for closing on that intimate note.
Do David and Rachel end up together? The question remains open:
« I was glad it didn’t end with a grand romantic gesture. There’s a certain softness and simplicity to it. Sometimes strength comes from a small, quiet gesture. It’s not a bad thing to leave the ending open. That’s hope. We leave it to the audience to decide. »
The entire first season of I’ll Find You is already available on Netflix’s catalog.
