Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
4.6
What an absolute ride!
We’re closing out the first half of the season with an emotional and adrenaline-pumping hour that has certainly set up something epic when the series returns.
There are various points to discuss after Found Season 2 Episode 8, including a very heavy arc that explored suicide/ suicide ideation, so bear warning, but that ending was chilling as we await a showdown between Gabi and Sir!
Found Delivers a Captivating Look at Mental Health Via Trauma in Alice Case
The hour was another strong summation of the intersection between traumatic experiences and mental health issues, from the case involving Olivia/Alice to Margaret’s increasingly fragile state that almost heartbreakingly led to her demise.
Their case was a captivating one, and it made your heart ache for Alice, who was suffering from a psychotic break.
Sadly, we’ve seen far too often that the police aren’t the best equipped to handle these things, so it was a good thing that Stevie went to M&A. Of course, it didn’t stop Trent from being actively involved in the whole investigation and working alongside Gabi.
Trent was blessedly tolerable during this installment and felt like the character who genuinely cares about these people and feels stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
As a result, there were no feelings of frustration toward Heavy Boots this time, which is progress, but I still can’t help but wonder how they’ll swing favor for this character after a rough first half of the season.
Gabi’s Connection to Alice and Many Twists and Turns Produced One of the Season’s Most Compelling Cases
In the end, Gabi could relate to poor Alice, whose grief over losing her father sparked a mental break in part because of her schizophrenia and resulted in her living a nomadic life with her daughter and fearing that some mysterious “Kane” figure was after her.
It was all connected to her father’s diplomatic work in the 80s, and she clung to his mission as if it was her own, carrying this like it was a connection to him.
The case resulted in some twists and turns, like the self-defense instructor beating Trent’s ass and feeling he was entitled to female attention. Ugh, men.
Even the tension between Gabi and Trent didn’t stop her from bulldozing into interrogation rooms (after she banished him to the waiting room at M&A) or running a press conference that undermined his. But the result was satisfying, with one of the more emotional scenes being Gabi gently talking to Alice and encouraging her to get help as she cried over her father’s grave.
I also loved the visual shot of the three generations of women hugging each other in the hospital bed. I’m a sucker for those types of moments, and that was a snapshot one.
M&A Has Been Emotionally Broken, and the Case Served as a Reminder of That
But if anything, the case was just another prime example of how much pain and hurt can rule us as humans. M&A has been unquestionably broken, and everyone is incredibly fragile.
We’ve spent much of the first half of the season touching upon it in some capacity for many of the characters, but this hour certainly addressed all of it for M&A’s leading players.
Lacey is still carrying around her most recent abduction by Sir, and her mind has been prone to wander as the fear and anxiety wells up in her. She often fights back against whatever urges she may have to disappear into herself after what happened.
She was quietly an anxious mess for much of the hour while simultaneously doing her best to ensure that other people were okay.
The issue with Margaret was particularly triggering for her, and you could see her grappling with that the entire hour while trying to keep up with the case.
As one of the few characters who sees past Gabi’s facade, her earnest approach to ensuring that Gabi knows not everything is her fault and she can’t shoulder the blame for all is admirable. But now that we have so much of their history filled in for us via those flashbacks, you cherish those flashes of sincerity, concern, and sisterhood even more.
Lacey knows Gabi isn’t okay, which worries her in ways she has yet to express fully.
Zeke’s Newly Defiant Streak is Worrisome and Leaves His Future Up in the Air
Meanwhile, Zeke’s defiance about the technological use and potentially facing jail time is so blatantly his attempt to maintain every ounce of control he feels he has when his agoraphobia otherwise can make him feel powerless and like a sitting duck.
He’s thrown his complete all into doubling down on his usefulness with not just the case but figuring out Sir as an entity and subsequently saving Gabi and all of them in the process. He’s taken to this mission like a superhero, so hyper-focused on it that he’s willfully blind to how it could jeopardize him in the long run.
Zeke hears Trent and Gabi’s concerns and warnings but doesn’t seem to care. He puts just enough faith in his powerful father to get him out of whatever trouble and stubbornly sticks to his guns anyway.
Meanwhile, “stronger” characters like Dhan are cracking at the seams, and with each passing episode, it’s abundantly clear how codependent he is on M&A and Ethan.
The friction between the team has been slowly killing him because it disrupted the safe space he created within this family. Everyone at M&A — they are his everything, and while it sounds endearing and cute to express that in some capacity, it goes far deeper than that for Dhan.
If they’re all literally his reason for existing, it’s scary and unsettling and speaks to how deep his scars are and how much work he still has to do emotionally.
The Cracks in Dhan’s Walls and Raw Vulnerability Leave Us Craving More Insight into M&A’s Most Enigmatic Member
Dhan’s painful, vulnerable admission to Margaret at the shoreline puts his protector role into even deeper focus.
When Dhan endangers himself to protect others, it isn’t just his job. He’ll literally put his life on the line and die for them, and in the case of Margaret, die WITH them because he can admit that he cannot continue existing without any of them.
Yes, there’s something profoundly deep and layered in his relationship with Gabi (one I still desperately need Found to explore someday) and how he genuinely views her as his solace, savior, and grounding force.
But knowing that he could express a willingness to cease to exist because he cannot live his life without M&A and Ethan gives us more insight into why Dhan has gone as hard as he has with defending Gabi and not wanting her to go to prison.
He’s her biggest advocate in the group because he needs the entire group intact for his world and life to be complete. If he loses any of them, we’d see a version of Dhan we haven’t seen before.
It was also interesting that Dhan views his M&A family and Ethan in equal measure — these individuals he has latched onto and brought him out of the darkest period of his life.
Harkening back to the tension between him and Ethan during Found Season 2 Episode 7, it feels like Ethan would like Dhan to choose or even prioritize, but there literally is no doing that for Dhan, meaning they’ll always be at some impasse.
Kelli Williams Delivers Indelibable Performance that Breaks Our Hearts
Of course, Margaret struggled the most, which has been a theme for much of the season.
Kelli Williams is EVERYTHING. Frankly, she always is, but in this particular installment, she delivered one of her most gutwrenching performances as Margaret.
We knew she wasn’t okay, more so than usual, from the moment she appeared onscreen.
She had terrible memories of Jamie, presumably that final moment with him, in which she expressed frustration and exasperation over his high energy and sent him to the other side of the row to give her a moment of peace.
Margaret was visibly shaken and spilled tea on herself. She was still utterly disheveled, which had been a consistent pattern for her all season.
As a side note, I appreciate all the little nuances of showing how the characters have been doing right down to their visible appearance. Margaret’s physical presentation has declined over the season, which is related to the decline in her mental and emotional state.
We’ve seen her with disheveled clothes, messy hair, and looking tired and rundown.
Ironically, Gabi’s physical presentation has been pristine to neurotic levels, harkening back to their time in captivity with a fastidious Sir, but also, Gabi’s conscientious efforts to exercise control over her wardrobe and appearance and give the illusion that she has it all together when she doesn’t.
We’ve also seen this with Dhan, Lacey, and Zeke to varying degrees.
But back to Margaret, who reached such a breaking point that she abandoned lunch with her daughter and instead opted to return to a place that brought her happiness as she contemplated death by suicide.
She’s just in so much pain, and it’s increased tenfold. While she’s been spending a great deal of time angry at Gabi and allowing that to fuel her, it still hasn’t taken away the pain and guilt she has over Jamie’s disappearance.
His birthday was that thing that finally tipped her over the edge, and it seemed she was trying to drown out the thoughts and emotions.
Margaret’s Breaking Point May Pave the Way to Jamie’s Return
M&A has been running on pure adrenaline for so long that the others hadn’t even realized the date and how it impacted Margaret.
The flashback was tough to watch because you knew what would happen and how those final moments would be something Margaret would use to torture herself for years. However, every parent has been in that position of having little patience when feeling overwhelmed by their children.
It’s challenging when there are personality clashes, and you have to adapt to the needs and expectations of a young child.
Fortunately, Margaret got help. Dhan’s plea seemed to strike a chord, and maybe the guilt of being responsible for another person’s deterioration or death was enough pressure for her to reconsider.
She’ll get her much-needed therapy and have the support of others, but this show certainly takes us through the hills and valleys of trauma and recovery.
Interestingly, this set things up for finding Jamie. They’ve laid the groundwork all season for it, and then they dangled that Sir offer out there. But now, Sir has confirmation about his intentions after his run-in with Zeke.
Based on how it played out, I fully thought that scene was a nightmare. But part of the issue was that it made no sense whatsoever that Zeke would open the door without checking the surveillance cameras first. He had Stevie inside with him, so that was a reckless move on his part.
Sir’s New Plan is a Curveball for All the Characters
Nevertheless, it was fascinating to see how he exuded the fighting spirit to the point that he physically stepped outside without even realizing it. Sir is right that Zeke’s hatred toward Sir exceeds the grip his agoraphobia has on him.
So, Sir’s twisted plan consists of him helping and “fixing” all of M&A before he takes Gabi because he knows she’ll never be at peace with him if she’s worried about her team.
It’s a different solution than him taking out the entire team, so that’s progress!
And the idea that this raging narcissist believes that he and he alone can magically “fix” people to make him better is laughable. If he did so, Sir would plan to “cure” Zeke’s agoraphobia and find Jamie for Margaret.
But what does “fixing” the others look like? What can Sir offer or do in his twisted mind to make Gabi not worry about Lacey, whom he hates? What’s his solution for Heavy Boots, whom he despises? The issue would be tanking the case built against Gabi, but that likely serves Sir more than anything else.
Sir hasn’t been able to figure out Dhan well, seems intimidated by him, and is avoidant, so what exactly is his plan there? Right now, all we know is that Dhan couldn’t survive losing any of them, including Gabi. So, how would that work?
If anything, it’s enough there to make you wonder about the theories and speculation of Ethan’s involvement in all of this. Many Found Fanatics believe Ethan is working with Sir, and we’ve had some breadcrumbs here and there that could support this.
But he’s the best pathway to Dhan and insight into him, so that’s another interesting angle.
The Flashbacks Have Become Invaluable and Highly Appreciated Context for the Present
The flashbacks were stellar as always, and I’ll never stop singing the praises of Jasmine Washington and A’Zaria Carter. Washington does so much with Bella without having to utter a word and grips you with her emotional performances.
I held my breath when Bella realized that Sir was calling her mother and asking about Gabi. She frantically worked to tell her mother as much as she could.
Of course, one of the most gripping moments of the hour was Gina gifting young Gabi those brass knuckles.
Gina: The counter to being afraid is being prepared; it’s fighting back.
Gina’s line touched the soul in its empowerment because it wasn’t the placating and soothing one expects from a parent during trying times. At some point, no encouraging, soothing words can do justice to a situation far beyond that.
Gina’s sitdown with Gabi went beyond a protective maternal figure; it was a reckoning moment when two women had a heart-to-heart on an equal level.
It means so much more knowing that Gina is the one who gave Gabi those brass knuckles and how significant they have been in all this time.
Gina has easily become one of my favorite characters of the season.
Found’s Midseason Finale Sets Up and Epic Gabi/Sir Showdown, Leaving Us Clamoring for More!
Found didn’t share the exact words in that letter, but whatever they were, Gabi returned to her old high school with brass knuckles in hand in preparation for a confrontation.
I couldn’t tell if the spooky setting represented another dream or simply keeping up with the theme of “haunted” that set the tone. Nevertheless, Sir’s voice on the speaker made me shudder.
We know his plan, and he wants Gabi. So will he stick to the plan of “fixing” M&A first, or is he all-in on seizing the opportunity to take Gabi now, or better yet, have her willingly go with him?
She’s already expressed that she’s fine accepting punishment for her actions, and we’ve seen where she’s semi-capable of turning herself over to Sir if it has the desired results.
Despite her fear, she has that fight in her, and she’s preparing for something, but what?
Sadly, we will have to wait until January to find out!
Over to you, Found Fanatics.
What are your predictions for the Gabi/Sir showdown?
How shocking was Margaret’s near-death decision?
Did the revelation of Dhan’s dependence on the rest of the team surprise you?
How are you feeling about the season thus far? Let’s hear it all below!
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans, press 1 when calling.
Crisis Text Line: Text TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7.
Watch Found Online
