SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 2 finale of NBC‘s Found.
Audiences are sure to be on the edge of their seats after the Season 2 finale of NBC’s Found, which very well could be the series finale, since the network cancelled it last week.
Lead studio Warner Bros. Television is shopping the series around to other networks and streamers. Fans have also been making some noise on social media, hoping that it’ll continue elsewhere. For now, though, viewers are left in limbo about both Sir and Gabi’s fates after the end of Thursday night’s episode.
The episode picks up immediately where the last one left off, after Jamie (Parker Queenan) goes missing, and they manage to deduce that he’s been kidnapped by Lena (Danielle Savre). Lena also tries to blackmail Gabi (Shanola Hampton) into recanting her statement about Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) kidnapping Lacey (Gabrielle Walsh), offering Jamie in return. Gabi decides to give everyone at M&A a vote on whether she should sign the affidavit, and everyone except Margaret votes in favor.
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Gabi pays Sir a visit after Dhan tells her about a conversation they’d had, which tips her off to the fact that Sir is actually masterminding this plan that Lena is enacting. After this showdown with Sir, Gabi finally lures Lena and Jamie to the high school. But, once she gains the upper hand, Gabi gives Lena the opportunity to break the cycle of abuse and escape out the back door. As Gabi steps outside, Lena comes running out behind her with a gun to her head — only to be met by police surrounding the building.
The next morning, Gabi holds a press conference where she stuns the world by revealing that she held Sir captive in her basement for nine months. Simultaneously, it’s revealed that Sir may not even be alive anymore, after he’s found lying in a pool of blood in his cell.
Is Sir alive? Is Gabi going to prison? How will M&A fare without her? There are a ton of questions to be answered after that finale. Shanola Hampton spoke with Deadline in the interview below to unpack a few of them. Note: This interview was done prior to the show’s cancellation.
DEADLINE: What finally compelled Gabi to tell the truth? Was it the conversation with Lena about breaking the cycle?
SHANOLA HAMPTON: It was a combination of things. I think…it’s all come to a head, right? We’ve gradually been building for this, even though I didn’t see this particular thing coming so publicly. But penance has been Gabi’s theme. She’s been trying to gain control of her life, and every time she feels like, ‘Okay, now I can pay,’ Sir takes it from her. She thought she was going to go to jail. Sir took that from her. So by the end of it, when she has that head-to-head, and she looks into Lena’s eyes, and she sees herself, then finally, she’s like ‘It has to be big enough for it for him not to be able to strip it away.’ It has to be big enough that he can’t do any other game with her. That’s what takes her to that point.
DEADLINE: So, she doesn’t know what’s happened with Sir. I have my own theories on whether he’s really dead, but let’s say he is. How would Gabi react to that, especially now that she’s admitted to what she did?
HAMPTON: Well, her telling the world about it was taking the power from Sir, but also because she really wants to pay for what she’s done. So it’s less about, ‘Oh gosh, I didn’t have to say it, because now he’s dead.’ That wouldn’t be a response, because she really does want penance, and Sir has prevented that. It’s not trying to prove a point to him. I do think that it will be an interesting emotional journey for her if Sir is truly dead, because one would think that, oh, she’ll be so happy she’s rid of this evil in her life. But as you know, humans are so complicated, and relationships, even when they’re toxic, are so complicated. So for her to not have that cat and mouse, something that she’s been addicted to for a long time, I don’t know how she would respond.
DEADLINE: The public has been following Gabi’s story for a long time too, and she often asks them for help in solving her cases. How do you think the public reacts to this revelation? I imagine it would be hard to hold space for her actions.
HAMPTON: It is hard. I mean, I think that every human being has this line, and it’s different for everyone, that if someone does a certain thing and crosses that one line, it triggers a mental reaction that may not be sane. We all sort of consciously make the choice to do the right thing and to not commit these crazy evil crimes, or to let the triggers trigger that. I can understand that emotional vulnerability of Gabi after losing her father and after losing a year of her life, after being so really mentally abused, because she was groomed to go and trust someone…I always try to sympathize or empathize with my characters anyway, because the only way to play it is to understand where they’re coming from. That doesn’t mean that you have to justify your behavior, but I can see how you could go there. If somebody messed with my kids, it would take me a real, real, real, real, real conscious effort to not commit a crime.
DEADLINE: Where do you think that Gabi and Trent are in terms of rebuilding their relationship?
HAMPTON: They are back to really working together again in a way that they trust each other. We picked up the story with them kind of in the place that they are getting back to now, which is refreshing. I think, in a romantic sense, as much as there may be this connection, it’s very difficult for Gabi to want to bring someone like Trent and Trent’s personality and his good into all of her crazy. We rarely get to see characters just work on themselves without being in a relationship, and we oftentimes just drag people into our stuff. I think Gabi is consciously trying to make sure that she heals before bringing anyone else in. But it’s nice to see that. They were at odds big time, and Trent was really brutal to her and not forgiving for a long time. So I think that will always be in the back of her head too. As much as they’re working together, she won’t forget how he treated her, even though she felt like she deserved it. But then you have someone like Dhan who’s like, ‘You did this horrible thing, but I still love you.’ I know with a woman like Gabi, who’s been through so many of these male figures…to have someone just embrace all of her is so rare. So that will be in the back of her mind as well.
DEADLINE: Trent has, even when he’s been quite mad at Gabi, shown up for her in any way he can. He does try to protect her. There’s a level of consistency there.
HAMPTON: The consistency of the protection, I think, is always nice for Gabi. She so fiercely is like, ‘I got it. I can do it myself.’ So for her, I think that, in a way, she wanted Lena to be good for him and to be that person, even though her spidey senses were way up and she was really trying to not let ego be a part of that, because Trent deserves to be with the best, coolest woman ever. You know what I mean?
DEADLINE: Well, I’m glad you brought up Lena. I know that nothing will ever compare to Gabi’s experience with Sir, but do you think Trent has a different outlook on the Evans family after having his own encounter with them?
HAMPTON: It’s like, you don’t know what you do until you’re in it…So for him to have had such a close relationship, to give his heart, in many ways, to another woman that he hasn’t done in a really, really long time, and to have her be Lena, I think, is eye opening for him, and probably in ways, has helped bridge the gap with him and Gabi. Because his judgmental self, right, is a little like, ‘Oh, wow, my pain is not even nearly what you did. That hurt, and I feel like I can do some awful things — maybe not lock a man in basement, but…’ so I think that is a sort of bridge [for] that relationship, as well.
DEADLINE: I noticed in this episode that the ‘FOUND’ wall has gotten so much larger over the past two seasons. How is that for you to see on set every week?
HAMPTON: When I look at it as an actor, and the fact that we started the pilot on this wall, and we have now moved over to this wall, and that wall has filled up so much that we’re going to have to now move over to this wall — it means something. We’re telling the stories of so many different communities, and it makes me excited when I look at the pictures. We play this game on set where people have to try to remember the case.
DEADLINE: What has been your favorite case this season?
HAMPTON: There were a couple this season. Dealing with the autism case was really timely and intentional, and it meant a lot. I loved the case we did last week with Down Syndrome, and the actors were so incredible. I think we said some key things that the masses need to hear about not doubting or putting limitations on anyone. It was such a an experience on and off screen. I’ve worked with Lily before. I did a pilot with her called Dangerous Moms, and she was incredible. She was so incredible in this, and Matthew [too]. I really, really loved when we did — because we have never done that many characters in one episode — where we found all the missing children and reunited them with the families, but it was like 10. That was an insane episode, so I really enjoyed that as well.
DEADLINE: What storylines would you be most excited to explore in Season 3?
HAMPTON: I’m excited that we get to go into other characters. So I’m excited that we get to see about Dhan, that’s our next backstory. Karan is not only an amazing actor, but Dhan is my favorite character. I love Dhan. I love his ride or die. I love his intensity, yet he’s so soft and gooey. In the end, I want to know, how did he and Ethan come to be? Because it’s the odd couple really, right? But there’s this relationship that we all are rooting for. I just want to know everything. For Gabi, I just want her to be on her healing journey. If Sir is alive, what the heck are they going to do with their cat and mouse game? I want to know that answer too. I want to solve more great cases. I want to get to Zeke. I want it to be a season where we get to Dhan, and we get to Zeke, and we get some of those questions answered.
