'I Will Find You' Ending, Explained: Breaking Down the Twists in the Harlan Coben Netflix Series
If you've read a Harlan Coben thriller or watched any of the numerous Netflix series based on his books, then you know the writer loves a twist. Netflix's latest Coben adaptation, I Will Find You, is no exception. In fact, it might be the twistiest one yet.
The mystery series begins with a simple premise: David Burroughs (Sam Worthington) is a man serving a life sentence after being convicted of his son's murder, but what happens when he learns that his son might not be dead after all? What follows can only be described as a rollercoaster of bad decisions in the pursuit of the truth.
David escapes prison with the help of his godfather and prison warden Philip (Peter Outerbridge), as well as his policeman son and David's childhood friend Adam (Jonathan Tucker), and his former sister-in-law, Rachel (Britt Lower), as he becomes convinced that Nicky Fisher (Clancy Brown), a local mob boss, set him up for murder and kidnapped his son as part of a very convoluted revenge plot against David's father. The truth, however, is much, much creepier. Read on as we break down how I Will Find You really ends.
Matthew's (Ahston Cressman) "murder" in I Will Find You is much more complicated that viewers are first led to believe.
Who kidnapped Matthew in 'I Will Find You?'
As it turns out, the local mob boss didn't kidnap Matthew (Ashton Cressman) in the Netflix thriller. In fact, he wasn't taken by anyone trying to get revenge on David or anyone in his family. He was taken by Hayden Payne (Milo Ventimiglia), Rachel's on-and-off boyfriend who previously interacted with Matthew once at a Fourth of July party.
So, why would a man supposedly in love with Matthew's aunt kidnap the boy and frame David for murder, you ask? And why did he help David and Rachel when they were on the run investigating? You're going to want to sit down for this one.
Why did Hayden kidnap Matthew in 'I Will Kill You?'
Hayden kidnapped Matthew for one very simple reason: He believed that Matthew was his biological son. Over the course of their investigation into the case, Rachel and David learn that Cheryl (Erin Richards), Rachel's sister and Matthew's mother, had visited a fertility clinic before getting pregnant. She and David had been trying for a while, and in her desperation to become a mother, Cheryl decided to use a sperm donor without telling her husband. Only, she didn't get the sperm she thought she was paying for.
The donor wasn't a stranger; it was Hayden, who paid off the fertility doctor to use his sperm in the insemination. It turns out, Cheryl used Rachel's name at the fertility clinic, fearing that she might be found out, so Hayden believed that Rachel was the woman he was inseminating. He couldn't stand the thought of her being tied to another man, so he orchestrated the entire operation using his family's money and connections.
Hayden (Milo Ventimiglia) used his power and connections to orchestrate Matthew's kidnapping.
How did Hayden set David up for murder on 'I Will Find You?'
After meeting Matthew at the Fourth of July party, Hayden couldn't stop thinking about him and became obsessed with the idea of taking back his biological son. So, he did the only logical thing: fake a murder. But first, he had to find a body. Lucky for him, his family owned a Swiss orphanage where a boy around Matthew's age had arrived. Hayden used his money to have the boy taken to the U.S. and murdered, planting the boy's dead body in Matthew's bed and making it look like David had killed his own son. With the help of his mother (Madeleine Stowe), he was able to manipulate the genetic testing so that the body found was identified as Matthew. With Matthew legally declared dead, Hayden was free to raise him as his own. Matthew, now 8, spent the last five years believing he was Hayden's son named Theo.
Cheryl (Erin Richards) and Rachel (Britt Lower) help David piece together the clues once he escapes from prison.
Who is Matthew's father in 'I Will Find You?'
Hayden spent years believing that he was Matthew's biological father, but in the final episode of I Will Find You, he learns the brutal truth: Matthew isn't his. Yes, Cheryl was artificially inseminated, but, as she learned soon after, she had already been pregnant at the time. David is Matthew's father.
By the time Hayden thought about getting a paternity test, he had already killed a boy and framed David for murder. Wanting desperately to protect her son and her family legacy, Hayden's mother lied to him about the results. What Hayden had done, after all, could not be undone.
In one final twist, David (Sam Worthington) learns Matthew was his biological son all along.
What did David's dad and Nicky Fisher have to do with Matthew's Disappearance in 'I Will Find You?'
Once David breaks out of prison, he and Rachel follow the only lead they have: a witness who testified that she saw David burying the murder weapon in the woods on the night of Matthew's murder. David tracks her down, and while she maintains she saw an unidentified man burying the murder weapon that night, she admits that Nicky Fisher, the local mob boss, paid her to testify that she saw David.
David is convinced that Nicky Fisher has his son, but Nicky is actually just a red herring. He paid the witness to ensure that David would end up in jail, but only because David's cop father, Lenny (Hugh Thompson), had previously sent Nicky's own son to jail, where he then died. Nicky, blaming David's father, decided that David's trial was the perfect opportunity to get his revenge. (It also didn't hurt that David and his partner had, in fact, buried the murder weapon on the night of Matthew's death in an effort to save David from prison.)
Throughout the series, FBI agents Sarah (Logan Browning) and Max (Chi McBride) are also trying to make sense of the case.
How does 'I Will Find You' end?
After spending the season hunting David, FBI Agents Sarah Greer (Logan Browning) and Max Williams (Chi McBride)—partners and a father-daughter pair—take a leap of faith in the series finale, choosing to trust the escaped convict instead. Despite being suspended after a shootout with Nicky Fisher's men that left Max in the hospital, Sarah determines that Matthew's case is connected to that of a missing boy from Switzerland—the boy who was killed and believed to be Matthew. She decides to team up with Rachel and David to rescue Matthew from Hayden before they can leave the country.
While Rachel, David, and Sarah head to the Payne Estate, Cheryl heads to visit Max in the hospital and gives him proof that Matthew was not the boy who was found dead all those years ago. She had a family friend run another DNA test on the blood found the night of the murder, and it wasn't a match. With this new evidence, Max calls in reinforcements from the FBI.
Before the FBI can arrive, however, Hayden shoots his mother after learning that Matthew was never his biological son and shoots David as they both run after a very confused Matthew. Sarah and Rachel manage to catch up with him before he can escape, and, without a way out, Hayden decides not to surrender. He points his gun at Rachel instead, forcing Sarah to shoot him.
The finale then cuts to months later. After solving David's case, Sarah took over as the head of the FBI's Boston Fugitive Task Force. Meanwhile, David was cleared of all charges, and he and Cheryl were able to take their son home. Cheryl also gave birth to a baby girl with her new husband, and David and Rachel are giving their relationship a shot. Their entire blended family is adjusting to their new lives in Boston.
