***Warning: Major spoilers ahead***
In The Game, serial killer Patrick Harbottle (Robson Green) might have spent a year behind bars, but the manipulative psychopath definitely knows how to ensure he’s not forgotten by the man that put him away.
When bombarding former Detective Huw Miller (Jason Watkins) with letters didn’t seem to work, Patrick sent prison officer Jackie (Tanya Franks) to stalk his daughter Margot (Indy Lewis) who is living with her new boyfriend, Sam (Sonny Ashbourne Serkis).
But it was the hit-and-run death of his wife Alice (Sunetra Sarker) that truly sent Huw on a downward spiral – and back towards Patrick’s terrifying cat-and-mouse game.
At the same time, DS Jenny Atkins (Amber James) is also drawn back into Patrick’s orbit, with the grieving widow of a missing man believing her husband, Jonathan Gower, was Patrick’s first-ever victim. Patrick confesses, even offering to show the police the location of the body – but only if Huw is involved in the investigation.
With so many twisted games at play, things finally reach their deadly climax as Huw looks for both vengeance and justice, and Patrick revels in the gameplay.
Here’s how the season 2 finale played out…
The Game season 2 ending explained
Did Patrick kill Jonathan Bower?
The case against Patrick for killing Jonathan Bower certainly looked watertight. After all, Jonathan dealing with a stalker before his disappearance largely matches the MO that Patrick had during his killing spree, and Patrick confessed to it. He even detailed seeing Jonathan, who was on the autistic spectrum, coming into his shop carrying a threadbare teddy bear in his backpack.
But for Jenny something didn’t quite add up. Patrick seemed too willing to hand over that information, even offering to take Huw and the police into the woods to uncover the body.
Turns out she was right: Patrick was leading Huw and the other officers into a trap. Jonathan died in a hit-and-run in Dudley years prior, miles away from his home, and police were unable to identify him – the only things he had on him was his backpack and teddy bear. He had nothing to do with Patrick.
As Jenny reveals this information to Jonathan’s widow Natalie, the truth clicks: Natalie was the one stalking her own husband, though she considers it more “looking after him”. When Jonathan found out, he left her – which is why he was somewhere no one would have looked for him.
But by this point it’s too late. Patrick was out of prison on the search with Huw and the officers, in a part of the woods with no phone service. Jackie – who Patrick had seduced into following his every command – was waiting for them with a gun, shoots one officer and hightails it out of there with her fugitive lover in the back of her car to “start their life together”.
But Huw was one step ahead. Already becoming suspicious of Jackie, he had planted a tracker in her car – so simply followed it to their remote farmhouse hideaway. Drawing a gun on them both, Huw demanded Patrick drive them somewhere, thanking Jackie for her “assistance” in getting Patrick exactly where he wanted him. Now they were finally alone – and Huw can exact the revenge he had planned for his wife’s death from the start.
Where does Huw take Patrick?
At the beginning of the season 2 finale. Despite being held at gunpoint, Patrick is surprisingly calm when driving Huw – because he had anticipated Huw would do something like this and had already prepared for it.
Heading into a barn, Patrick taunts Huw about his daughter, Margot, revealing he’s been calling her every other day for weeks, branding him “pathetic” as he doesn’t have it in him to actually pull the trigger.
He also had a back up: Sam, Margot’s boyfriend, is working with him too, and clobbers Huw over the head with a shovel, knocking him out. Patrick had taken him under his wing years ago, manipulating Sam who had suffered years of abuse at the hands of his father.
What happens to Huw?
With Patrick now changed out of his gaudy green and yellow prisoner jumpsuit, they dump Huw in a remote location 20 miles away, leaving him to hitch a ride to a hospital as they hide out in Sam’s old family flat.
Jackie, who has been spectacularly ghosted by Patrick after the rescue, is found and arrested on the side of the road.
When the police are informed of Huw being found safely, Jenny goes to check on him. He seems discombobulated and concussed, but continues to lie about what he knows, and his involvement in Patrick getting away. She doesn’t entirely buy it, noticing his car’s missing.
Huw later tells Margot he feels honour-bound to bring Patrick back in, and despite her begging for him to leave it alone, he admits that he can’t because “there’s nothing else to focus on” – leaving his daughter hurt that he seems to care so little for her.
As Sam arrives to “help around the house”, Margot leaves upset. He gets Huw a glass of water and shares information about his abusive upbringing before leaving.
He then tries to cheer Margot up by offering to take her on a romantic getaway, and although she declines a trip abroad, she agrees to a hotel. But it’s all part of Patrick’s bigger plan, with Sam then calling him up and agreeing to kill Margot if she “doesn’t agree” to whatever the next phase is.
What happens to Margot?
At the police station, Jenny interviews Jackie, who is not co-operative in finding Patrick. Jenny eventually snaps, calls her stupid for falling for his schemes, and leaves in frustration. On the plus side, the team have been able to use her phone to triangulate a number she was repeatedly calling to specific location.
When they get to the flat, Patrick is already gone, only leaving behind his jumpsuit. But Huw is unnerved… as he feels like they’ve been there before. He realises Ray Butler, Patrick’s second victim, was found in that very flat. On top of that, there’s a belt left on the table – the same way Sam said his dad would leave his before beating him.
Sam drives Patrick to the farmhouse Patrick initially intended to stay in with Jackie, and admits he likes Margot, as she’s the first person who made him feel “seen”. Patrick reminds him she wouldn’t accept “who he really is”, before telling him to head off and take her to the hotel.
As they pack their bags, Sam convinces Margot to switch off her phone and give it to him, and she agrees as she needs time to unplug from her father.
At the same time, Jenny and Huw look back into the Ray Butler case, and discover a family photo that confirms Sam was Ray’s son. On top of that, Sam was seen on CCTV footage by the dealership where the car that killed Huw’s wife Alice was bought. He was the man that killed her.
As they realise that Margot is in serious danger, Huw frantically tries to call Margot, and Jenny tries to call the Chief, who is furious about Huw’s behaviour and kicks him off the investigation. He also warns Jenny he thinks that Margot is likely already dead. Desperate, Jenny pleads with Jackie for help, and she cracks, realising Patrick played her. But she also reveals something to Jenny – Huw has a gun, and doesn’t seem afraid to use it.
How does the series end?
Huw receives a call from Patrick, who taunts him about Margot before arranging a meet up. As he leaves, Jenny is outside waiting, and demands answers he refuses to give. When he drives off, she calls him in as a suspect for Patrick’s prison escape.
At the farmhouse, Huw arrives brandishing a knife, declaring that while he couldn’t kill him before, he can now he knows he was behind Alice’s death. Patrick warns that if he dies, Margot dies – so Huw needs to tread carefully. Huw demands proof she’s alive, so Patrick calls Sam and tells him to put her on the phone.
While it’s clear Margot is safe, she also doesn’t listen to her dad’s warnings as he tells her everything about Sam. She tearfully tells him that Huw is suffocating her and is tired of coming second to his obsession with Patrick, and he needs to let him go. Huw tries to prove Patrick is right in front of him by getting him to talk on the phone, but Patrick refuses, coldly saying nothing and making it sound to Margot like her dad’s lost his mind.
As Margot hangs up the phone, Patrick says his entire plan was to disappear with her, only killing Margot if she tried to come home as keeping her away would have driven him more crazy than murdering her. He callously promises to take care of her, and taunts Huw for sacrificing up everything, just for him.
Despite it all, even when Patrick walks up to the tip the knife Huw is wielding, Huw can’t bring himself to kill him, so the psychopath walks away victorious.
At the hotel, Sam probes Margot on what was said, secretly grabbing a knife from the room service trolley to kill her should he need to. She asks him if he’s going to hurt her, and he promises no, so she tells him she loves him and wants to run away abroad like he offered.
As she gets dressed and packs her bags, Huw heads home and packs his – including photos of Alice and Margot. When he hears police sirens heading towards the house, he escapes to the beach before going on the run, leaving the future open for everyone.
Will The Game return for season 3?
At the time of writing, The Game season 3 isn’t confirmed, but it’s certainly implied – with everyone’s future left in doubt.
Huw has now lost everything, including his reputation, but is so fixated on his battle with Patrick he doesn’t look set to give up.
Patrick, on the other hand, must be revelling in the victory, taking everything from Huw and setting himself up for a cosy future abroad.
Then there’s Margot who, unknown to her, is shacked up with her mother’s killer, and about to get on a flight with him for what she thinks is a romantic getaway.
So if The Game continues, it looks like it’s going to be set somewhere sunny…
The Game season 2 is available to watch now on 5.
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