Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
4.6
Are your hearts pounding out of your chests right now?
Much of Found Season 2 Episode 1 ensured that we were running on pure adrenaline and whatever vice we chose as we tuned into the fallout of M&A only to get swept up in Lacey’s disappearance.
Sir has Lacey, which will not resolve itself soon, making for an exciting sophomore season.
Found’s Opener Reassures that this Series Won’t Suffer a Sophomore Slump
Found has never been your typical procedural.
That steadily worked to its advantage as the series balanced elements like finding the most vulnerable demographics who go missing while exploring the long-term effects of trauma on individuals and, of course, the fascinating imprisoned Sir angle.
Because of all these things, Found set itself apart from the rest, becoming one of the year’s strongest and most sensational new series.
It’s a tall order to keep that up heading into a sophomore season when many series stumble and find themselves in a slump.
However, Found Season 2 Episode 1 delivers on the emotional fallout of Found Season 1 Episode 13.
It sets the groundwork for a season that will undoubtedly keep us on the edge of our seats.
Found Blows Up a Steady Premise with Sir on the Loose, and It Works
Truthfully, the biggest fear after Found’s shocking finale was that they had written themselves into a corner with Sir’s escape.
So much of the series’ delicious tension and thrill is watching those basement scenes in which Gabi and Sir go toe-to-toe in a wonderfully creepy and illuminating chess game.
Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar crackle together with positively riveting performances and chemistry that scratches at the bits of your brain; curious about this indefinable dynamic, unlike anything we’ve seen on television in quite some time, if at all.
Sir escaping threw a gauntlet down and forced the incredibly talented writers to write outside the box they could’ve been in.
But Found doesn’t much care for cages and boxes, especially when its entire premise focuses on saving those outside the perimeters and on the peripheral, whether it’s their countless clients or this merry band of “broken” misfits themselves.
Sir’s escape shatters the delusion that Gabi can ever reasonably have the man in her basement for an extended period without anyone knowing or that she won’t face any consequences.
Found Raises the Stakes in Season 2
The emotional fallout within the hour went hand in hand with Lacey’s shocking abduction.
Sure, we could’ve all guessed that the associates in M&A would not take the news of her harboring her captive well when she shared it with them.
They graced us with little bits of that silent admission that the series delivered in the finale as Margaret reflected on those tense moments between her and Gabi.
What’s refreshing is that everyone is still reasonably angry at Gabi, which profoundly affects her dynamics with everyone.
Found isn’t interested in sailing past the ugly and uncomfortable bits to put its lead character in a better light or evade accountability.
It’s genuinely refreshing to see that not only does Gabi get the space to be a complex female character leading a series, but the series is unafraid to put her feet to the fire and doesn’t excuse or write off everything she does.
M&A is irreparably fractured right now.
Even if or when they find Lacey, whatever that may be, there’s still no way of simply mending this family without a series of scars.
Does M&A Fall Apart Because of Gabi? Found Season 2 Episode 1 Isn’t Afraid to Explore It
At its core, we’re dealing with some of the most compelling characters on the air brought together by a common goal and severely traumatic past and experience.
Each of these characters’ respective traumas is bumping up against one another under a highly stressful situation and what amounts to or feels like a deep betrayal by the person who brought them together in the first place.
It’s interesting to see these elements at work.
For much of the first season, it was evident that the others placed Gabi on a pedestal.
But the thing about pedestals is that they’re set up to ensure someone falls from them.
So often, it feels like the other characters forget that Gabi is a survivor with her own set of issues and that it doesn’t manifest itself in the most palatable way.
Trauma is messy; it’s not pretty, and neither is the extensive work to get through and live with it.
These characters understand it familiarly, but understanding and accepting it can often be at odds.
We saw this most of the hour when Maggie and Gabi were at such extreme odds.
If anyone will have the hardest time overcoming this, it’ll be Maggie.
She was on fire the whole way through and didn’t hide it.
The tension between her and Gabi was so thick it could be cut with a knife and was not remotely manageable by Dhan and Gabi.
Gabi’s actions and the secret she harbored also caused tension between Dhan and Maggie, one of the series’ most underrated but intriguing dynamics with how they get along.
Dhan is such a Gabi loyalist.
It doesn’t matter what she does or doesn’t do; he’s so devoted to her that he’ll probably stick by her through anything while simultaneously calling her out on her shit.
So much of that is likely due to his gratitude toward her for saving him, and it’s a dynamic that warrants a true deep dive to get a real sense of the ties between them.
We all have different lines in the sand, Margaret. I don’t stand in judgment of yours so don’t you dare stand in judgment of mine.
— Dhan, Found Season 2 Episode 1
But Dhan’s outlook on life is more pragmatic and less rosy than Margaret’s, and he wanted to emphasize that.
Perhaps it’s a result of his military background and POW experience, but it was easy for him to support Gabi through some of her desire to do something to Sir, particularly kill him.
He has a different moral compass than Margaret, and they’re fundamentally opposing in that way, but he doesn’t like the judgment.
Ironically, you need someone of Dhan’s caliber in a group like this, as he’ll always serve as the protector for the others because he’ll be the one to make the tough calls when it calls for it precisely so they can be untainted.
Dhan’s Loyalty and Devotion to Gabi Knows no Bounds as He NEEDS the Found Family
Dhan’s desperation within the hour was palpable.
We’ve never seen him more fearful than over the prospect that this family he forged with M&A could crumble apart before his eyes, and he won’t have that to keep him stable and grounded anymore.
Ethan may be the love of his life, but the M&A family and their work keep him functioning, and he genuinely fears what will happen to him if he loses that.
He was completely panicky over finding Zeke nearly dying from the rat poisoning. Still, it kicked into overdrive when he read that resignation letter and saw that Zeke wanted out and would eventually take his money with him.
Dhan deleted the email as if that would somehow change everything.
His response to Trent was particularly heated when he realized that a morally sound Trent would arrest Gabi for her actions when this was all over.
The mere thought of losing Gabi, who seems to be Dhan’s anchor, enraged him, and he already has enough smoke for Trent.
Even his constant back and forth and reasoning with Margeret was in some attempt to get her to at least consider forgiving Gabi so that they could keep their family together.
Fortunately, it wasn’t Dhan or even a knowing Gina who touched Margaret and got her to soften her stance, but Zeke’s father.
M&A May Live On Despite Tension with Gabi and the Others
He understands all too well what it’s like to have a strained relationship and have things fall apart because he’s living in the shadow of his worst actions, and as a parent, Maggie could sympathize with that.
As righteous as she’s been regarding Gabi, she recognizes how damaging it could be in the long run if Maggie can’t forgive her and continues to judge her for the worst thing she’s done.
It resulted in Lacey’s capture, so surely, Gabi is already beating herself up enough.
Without a doubt, Shanola Hampton was fabulous during Found Season 2 Episode 1.
The realization that Sir was coming after all of her loved ones hit her like a ton of bricks and resulted in some of the most intense moments in this series.
Maggie could’ve died if she had taken a bite of her sandwich.
Zeke had to go through the trauma of waking up in a hospital and dealing with a medical professional who wanted to place him under a psych hold for daring to be agoraphobic.
It was a great tidbit, showing how little medical professionals know about addressing the condition.
Interestingly, Dhan evaded Sir’s wrath, but he succeeded in stealing Ethan’s credit cards instead.
At Found’s Core is a Love Story Between Two Sisters
But it’s Lacey who is the key.
Not only does Lacey serve as the one person Gabi truly loves with her whole heart, but she’s a threat to Sir.
However, Sir also realizes that he can’t kill Lacey if he ever hopes to rekindle whatever twisted partnership Sir feels he has with Gabi.
Lacey is always the key to getting to Gabi, and Sir didn’t hesitate to explain that to Lacey.
This paired well with the flashbacks, which solidified how close the two women are and how they’re sisters in the truest sense.
It was great to have flashbacks to Lacey rather than Gabi to better understand her state of mind after her rescue.
She wasn’t speaking because of her experience and was fixated on the window, fearing that Sir was still out there and watching her.
Sadly, she was right about that.
Gabi and Lacey’s Relationship is the Key to Stopping Sir
But Gabi was essential to getting Lacey to open up again after her initial abduction because they shared an experience nobody else could ever understand.
Even now, if the season isn’t already laying the groundwork for anything else, this story is a love story, but one between two sisters.
Gabi and Lacey will be instrumental in Lacey’s rescue and Sir’s eventual capture.
No one, not even those closest to them, understood their bond, and once Gabi got out of her head with her declarations of Lacey’s death, she got absolution from Lacey’s mother and a renewed sense of determination from that book reference to the mirror, Gabi got her head on straight.
Hell has no fury like a determined Gabi, and just as she goes hard for virtual strangers, she’ll do that and some for her sister.
Sir knows this and relishes that he hooked her into this new cat-and-mouse game.
To what end does this go? We’ll have to see how the season unfolds.
Found Season 2 Episode 1 Doubles Down on Sir Being Evil
But another thing the series gets right is standing firm, doubling down even on Sir’s evilness.
The show and those behind and in front of the camera are all too familiar with society’s misguided desires to woobify, justify, or explain away an attractive man’s actions.
They’re all too familiar with how much thirsting happens for Sir, largely (hopefully) because of Mark-Paul Gosselaar being who portrays him (which, fair, the man IS hot), and a concerning number of individuals who don’t process that Sir is a predator of the worst kind, not some misunderstood romantic.
Sir, getting Joe Goldberg from YOU’s treatment shouldn’t be surprising, sadly, yet it is.
But if anything, that’s a reflection of society making misunderstood antiheroes out of monsters or engraining into everyone since birth that everything from love-bombing and obsession to abuse is because a guy “likes you.”
We are, indeed, partners — connected soulmates. We are meant to be, and until you see that and accept it, the universe will continue to propel us toward each other.
— Sir [to Gabi], Found Season 2 Episode 1
This season, it’s already clear that the series isn’t pulling any punches on where it stands regarding Sir, redemption, and whether or not he’s a bad guy.
It’s undeniable and unmistakable, no matter how intriguing of a baddie he is.
Just as Lacey’s fate is up in the air this season, and Sir’s if he gets caught, so is Gabi’s.
A Betrayed Trent Holds Gabi’s Fate in His Hands
An incredibly disappointed and hurt Trent gave her three days to help them find Gabi before he arrested her so she could stand trial for what she did to Sir.
Trent is such a noble character who isn’t the most morally inflexible and has only bent his rules a bit because of his affection for Gabi.
You are not different than Sir.
— Trent [to Gabi], Found Season 1 Episode 1
We know early on where Trent is on that line that Dhan spoke about, so his reaction to Gabi was on brand with what we could expect.
He also feels he’s been getting the short end of the stick, as though he’s been baring his heart and soul to a woman for whom he clearly has genuine feelings, only for her to constantly use him and lie to his face.
It’s difficult to make sense of Gabi’s feelings for Trent, as I can’t always tell if there is a romantic connection.
But it is an interesting angle to explore because a young woman who spent her time in captivity with someone like Sir and has had that man living in her head rent-free night and day her entire life would have a warped idea of romance and relationships.
She may not even have the capacity for romantic love as a result of her trauma, and as much as Trent cares about her, it’s something that you can tell he never considers.
It even stung and felt particularly harsh and ignorant when he outright said that she was no better than Sir for what she did.
Trent is a great and honorable man.
Still, he’s realistically flawed, which comes to light in moments like that as he has to face his fundamental lack of understanding of survivors on a practical rather than theoretical level as it pertains to the job.
Found Season 2 Episode 1 Kicks Off Promising Premiere
What’s intriguing about where he and Gabi are in their dynamic right now (and how this series doesn’t handwave things away) is that I’m genuinely unsure if he’ll arrest and charge her.
It could go either way here, and that’s where Found keeps things interesting.
Over to you, Found Fanatics.
What did you think about Found Season 2 Episode 1?
Are you excited about a Sir in the wild?
How long do you think it’ll be before they find Lacey?
Will Trent arrest Gabi after all? Is M&A as we know it over?
Let’s discuss it all!
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