As the episode begins, Sheila Gagne (Carmen Moore) tells John (Billy Campbell) that there is no need to wait for a lawyer because she wants to help. She confesses to tipping off Ken about the logging rights and knowing Barry. She explains that they met Taj after that because Ken needed someone to look after roads and transport. She admits that Ken was shooting the falcons when they met Scott and Rebecca in the forest. Sheila didn’t want to be a part of it but Ken threatened to cut her out of the deal if she didn’t show up. Ken ordered her to get rid of the dead birds so they wouldn’t see them and she did. Meanwhile, Scott Riley (Shawn Doyle) retrieves the rifle he hid a bit earlier. Taj told Sheila yesterday that Ken is the one who hit Rebecca.

Taj took the snowmobile keys and left Scott and Rebecca stranded because he wanted to make sure they couldn’t leave. Sheila admits she said nothing and she was ashamed she was a part of it. She claims she didn’t know what was going on until after Adele and that is why she never told authorities. Sheila is asked if she had any idea where Scott might take Taj and Mena but she doesn’t. She offers to help show them where Rebecca died and anything else important from that day. Jerry (Glen Gould) checks on her when the others leave and reminds her that he stood up for her. He suggests they could’ve saved people if she would’ve told him the truth earlier. After that, Scott pulls Taj (Cas Anvar) out of the van and accuses him of living behind the lie even though it could end his daughter’s life.

Taj says he isn’t the one who did this to Scott since Ken told him he was going to send people back to help Scott and Rebecca. He says he took the keys to delay them before apologizing. Taj doesn’t believe Scott can get out of this alive so he offers to smuggle him in one of his trucks and get him somewhere safe. Taj says it should be him and not Mena (Chantal Saab). Scott isn’t having it and says Mena’s life will end today before throwing Taj to the ground and hitting him with the rifle. Meanwhile, Lise (Karine Vanasse), McLeod (James Downing), and the others try to figure out where Scott might’ve taken Taj and his daughter. Noelle (Kristen Thomson) and the others agree that he most likely took them to the spot where Rebecca passed away.

Scott begins moving Mena and Taj after that. He tells Mena that her father could’ve stopped all of this before dragging them with his snowmobile. The detectives arrive at the forest so they can begin looking for Scott and his hostages while John and Lise touch hands in the vehicle. Scott ties Mena and Taj to a tree and we see a flashback of him trying to keep Rebecca awake. Taj pleads with Scott to take the tape off of his daughter’s mouth so he can speak with her and Scott does. Scott steps away and Mena speaks to her father. Taj promises that neither of them will die before giving his daughter his coat so she can stay warm. Next, Jerry tells Cardinal that they can’t put a UAV or helicopter in the air due to the wind.

So, they’ll have to search the area on the ground. They agree to start looking for the rock where Rebecca’s body was found. Scott keeps an eye on the detectives and police from a distance but doesn’t bring attention to himself. He returns to Mena and grabs the coat from her before wrapping it around Taj. Then, Taj asks why he is throwing what’s left of his life away but Scott says this is what he has left. Scott sits down and waits for them to perish. Taj nearly goes to sleep so Mena tries to keep him awake and Scott tries to help too. He wants to make sure that Taj stays away so he can watch his daughter die. He tells Mena that she shouldn’t be scared because dying this way isn’t painful from what he has read. He tells Mena to keep her father awake before grabbing the tape nearby.

We jump back to Jerry. They’ve found snowmobile tracks but there are too many to say if they belong to Scott. John has an idea that Scott might’ve taken them somewhere. He tells Lise that Scott would’ve taken them to the last place he was happy with Rebecca so they agree to look at the campsite. They notify Jerry before walking off into the woods without any backup whatsoever. Again, Scott keeps an eye on them but doesn’t shoot at them just yet. He returns to Mena and removes her coat so she can die much faster. Then, he goes back to watching the detectives. Jerry makes it to the rock where Rebecca’s body was found but nobody is there now. Scott takes aim and shoots the radio out of Lise’s hands.

Jerry takes another officer’s sled so he can help while John and Lise try to find a way to stop Scott. John tries to talk him into giving himself up since they know what really happened to Rebecca now. John tries to sympathize with Scott since his wife was killed too and he liked it when her murderer died but it didn’t fix anything but Scott isn’t willing to listen. Eventually, Scott shoots Lise and Cardinal but their bullet-proof vest helps them. Jerry sneaks up on Scott and kills him. John approaches Scott who apologizes to Rebecca but John says she would’ve have wanted this. Scott is dead and Mena and Taj are saved despite having some frostbite.

Later that night, McLeod checks on them and Lise tells John she might have a cracked rib. She decides to get it checked out while Jerry speaks with John about Lise leaving. John admits he doesn’t know what he is going to do when she is gone so Jerry invites him up to the hut for fishing this weekend. Then, we jump forward and everything is forgotten. John talks to Kelly (Alanna Bale) on the phone about getting the cottage plans drawn up. Lise packs her backs and prepares to leave but John meets up with her first. He encourages her to visit but she says it might be better if he comes down there. They hug before Lise leaves. Then, we jump forward again and John at another crime scene. Noelle tells him that a man was found dead in a tunnel of sorts and the animals got to him. For a few minutes, John approaches the tunnel and enters until the finale ends.

 

Cardinal Review

Really? Are you kidding me? You can’t be serious, right? This season of Cardinal had everything going for it. Some of the other seasons had bad villains but this one had the best. Neil and Scott were perfect. The finale was worthless and pretty much wasted the entire season. It was pointless and left so many doors open. Boy, I can’t begin to express my disappointment. First and foremost, the finale was too easy for the good guys and too predictable. We knew Jerry was going to be the hero when he jumped on the snowmobile. You knew he was going to stop Scott and kill him from behind or something lame. I could feel the disappointment coming.

But, why did John and Lise enter the woods alone anyway? The show made it seem like Scott was only a few feet away from the detectives. If that was the case, why didn’t anyone hear Taj and Mena screaming? What happened to Taj and Mena anyway? What about Sheila? The finale just threw everything down the drain and completely ruined this season really. It feels like a pointless waste of time now. I am sure most people wanted to see Scott get the revenge he deserved. The writers just didn’t have what it took to let him. Instead, they went with the soap opera route and thought we cared more about Lise and John getting together.

Wrong. I think this will be a turning point for me since I am not sure I care about the main characters anymore. And, I doubt the show can come up with villains this great again. I’d say this show will start heading downhill from here on out because there is no way it is going to reach this quality again and it pretty much just threw it all away with one bad finale. This has to be the most disappointing finale I’ve seen in a few months. A 5.5 out of 10 at best. Previous recaps of Cardinal are available on Reel Mockery.