At the beginning of the episode, John Ainsworth (Toby Schmitz) begins having second thoughts about killing himself and taking the blame as the Russian River Killer but Leo (Sam Trammell) isn’t going to let him turn back now. During their chat, Mike Serrato (Aden Young) speaks with the medical examiner who confirms the RRK was responsible for Valerie’s murder. He says there is one inconsistency though and that is the fact that she was stored in a freezer for a while. John wants to turn himself in to authorities instead of jumping from the rock and crashing to the surface below. Leo doesn’t want that because he is confident John will make a mistake when speaking with authorities.

John realizes he is going to go to hell for what he did but he wants to be a better man until that happens. While John wants to step away from the ledge, Leo shoves him over so he crashes to the ground and dies. After the intro, Sam Serrato (Milly Alcock) tells Amanda (Mitzi Ruhlmann) about John’s shrine despite promising Paxton (Ed Oxenbould) she wouldn’t say anything to anyone. Amanda reminds her of what John did to their father and the fact that he wasn’t the RRK before suggesting Paxton is a complete loser. Paige (Simone Kessell) gives her husband advice for her husband meeting with Dr. Weiss but Mike says he is fine and isn’t having a nervous breakdown.

Then, Leo and Candace (Laura Gordon) visit Dr. Brewer so they can get ultrasounds. Leo tries to convince his wife that he is excited to be a father. He talks about his family and alludes to the fact that they might be having a girl and Candace believes the same. Mike arrives at the doctor’s office and tells Colin that he is interested in LSD therapy because he thinks it’ll help him unlock answers. When the doctor refuses, Mike reminds him that he has been arrested several times for offering LSD therapy. Colin says it ruined his life and he can’t go near it again. Next, John’s body is discovered by a man going fishing. Mike goes to the station before receiving a video of John confessing to the RRK murders.

Everyone at the station watches the same video. Cyd Ramos (Gloria Garayua) tells Mike that John knows things only the killer would know and she believes he is the RRK and that Mike was right earlier. Sheriff Waller (Paula Arundell) holds a press conference and speaks to the press about the RRK and Ainsworth. Mike isn’t sure about Ainsworth’s guilt though. Back at home, Paxton tells Candace and Leo he knew something was off about Ainsworth. Leo shuts him up before Candace gets sick and decides to lay down. Paxton tells his father he shouldn’t feel bad about being friends with a serial killer but Leo claims he wasn’t friends with him. Paige comforts her husband that night.

She says they should go away for a long weekend and Mike agrees to check at work. Mike tells his wife he loves her but Paige responds slowly. The following day, Paige finds Candace at her office because she wants to talk. Candace is upset because she thought Leo was hiding something from her and she thought he might’ve been the RRK. Paige says everyone is capable of horrible thoughts and it isn’t irrational for her to think that. They go back and forth until the night Candace met Leo is brought up and this upsets Candace. Paige asks her if they ever caught the guy who attacked her but Candace admits she never reported it. Again, she says Leo saved her. Candace tells her to let it go. She trusts her husband. He hugs Paige and leaves in a hurry.

Leo goes to the victims meeting where he speaks with Linda Swan (Jacqueline McKenzie) and the others about his mother’s murder and his father being responsible. He goes on to say that it wasn’t his fault and he has forgiven himself. Leo tells everyone he wants to be someone who would make his mother proud. Paige checks the phone and receives a message from Dr. Weiss about Mike’s missed appointment. Sam meets with Paxton at school and tells him what Amanda said about finding new friends. Paxton doesn’t say anything about that and only offers to crash the stupid homecoming dance together. Sam agrees with that plan. Paige has sex with Brad (Nic English).

Once they’ve finished, she asks if he feels guilty about it but he says no since Eileen left him weeks ago. As for Paige, she says he made a decision and acted on it. She doesn’t feel guilty because she wasn’t judged. Later that night, Candace tells Leo she wants to talk about the night they met. During this time, Mike visits Cyd at her place before they share a drink and Mike says he doesn’t believe John is the RRK. He explains that John told him that he would never get him and not me. Leo wonders why Candace would want to bring up painful memories. She says she remembers leaving the club, approaching her car, and looking for her keys before being attacked.

Then, she woke up and felt drugged. In a flashback, we see Leo choking her and Candace admits she saw someone. She wants to know who attacked her. She asks if Leo saw him but he says no. Then, she asks if it was Leo. She wonders if he attacked her and saved her. A flashback confirms that it was. Leo apologizes to her before she gets dress. He says he knows he hurt her as she rushes out of the room. Leo says she saved him and that he was the one who needed to be saved. He pleads with his wife to stay with him but she leaves in her vehicle. Mike visits Rooster (Terry Serio) and tries to purchase LSD but Rooster explains he doesn’t trade in synthetic pharmaceuticals. Instead, he offers Mike Colorado toad venom.

He tells Mike how it can be consumed for a more intense high. Mike takes the drugs with him and breaks into John’s house. He sits down in the RRK shrine and takes the drugs. Meanwhile, Leo struggles to make things right between himself and Candace. Seconds later, Leo rushes outside when he finds out that Candace burnt his shed to the ground. Paxton arrives and asks if he should call the fire department but Candace tells him to wait a bit longer. It looks like she wants to destroy any evidence linking her husband to the RRK killings. Mike gets sick before getting high. Then, he remembers his mother sleeping with a man and her not having much to do with him as a child. He wakes up in the morning and leaves before running into Linda Swan who gives him advice for dealing with Tori.

Then, Candace and Leo have sex. Sam gets a text from Paxton who asks when their next adventure will be. Amanda sends out pictures of her real tattoo to Reuben and admits Mike knows nothing about it. Everyone goes to church. When the session ends, Leo confronts Mike and says he owns him an apology. Mike says he should be apologizing and that he wanted to do right by Leo’s mother. He says his pursuit to get justice for the dead means he isn’t always sensitive as he should be to the living. Leo accepts his apology for Mike tells him about his sister dying of leukemia when he was young and how it impacted his mother. The only thing that brought his mother back to life was physical intimacy.

After his father left, she turned to men from around the world. Mike says he was reminded of it because of something Arlen said. Leo wanted to save his mother or tried to and Mike understands wanting to save the person you love the most. During their chat, Leo notices Mike’s tattoo. He makes an excuse to leave before Mike asks if Leo is still trying to save her. Mike says they’re all dead and Leo asks more about that. Mike tells Leo he knows who he is and he knows it is Leo.

 

Reckoning Review

So, I’ve finally finished Reckoning and I can’t say I am surprised. The good news is that I wasn’t too disappointed with the finale since I expected much less. Sometimes, it feels like the writers and producers focus more on getting a second season than trying to satisfy fans during the first. This show should’ve never been 10 episodes because it would’ve been much more tolerable with 5 or 6 episodes. Even with 10, they left a lot of doors open and did everything possible to get another season which I don’t think is going to happen.

Sadly, I think the show had more potential but it failed to capitalize on its opportunities. You could see points where the show could be tweaked and improved to make it far better but instead we got mediocrity. Everyone should’ve seen this coming because I certainly did. Oh well, it is over and it is time to move on. The finale scores a 6 out of 10. Previous recaps of Reckoning can be found on Reel Mockery!