In last week’s suspenseful season two finale of Found, Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) dropped a bombshell. This surprising revelation turns her whole quest on its head. During all eight episodes of the riveting first season, Gabi—whose full name, Gabrielle, holds much significance—has traversed a multidimensional road of emotional, physical, and spiritual self-reconstruction. Her fight’s climax occurs when she is forced to confess to imprisoning Hugh “Sir” Evans in her cellar. This instant serves not just to reinforce Gabi’s character development arc but to be a visual representation of her reclaiming of identity.
That’s why the season finale, aptly named “Missing While Dying,” which recently aired, had fans reeling. Gabi’s character has undergone a radical change. She’s gone from being a true warrior for justice to feeling the bite of her own kettle whistle, as it were. Her confession is indeed a watershed moment. In reclaiming herself, she rejects the name “Gabi” which she hates and takes back her name as “Gabrielle.”
Over the course of the season, Gabi developed a special relationship with Sir. At times, they played strategic chess games that furthered their shared psychosis. Their relationship and the way it flips between caringness and controllingness digs into the roots of control and dependency. As Gabi retraces her steps, she realizes what a terrible thing it is to keep Sir prisoner.
“It’s the final nail in the coffin of: I get to reclaim me and I’m not defined by my mistakes or by this person, or by this cat-and-mouse game. This is the moment Gabi becomes Gabrielle again.” – Shanola Hampton
Hampton, for one, was as shocked by Gabi’s 180-degree turn as anyone. She made the surprising announcement that she only learned about the confession immediately prior to shooting that episode. This unexpected twist surprised not only her, but in fact raised the stakes for her character going forward.
“I have so much information to retain that I don’t even read the next script until I’m absolutely done with the episode I’m on. I found out like a day before I started shooting it, and it was such a shock.” – Shanola Hampton
The season finale could foretell much greater warfare to come. Lena, a character who is introduced with especially menacing villainy, is considered more dangerous than Sir. Sir’s deeds are ethically shifty for certain. Lena’s motivations come from her profound love for her brother and willingness to protect him at all costs.
It remains to be seen what’s in store for the characters next as fans continue to cope with Gabi’s unexpected announcement. Hampton promised audiences that, while this may seem like a simple origin story, a much deeper and more complicated narrative is coming.
“Sir and Gabi play chess and they’re in each other’s minds and in each other’s bloodstreams… Lena is a lot more dangerous than Sir.” – Shanola Hampton
As fans process Gabi’s shocking revelation, they are left wondering what lies ahead for the characters. Hampton reassured viewers that this is just the beginning of a deeper narrative.
“You can see Gabi confessed and Sir is bleeding out at the end, but what comes next? I just want the fans to realize that there’s still a lot more.” – Shanola Hampton
