The Ending Of Home Before Dark Season 2 Explained

Apple TV+ has truly started to make a name for itself as a source of great original television shows. From "Physical" starring Rose Byrne, to "Mythic Quest" starring Rob McElhenney, and of course, the Emmy-nominated "Ted Lasso," there are tons of original series just waiting to be devoured on Apple TV+.

Another highly popular Apple TV+ original is the dramatic mystery series "Home Before Dark" that stars Brooklynn Prince of "The Florida Project" fame. It tells the gripping story of a young journalist named Hilde Lisko (Prince) and is inspired by the real-life of Hilde Lysiak. When Hilde and her family move to a new town, she begins to unravel a cold case that sets off a series of events that change their lives forever — especially when she learns her father Matthew (Jim Sturgess) is directly connected to the mystery.

The last episode of the second season premiered earlier this month, and it was just as action-packed as the first. With all the mysteries surrounding Erie Harbor, it can get easy to get lost — so let's take a look at the ending of "Home Before Dark" Season 2.

While Season 1 of "Home After Dark" mostly centered around the disappearance and presumed murder of Richie Fife, the son of Erie Harbor's mayor, Season 2 revealed the larger conspiracy at play. By the end of Season 1, we learn that Richie seemed to have escaped death, and he may, in fact, still be alive — which is where we're left for Season 2.

Lo and behold, near the end of Season 2, it turns out that the now-adult Richie (Derek Richardson) is in fact alive, and was actually rescued by his biological father Arthur Conway (Jason Cermak) — not kidnapped as everyone originally believed. As a child, Richie accidentally overheard that a large corporation called Strata Tech (more on them later) had been knowingly poisoning the citizens of Erie Harbor, so Arthur staged Richie's kidnapping to secure his safety.

Richie remained in hiding out of fear of getting in legal trouble for accidentally murdering his kidnapper in self-defense, but returned to Erie Harbor to help expose the corruption within Strata Tech and hold their executives responsible. And it's a good thing he did return, since he essentially held the key to taking Strata Tech down with a recording of the company's executives blatantly discussing the harmful chemicals, proving that they knew about their ramifications.

The plot of Season 2 is a classic case of a corporation's monetary greed costing ordinary citizens their lives. As mentioned earlier, the company at the center of Season 2 is Strata Tech, which acts as a benefactor for Erie Harbor while also secretly poisoning the townspeople. Hilde realizes there's something fishy going on when animals start dying en masse in certain areas of the town, and she eventually realizes the company's gone so far as to pay off employees from revealing the truth.

Hilde and her father go on a mission to find eyewitnesses to testify against Strata Tech in court, which is where they eventually discover Richie Fife. Hilde uses her grandfather's death to build support at a town hall meeting, where the Strata Tech officials attend and dismiss her claims. And although the citizens of Erie Harbor are hesitant to agree with Hilde due to the power the company holds over the town, Richie's final damning piece of evidence secures its downfall.

Grant Williams (David Cubitt), the head of Strata Tech, is arrested, and the citizens of Erie Harbor cheer their victory.

Once the mysteries of Richie Fife and Strata Tech are seemingly resolved, Hilde and her friends embark on a new case. They overhear a police report of a local murder and race to the crime scene to investigate, only to be shooed away by the cops on the scene. While her pals are being escorted away, Hilde notices a familiar object on the ground that's been marked as evidence — her personal notebook, which she earlier misplaced. The pages flip in the wind and we see bits of phrases like "missing evidence" and "what did Hilde know?" highlighted as Hilde worryingly looks on.

How did Hilde's notebook make its way to the crime scene? Does it contain evidence that will somehow falsely accuse her of being involved in the murder? This newest twist perfectly sets up "Home Before Dark" Season 3, and we can't wait to discover even more hidden secrets in the town of Erie Harbor.