Everything Falls Apart in 'The Couple Next Door' Finale

I was pretty cheeky at the top of my recap for The Couple Next Door premiere. I assumed critics just didn't know how to have a good time anymore and suspend disbelief in favor of entertaining messiness. It turns out, and I hate to admit it, the critics were right. The Couple Next Door started out messy, got messier, and ended in a sty with very minimal fun along the way. I don't know how you have the pitch "Sam Heughan erotic thriller" and manage to make it not fun, but that's what happened here, and I'm going to be upset about it for a very long time. 

As expected, the finale finally brought us up to the dramatic run through the woods, which took place outside of Evie's parents' cottage. Evie went there for some time to think after leaving Pete, who still needed to sleep off his anger hangover after being attacked the night before. 

Danny and Becka also hit rock bottom in their marriage during the episode, but you know what they say. Once you hit the bottom, there's no place to go but up. They might be the only ones who make it out of this okay, but at what cost? 

While Pete woke up with a headache and regrets, Danny had an even worse morning. He woke up to find Becka overseeing a play date between Olly and Danny's older son, Miles. (That's one way to tell your husband you found out he has a secret kid, I guess.) The two went outside to discuss it, but Becka was too hurt to have a conversation. Danny swore that he never cheated on Becka (at least not with Miles' mum), but he didn't have an explanation for why he abandoned the kid or why he never told Becka that the kid existed. 

If that wasn't bad enough, Danny got a call from his boss. Gary (Joel Morris) was arrested outside of the bank that he and Danny robbed and the DCs needed to question Danny about his own whereabouts during the robbery. Why should Danny only deal with one crisis at a time, though? Evie called shortly after to reveal she told her dad about the baby being his, and he was holding her hostage at the family farm. Becka was with Danny for the second call, and he begged her to come with him because Evie needed their help. 

On the way, he came clean about Evie's pregnancy and the dalliance at his office. Becka was understandably pissed, but Danny did own up to his secrets (Minus the bank robbing and providing illegal bodyguard services for corrupt politicians). Becka didn't fully forgive him, but she caved enough to return to the car and continue looking for Evie. Little did they know, Robbie Spencer's (Mark Frost) henchman was watching them, looking for an opportunity to take out Danny for ratting out Robbie's business dealings to Pete and the paper. 

Danny and Becka made it to the cabin, only to find Evie enjoying herself in the bath. She knew that Danny would come to rescue her if she called. However, she didn't expect him to bring Becka with her. Evie immediately went on the offensive and told Becka about the baby, but she already knew. She then tried to add salt to the wound by saying she and Danny slept with each other again, but Becka shot her down. They might not be in the best place, but Becka saw what he meant about Evie not letting go. Danny had to double down again: he and Evie were not getting together, but she wasn't interested in hearing it. 

Before Evie could find a new way to ruin Danny's marriage, Pete arrived with Jean in tow and Danny's gun, ready to fight. Jean revealed she had also surmised that Evie and Danny were together and wanted to be a good neighbor by offering her support to Pete. She also announced she decided to leave Alan, and she wanted the same happiness for Pete and Becka. Really, all the interaction did was push Pete back into an irrational headspace. 

He walked into the cabin swinging the gun around, but Spencer's henchman fired first. He didn't hit anyone in the cabin before Evie's dad, Brian (Andrew Woodall), shot him through the chest for trespassing. The gunshots were enough to spook Evie and send her into the woods, just like the first scene of the series. Pete followed after her, and then Danny and Becka followed until all four of them paused for a breather and to have the most screwed-up conversation of the entire series. 

Pete still believed that Danny stole Evie and had been undermining their marriage from the moment he and Evie moved onto the cul de sac. That wasn't true, but Pete couldn't see reason. Danny swore that he and Evie would never be together, but Pete shot him in the leg anyway. Evie then stepped up and took the gun from Pete. He relented and handed it over before asking if she still loved him. 

Evie said no, and then shot Pete in the stomach... for no reason. Ending the marriage wasn't enough? She shot him and then seemed to come to her senses when she saw him bleeding on the forest floor. She immediately started screaming for him, and you'd think seeing her husband bleeding out from her own actions would shake Evie back into rational thinking, but that's not exactly where this went. 

The next scene was a montage of the police arriving at the cabin. Pete was taken to the hospital, still alive, thank goodness. Danny was receiving medical attention while Becka gave her statement to the police. Evie's dad and Evie were both handcuffed and put in the back of the squad cars, but not before Evie gave Danny a look that implied she wasn't done with him yet. 

Spoiler alert: She has to be done with him. 

While The Couple Next Door has been renewed for Season 2, Alan is supposed to be the only character making a return. That ostensibly means we don't know what happens to either couple or their marriages. We don't know whether Evie will carry the baby to term or will be forced to give it up because of a prison stint. We also have no idea if Danny will face consequences for his extracurricular work activities or what the point of that entire subplot was when the drama between the couples brought everyone out to the woods in the first place.  

We also don't know if any of them will continue to live on the cul de sac and why on Earth Alan is the character we will stick with in Season 2. He's a creeper who is now disabled. Are we to root for his redemption arc or be fascinated with how he'll find a new way to ruin his new neighbors life? 

There is so much left unanswered by this first season, and the questions that did get answered were half due to "this character lost it," which isn't that satisfying. We made it through, so that's an accomplishment, but we suffered a lot to get here. Let's hope Evie gets the help she needs and that Becka gets the hell away from these people. We'll just go back to watching Outlander for erotic Sam Heughan content. 

The Couple Next Door Season 1 is now streaming on Starz. The series has already been greenlit for Season 2.