‘The Pact’ Recap: ‘Episode Six’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘The Pact’. To revisit ‘Episode Five’, click here.
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One of the biggest reasons that crime dramas are more popular than ever, is that they provide their audiences with something that everyone is genuinely craving right now… a happy ending. Because the world is a tough place these days, where bad guys and gals often evade capture or use the court of public opinion to their advantage and make themselves look like a hero. So, being able to escape for a moment and plunge our minds into a world where evil doesn’t win, really is quite satisfying. Which means that in many ways these stories are oddly providing a service to the general public right now, and they’re doing such a good job at giving us the catharsis we need, that it is extremely jarring when a show decides to buck this particular trend.

But if handled right, going the more realistic route ending wise can be just as satisfying for a viewer, provided of course there are some kinds of consequences for the people involved in a criminal act and one show that has pulled that off to a tee, is The Pact on Sundance Now. For the season finale of this engaging crime drama does bring this case to a surprisingly satisfying ending. But in order to do that, it had to answer the biggest question hanging over this journey… specifically, who killed Jack. As it turns out, Tamsin was the perpetration of this crime after all, and she was driven to it by Jack’s cruelty. For not only did he see her as a sexual conquest through and through, but he also saw her as another person to manipulate and harass to satisfy his desire to exert power over everyone, and he was especially eager to use her pregnancy to accomplish those twisted goals.

However, that was the wrong move to make with the headstrong Tamsin and when she was finally pressed to her breaking point on that fateful night, she did him in and in turn… confessed to her mother and Nancy what she had done, putting the family in a strange place. Because they basically had two options here. In that, they could turn her in and face the consequences of hiding information about Jack’s death… or they could protect her, and, in the end, they chose the latter. Which wasn’t an easy path to walk since Max still had a badge in his pocket and the pressures of that and the reality that she might be caught, forced Tamsin to run in an effort to be free of everything and that wouldn’t work either in the long run. Since that would in fact, show an admission of guilt. Which meant that extreme measures would have to be taken to protect the family and that gave Anna an idea.

In that, she would confess to killing Jack and face the consequences so her daughter could have a semi-normal life and despite the family’s protest, she attempted to go through with it, until another surprise arrived. In that, a confession was already given to the police, by Nancy and well… her decision to sacrifice her future, allowed for everyone else to get on with their life and that is… a controversial ending for certain. Since an innocent woman went to jail, a killer walked and seemingly, no one would ever have to face the consequences for their actions on that night. But that is quite frankly, a realistic ending instead… one that mirrors some of the injustices in our world and one that is also satisfying because, not everyone got off as scot free as initially implied.

After all, Louie and Cat and Tish… have to carry with them their part in this and reconcile that on their own and that might not ever be an easy task. Plus, sacrifice or no, there’s a fair chance Nancy will never see the light of day and that’s a horrific penance to pay for her actions in this tale. But what matters most, is that Anna and her family have to face the worst punishment of all. In that, they have to live with the fact that Tamsin killed Jack and that they went to great lengths to preserve an image of a family life that can never be recaptured, and that is a brave and bold way to end this tale. Since it provides us with a vastly different kind of justice, one that not everyone will find solace in but will agree, fits this story… to a tee.

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