Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Waterfront” Episode 8.
“The Waterfront” charted the Buckley family’s chaotic return to criminal activity, setting the stage for a deadly finale in which Cane crossed a moral line and Belle secured more power.
After the shaky alliance between Buckley patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) and drug tycoon Grady (Topher Grace) went up in flames in Episode 7, leading to Grady kidnapping Bree (Melissa Benoist), the finale followed the rescue operation to save her — as other members of the family made big moves for power.
Though there were some dire turns, “Lost at Sea” saw Cane (Jake Weary), Shawn (Rafael L. Silva) and Harlan successfully save Bree — and to everyone’s surprise, Diller (Brady Hepner), who’d stowed away in the captor’s boat to help his mother. Though Bree was shot and thrown to the sea before the rest of the family could come to her rescue, the guys found her and were able to take her to hospital in time to survive.
The price was steep for Cane, however, as he was the one to pull the trigger and kill Grady in the final confrontation.
“He doesn’t kill anyone until that final episode,” series creator Kevin Williamson told TheWrap. “The line keeps moving and shifting [throughout the season] but he finally seals his fate and crosses the line.”
Of course Cane had already crossed a line in his personal life, after cheating on his wife Peyton (Danielle Campbell) with his high school sweetheart Jenna (Humberly González), with whom he had sought refuge during the season as things in the family business got more complicated. The finale saw as Peyton learned of the infidelity and seemed intent on revenge, but learning that Jenna’s ailing father had died made her put those thoughts aside and come to her friend’s aid.
Later in the episode Jenna told Cane their romantic reunion had been a mistake and asked him to not return to her home again. When he reunited with Peyton, she seemed ready to sweep things under the rug and move forward as a united front.
But Cane did have a win in his relationship with Harlan. After finally admitting to being resentful of his dad for making him stay in town to help with the family business, Harlan admitted that he did so because he had built the business with his father and didn’t want to do it alone.
“The window into this story is father and son. Cane’s a little broken from his decisions and he’s discontent, starting to feel the brunt of a life in a small town,” Williamson said. “Harlan takes accountability for it. It’s not a good answer, but at least Cane got some resolution from it.”
As Cane crossed the line, Shawn — who we learned to be Harlan’s son from an affair with a former restaurant employee — began his Buckley-fication during the rescue mission.
Perhaps the biggest move, and the one to cause the most rifts in the family, came from Belle (Maria Bello). After her potential land deal with Wes (Dave Annable) went south and Grady’s thugs left two dead bodies in the fishery, Belle asked Buckley nemesis Emmett Parker (Terry Sarpico) for an assist in getting rid of the bodies.
Coming from a family dynasty with more power than the Buckleys, Emmett told Belle he could help her with their debt problems by partnering with them. The catch? Belle would have to assume leadership of the businesses, as he thought Harlan had failed.
Belle ended the season accepting the deal, and having Emmett beat up Wes so he’d submit to her will. How Harlan will take this change in leadership remains to be seen — especially considering Belle’s new alliance puts them back in bed with the family who had his father killed decades before.
“Belle’s always been the one pulling the strings, but she’s always done it in the shadows of the Buckleys. What she’s going to do now is she’s going to stand front and center beginning in Season 2,” Williamson said. “That’s going to create a complete shift in the family dynamic, where they’re going to have to pick sides as the family breaks apart a little bit.
“Then we introduce their new partners, too,” he added. “That’s going to come with a whole family of crazy people.”
“The Waterfront” is now streaming on Netflix. It has not officially been renewed for Season 2.
