Harlan Coben’s ‘Missing You’ Ending, Explained

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the finale of Missing You, “Chain Reaction.”]

Another Harlan Coben crime thriller has taken over Netflix. This time, it’s Missing You, an adaptation of the 2014 novel of the same name, which proves to be a pretty faithful screen take on the source material.

The series follows Kat Donovan (Slow Horses‘ Rosalind Eleazar), a detective whose life is upended when her former fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters), who disappeared from her life more than a decade ago, suddenly shows up on a dating app just as her father’s convicted murderer is about to die of natural causes.

From there, the twists keep coming as Kat fights to find out the reason for her father’s death… and why her soon-to-be-husband abandoned her just a day later. 

Here’s a deeper look into how the series concluded. 

What happened to Kat’s ex Josh when he left?

In the finale, Kat finally confronts Josh at his home, where he’s now living with a daughter named Sadie and his late wife’s father, who helps him care for the child. Josh reveals to her that he left all of those years ago in hopes that a clean break would make their split easier and apologizes when she makes it clear that has not been true. He claims he didn’t create the dating profile but perhaps his daughter did so. After she deduces that he must’ve found out the truth about her father’s corruption from Monte (Marc Warren), who was paid to take the rap for his death, he must’ve bolted to hide the truth from her, and he doesn’t deny that.

What becomes of the puppy farm killer?

The subplot of the entire season follows Titus (Steve Pemberton), a tempestuous puppy farm owner who moonlights in kidnapping people with money and forcing them to make large cash transfers to him to stay alive. In the end, it’s Brendan (Oscar Kennedy), the son of one such victim, Dana Fells (Lisa Faulker), who brings Kat into the investigation. Kat discovers that victims have been lured in by fake profiles — including one of Josh, in Dana’s case — and held hostage at the farm in exchange for ransoms. After Titus snatches Brendan in a moment of desperation during Dana’s attempted escape, Kat tracks down his farm and confronts him, ultimately shooting him down. With that, Dana has freed herself and the other captives, and her son survives a shooting injury to his leg inflicted by Titus.

Vishal Sharma / Netflix

Who actually killed Kat’s father?

It’s not until the final moments of the series that we find out the truth about Clint’s (Lenny Henry) murder. From Calligan (James Nesbitt), who’d been blackmailing Clint into working in his illegal schemes in order to conceal his extramarital affair, Kat learns of her father’s lover’s identity and location. Upon visiting the man, Parker, she learns that he tried to end their longstanding relationship in order to protect Kat and her mother. Later, after Josh’s prints are discovered on the murder weapon, Josh confesses that he stabbed Clint — only, it was to protect Aqua (Mary Malone), whom Clint attacked after she saw him in an argument with Parker. Though Aqua promised not to tell Kat or her mother, she insisted he should live his truth, and Clint reacted violently, and when Josh intervened, he accidentally stabbed Clint to death. Clint’s friend, Stagger (Richard Armitage), then insisted upon covering up the scene in order to protect Kat, per Clint’s final wishes. Thus, Monte was hired to take the fall for Clint’s death.

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What’s next for Kat and Josh?

After Josh confesses the whole truth, Kat is visibly devastated by the truth but doesn’t walk out of his apartment — instead, she sits back down on his bed and touches his hand with her pinky. She previously told Josh that they could’ve survived the truth instead of him leaving, and she may intend to hold herself to that as well.

How does the ending compare to the book?

The ending to Missing You is very, very similar to the book. In the book, Josh’s name is instead Jeff, Clint’s name was Henry, and his lover was named Sugar, but the ending is essentially the same: Kat learns that her father was killed by Jeff, who was defending Aqua from an attack — this time, by gunshot, rather than a knife — and Stagger covered it up to protect Kat’s memory of her father. In the written version, too, it’s implied that Kat and her former flame may still be able to move forward together, despite such a devastating revelation that has come after a decade of unnecessary silence.

Missing You, Streaming now, Netflix