As the finale of Guilt begins, we hear Maggie (Phyllis Logan) telling Max (Mark Bonnar) that family is a weakness. She admits it was difficult for her to see the pain between the two of them before Max was sent down. Maggie claims they weren’t ready to take it from each other, so they found a way to make it worse. It made her think about pain, family, and the parts of the city that tend to put the two together. She explains why it broke her heart and we see that she was with Roy (Stuart Bowman) watching when Max said goodbye to Jake (Jamie Sives). She admits she got over it, but Max wants to know why she was out there to begin with and why Roy was there too. Max realizes Jake was working with them. Maggie is interested in finding out what Max did and she threatens to have one of them killed if she doesn’t get an answer.
Jake admits they called and told him Max was dying in the hospital so he rushed to the city. Although Jake says you don’t ignore a call from the Lothian police, Max laughs while claiming he rode in on a wave of stupidity. Max is befuddled his brother would believe he was hit by a bus but Jake thinks he should be respected for coming. Maggie asks if he has always been this dramatic before Max breaks the news that Jake is there to help them and not him. Max claims it was his idea and not Erin’s. He says he put the land in his name and she was going to pay him for it. Max offers to tell her how he did it while arguing he is the only one who can fix it. He threatens Maggie that Roy and others will go down if something happens to him, but she says they’ve taken precautions too. She claims they make stories to protect themselves from things like this and Max is only protected right now by lying for her.
Maggie tells Max that he’ll go to her and do what they want him to do. Then, Max turns his attention to Jake who benefited from sending him down. Jake admits he was going to do it anyway so he might as well get paid for it. Jake says Max was going to do it to him too, but he still felt it every day although he knows Max wouldn’t have felt it. When Jake asks why Max doesn’t feel the same, Max fires back that he never had the damage he had. He says it was the early stuff that never went away. Jake encourages Max to come back with him to the pub he bought with Roy’s money and away from his problems in Edinburgh, but Max can’t go just yet. Then, Max insists everything was okay before Jake came along. He reminds him what happened to their mom and dad while accusing Jake of being the problem.
When Max leaves, we see that Roy’s henchman has been eavesdropping on the whole conversation. Kenny Burns (Emun Elliott) tells Yvonne (Rochelle Neil) that they’re going to let him go and face his own stupidity for trusting Max and anyone. When asked, she admits she knew Max was working with the police, but she insists their relationship was real. Yvonne begins telling him about being the key witness in the case of a joyrider who ran over a woman in Craigmillar. However, she was too drunk to show up to the court trial and caused him to get off on a mistrial. She managed to hide it from everyone except for her partner who sat on the information and used it to get the job she should’ve got. Now, she has a chance to take him down while bringing Roy down too. She believes that will lead to Max going down too so their relationship won’t be a complication anymore. She asks what he knows about Max and Roy. Then, we jump forward and see Max getting dressed while Jake hangs out with Roy’s hitman.
Meanwhile, Roy calls Stevie Malone (Henry Pettigrew) to demand every piece of paper he can find on Max so he can find out whether anyone would come looking for him. Stevie doesn’t want to do it since it would raise flags and constitute what he calls suicide. Roy calls Erin (Sara Vickers) to tell her that Maggie has been pulling the strings and they want him to confess to her so she’ll need to act socked. Max says they’ve flushed her out. Although they know what he is doing, he knows what they’re doing. He says it is going to be a race. Roy Lynch meets with Jake to tell him he’d travel America and visit Death Valley first. Then, he would wander all over the old west. It is the only thing he has ever wanted to do but has never done it. He wonders if he is trying to keep that as an escape from everything.
Jake says he wants to go home so Roy says he will, but he needs one little favor first. Meanwhile, Max tries to convince another developer to buy the properties and offers him a good deal on them. Dave (Simon Weir) says Phoenix doesn’t own it and neither does Max who begins explaining that Erin owns the land and he has power of attorney over her. Max insists he is giving him a miracle. He asks Max if they have the church and Max says yes. Max leaves and goes to Sandy (Ian Pirie) in hopes of talking him into selling the church. He tries his best to pressure and scare Sandy into selling it, but Sandy refuses again. Jake visits Kenny’s store and finds that Max left him something on his desk. Jake finds the record on Max’s desk and immediately tells Kenny not to come in tomorrow. When Kenny asks what is going on, Jake reminds him he once told him he shouldn’t let Max get away with who he is although he is letting him get away with it now.
Jake says it isn’t their fault and he doesn’t want it to end this way, but it is the only way it can. He tells Kenny again not to come in tomorrow. Meanwhile, Maggie admits she feels bad for Jake who came all this way to be blamed for everything under the sun. They talk about Sandy and Roy agrees to speak to him this time before the doorbell rings in the distance. Max enters and begins telling Erin what they wanted him to tell her. He says it wasn’t what she thought it was and he was taking everything for himself. She complains that he just took away her escape. When the phone rings, Maggie tells Max he should leave. Stevie tells Roy that Max is out on license, so he is likely working with the undercover agent. Roy wants the file and immediately ends the call. When the call ends, Jackie (Sandy McDade) learns that Roy wants the file and she says that is a good thing. Outside, Max apologizes to Roy and insists he was only trying to get his life back.
Roy insists it helps him because he pushed Erin back to him and made his life better. He also says Max is right about Phoenix so he’ll need him and he should make his thirsty friend scarce tomorrow when he visits. Meanwhile, Jake tells the henchman about Max taking him to see The Clash and the day punk died and signed with CBS. Then, they went away and made the greatest punk record of all time, so it was all about revenge. Meanwhile, Roy and Maggie tell Erin they’re going to move in together in one of the flats. Maggie reveals she might start the physiotherapy again on her leg. Erin asks about the blood Maggie was washing from her hands on Christmas eve and says there should be no more lies. Maggie begins telling her about Roy being abused by an adult man when he was a youngster and she killed him for it. She goes on to say she would do it again and the car incident had nothing to do with Roy.
She says Roy gave up his relationship with her so Maggie could have one with her daughter. When Erin says she hides behind the chair and Roy, Maggie encourages her to think less of her and more of Roy. Next, the soon to be divorcee goes to Kenny’s shop to get the divorce papers from Max. He calls them a pair of angels twice before finally leaving. Max asks if Kenny left a message, but he didn’t. Kenny asks about the account with Roy’s money in it because he wants to get a mortgage on a flat. Max gives it to him and tells him about getting nostalgic while spending all this time in Leith. He apologizes for the damage he did and says all of this is Kenny’s because he put the business in his name. Before he goes, Max says he’ll be in the office tomorrow at his desk. Kenny stops him and says people think he is stupid for the chances he has given him. He tells him how his dad didn’t want him to go to university, but his mom said Max did it and Kenny can too.
Kenny got to go to college but soon realized he couldn’t cut it. Despite Max’s problems, he managed to rise above it and that is why Kenny was willing to give him so many chances. Although Kenny says Max wasn’t scared, Max says otherwise and admits he is still scared. Again, he tells him he’ll see him tomorrow. Yvonne interrupts before Max can live and is introduced to him. When her radio goes off, Max learns she is a police officer. Meanwhile, Jake tries to escape the motel room, but Roy enters before he can. They take Jake to the isolated part of the airport and tell him this is a story. The hitman pulls out a knife, cuts Jake’s hand, and puts the knife in Jake’s hand. Then, the knife is put in a plastic bag. Roy tells Jake he is glad he likes it over there because he can’t come back now. Max visits Sandy once again.
Max sits with him and tells him he wanted the world to be black and white, so he became a lawyer. Since he came from chaos, he wanted rules. However, he soon found himself in the grey because that is where the action is. He says the grey is what makes life exciting, but no man can stay in the grey forever. When he looks at Sandy, he sees a man doing everything he can to put time and distance between himself and the grey. He goes on to say Kenny told him about Sandy who is described as a dry drunk without a pot to piss in and a kid who doesn’t even know he exists. Sandy cautions him on looking to Kenny for clarity. Roy arrives outside and Max prepares to leave in a hurry, but Sandy tells him to stay for the revelation. Roy enters and begins talking business while Max listens from the other room. Sandy says it is over and Roy can have the church.
He kept quiet because he wanted to see Roy again. Sandy admits taking care of that guy was only the final installment and was already dealing with a heavy load. He insists the load only got heavier while Max finds a picture of a little girl behind another picture. It looks like Erin. Roy asks why he is telling him to which Sandy replies they’ve both lost everything. A distraught Roy stumbles out of the church. When Max comes out, Sandy tells him to use it kindly, but Max says they both know how he wants him to use it. Sandy says he’ll find a way to serve so Max offers him money to help sad kids and such. Sandy begins preaching but Max stops him and leaves in a hurry. Roy immediately goes to Maggie to tell her they can’t stay in the flat together after all. They agree to tell Erin after he is gone. He tells her to stay because they know her there.
Max finds out from Erin that her mother confessed but she already deleted the recording. She insists her dad doesn’t deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison. Erin believes he should leave Edinburgh and take her with him. Max says Roy is a poison. He tells her to meet him tomorrow. Meanwhile, Yvonne admits she doesn’t know if Max will be arrested because they’re mainly focused on Roy. She reveals they found the joy rider’s body right where he ran her over a short time later. The victim’s family gave each other alibis. She explains there is justice and natural justice. Max meets with Jackie to tell her he doesn’t have it yet. She thinks he should be pulled because he is getting desperate. To continue working, he tells her about the recent murder involving Joe McLean. She insists that will do it before instructing him to go to work and act normal. Jackie promises to tell Max once they’ve taken them in.
She says the city looks pretty at night although Max says that is because you can’t see the dirt. Later, Sandy packs his belongings at the church. Kenny sits and thinks about what he should do before leaving. Erin gets ready and leaves home. Stevie takes the evidence with him while Roy’s hitman waits at Kenny’s shop with the bloody knife. Yvonne meets with Jackie and learns Stevie is working with them now. Yvonne doesn’t like it and threatens to call it in. Jackie reminds her that the victim who was mowed down was a grandmother. She thanks Yvonne for her help and tells her to stay out of Leith. Stevie asks what is going on in Leith so Jackie asks what he thought would happen when he gave the file to Roy.
He realizes she is setting up Max so they can get Roy on murder charges, and he doesn’t like that. He tells her about Roy asking him to call in a call registration and it was a stabbing. Jackie says Roy wouldn’t do it himself, but Stevie says he would if the wicked witch of the east told him to do it. Erin tells Roy they’ve taken the land, sold it, and she is going to meet Max now. She thought she was doing it because of him, but it was really her mom. Roy gives her the paper so she can see that Max has been working as an informant. She also gets to listen to Max telling Jackie about the potential murder in which Erin might’ve been involved. Roy tells her not to meet Max because he won’t be there. She complains that she can’t escape the world of endless liars. Roy tells her about the lives he and Maggie were given.
He admits he doesn’t know when life will pull them apart again before telling her about the pride he feels getting to call her his daughter. When Erin leaves, Jackie meets Maggie with evidence and tells her she is going to talk. Maggie admits she felt bad for what happened to Jackie’s family. She always knew it would be Jackie and she’ll get one phone call to tell him she was right. She asks Stevie to get her chair and pills from the bathroom before insisting she has dementia. Outside, Stevie asks Jackie if she stopped the other thing, but she pretends like she doesn’t know what he is talking about. Kenny tries to call Max who ignores his call. Seconds later, Teddy (Greg McHugh) breaks into Roy’s room and tells him he knows who he is. He admits the soldier was his brother. Roy insists Erin had nothing to do with it before Teddy reveals Max said the same. Roy knows Teddy has to do what he has to do.
Teddy opens the door to the balcony and confirms he is from Leith. Yvonne meets with Kenny, kisses him, and they run off together. Once Erin reaches the church, she calls Max to complain that he isn’t there, but he says she doesn’t need him for this. He says the escape she wanted isn’t the money or him. He promises he can release her and give her the escape she wants. He could’ve told her last night, but it would’ve been to hurt Roy. Now, it is to help her. He says everything she needs and wasn’t given is in the church and she just needs to ask. He says it isn’t about revenge since that only gets you halfway and it comes from hope and love for her and him. He is giving her what he never had so she can heal like he never did. She goes inside and approaches Sandy. Roy’s hitman continues waiting until the divorcee enters. As for Max, he smiles and walks into Jake’s pub in Chicago. He says hey kid as the episode ends.
Guilt Review
While the quality of each episode fluctuated, the second season of Guilt was a true masterpiece in the end. Viewers should look past the complexities and enjoy the emotional roller coaster as Max outwits his enemies who wish to jail and kill him. The finale had it all including revenge, murder, trickery, twists, and turns. The only thing it didn’t do was to go into the fine details or show the gory acts, but it really didn’t need to.
So, what happened? I’d like to think about it this way. Jake was brought to town because Maggie wanted to use him against Max. Instead, Max pretended to hate his brother to throw away any leverage they had over him. Roy changed the plan and decided to get Jake’s DNA and blood on the knife so they could kill Max and frame Jake.
Max sold the property to Davie and tipped off Teddy to Roy when he lost everything. It was a bit of a mercy killing by that point since Roy lost his daughter, wife, and legacy. Maggie was arrested for the murder of Arthur or at least I think that was his name. However, she is going to use dementia to try to beat the prosecutor at trial. Kenny and Yvonne continued their relationship while Erin was introduced to her real father.
The only thing I missed was the stabbing Stevie was talking about. I went back through the recaps but couldn’t find anything of the sort. Did anyone catch that part? Fill me in if you did. I am a bit tired and have been at it all day so there might be a few mistakes in there somewhere. Regardless, the finale was spectacular if not one of the best finales in recent months.
Both seasons of Guilt are only eight episodes making them worth a watch and rewatch. I’d highly recommend it. The finale deserves an 8.5 out of 10. All Guilt recaps are available on Reel Mockery here.
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