Spoilers through Episode 5, “Part 5.” Pete shoots his father, Hank, to stop him from killing Liz Danvers. It is a split-second act of protection, but not an uncomplicated one: Pete has just learned that Danvers, the chief he admires, is also implicated in the Wheeler case cover-up. The ending leaves him choosing between family loyalty and what he believes is the morally necessary act.
What happens at the end of Episode 5?
Otis Heiss gives Danvers a lead to the ice-cave access. Hank follows her to her house, shoots Otis, and points his gun at Danvers. Pete arrives and shoots Hank before Hank can kill her. Navarro joins them, and they arrange for Pete to handle the bodies while Danvers and Navarro head for the caves. The immediate crisis ends, but the Tsalal investigation does not.
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Hank’s actions are part of a larger effort to stop Danvers reaching the cave. He has been working for Silver Sky executive Kate McKittrick, who wants Heiss silenced. He also admits that he moved Annie K’s body after her murder. Episode 5 establishes Hank’s role in the cover-up and his assignment to kill Heiss; it does not establish that Hank killed Annie.
Why does Pete shoot his father?
The immediate reason is that Hank has just killed Otis and is threatening Danvers. Pete acts to save her. Finn Bennett, who plays Peter Prior, describes the decision as a clash between Hank’s emotional, sentimental pull and Danvers’s appeal to Pete’s rationality and moral judgment. Pete chooses to stop a killing, even though the person he shoots is his father.
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That framing does not make the choice easy or erase its personal cost. Bennett said Pete would second-guess the decision for the rest of his life. The scene is a moral emergency, not a moment of effortless heroism or emotional closure. Bennett’s Los Angeles Times interview discusses that conflict and Pete’s lasting doubt.
How does the Wheeler case change the choice?
Earlier in the episode, Danvers makes Pete confront her and Navarro’s conduct in the Wheeler case. Pete has to reckon with the possibility that his admired chief is, like his father, a compromised cop. Bennett described that realization as disappointing and heartbreaking for Pete: seeing his hero as “just another corruptible cop” makes the choice more painful.
Rank #2
- Format: DVD
- Language: English
- Subtitle: English, Portuguese, French, Korean, None (All removable)
- Region: Region 0/All (1/2/3/4/5/6)
- Running time: 108 min
So Pete is not simply choosing Danvers over Hank because he sees Danvers as morally spotless. He knows her record is compromised, yet in the room Hank is the one threatening a life. Pete’s decision protects Danvers in that moment without resolving what he thinks of her or what the Wheeler case means. Bennett discussed Pete’s disillusionment with Danvers in TheWrap.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Episode 5 does not resolve
The ending is not an explanation of the season’s central crimes. At this point, the episode has not revealed who killed Annie K, who or what killed the Tsalal scientists, or how those cases connect. TIME’s Episode 5 recap identifies those as questions still awaiting answers. Pete’s choice explains the personal rupture at the episode’s end, not the solution to the investigation.
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Rank #3
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