Tell Me a Story finale recap: Who got a happily ever after?
By Mads Lennon
In the Season 1 finale of Tell Me a Story, three epic showdowns close out the fairy tale drama, but did everyone get a happy ending?
It’s the final chapter for the three storylines we’ve been following for the duration of Tell Me a Story’s first season. In the season finale, we find out the conclusion of Kayla’s (Little Red Riding Hood), Hannah and Gabe’s (Hansel & Gretel), and Jordan’s (the last of the Three Little Pigs) stories.
Up until the last act, there wasn’t much crossover between the storylines. Tim is the only character with connections to all three since he was semi-dating Katrina and Jordan’s friend. But the finale aims to change that, at least to a degree.
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All of the final confrontations for each character’s biggest conflict takes place at the luxury hotel Jordan manages and Tim works at as the head chef. It serves as the final stage for some of the biggest blowouts of the season.
Katrina vs. Hannah
Even though we didn’t actually discover the truth about Katrina’s identity until two episodes ago, Hannah and Katrina have technically been battling it out all season long. Only, Katrina was mostly working as a criminal puppeteer, pulling her henchman’s strings from behind the scenes.
This week, we finally got to see Hannah destroy the woman who has been harassing, threatening, and torturing her and her brother since the beginning. It was cathartic, to say the least. I especially loved the moment where Hannah pressed Katrina’s face against the stovetop. It was a nice homage to the witch’s fate from Hansel & Gretel.
Winner of the Fight: Hannah Perez
Did Hannah and Gabe get a happy ending? I’d say so. They’re finally free from the criminal dealings they got themselves wrapped up in. Free and rich, since Hannah knows where all of Katrina’s precious money was buried.
Jordan vs. Sam
Well, Detective Garcia is dead. Silly me for thinking she might actually make it out of this show alive. But twist! Detective Olsen is the one that killed her. Turns out, he’s been in cahoots with Sam for a while now!
Except it doesn’t take much twisting of the knife from Jordan to get Sam to turn on Olsen, and you know the drill, Olsen becomes just another number in Sam’s astronomical body count.
Don’t worry though, the Grim Reaper is ready to take Sam to the afterlife, wherever that may be, but unfortunately for Jordan, he’s going with him. After a scuffle between the two of them over some stolen diamonds (which Jordan will need if he wants to prove Sam’s treachery to the officers now that his only ally, Garcia, is dead) Sam shoots the final little pig dead.
Not long after, Sam himself winds up dead in a freak accident. His escape from the hotel is ruined by a car hitting him and the diamonds are left scattered across the pavement.
Thus ending the tale of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf.
Winner of the Fight: Sam… Before fate intervenes.
Did Jordan or Sam get a happy ending? Depends on how you look at it and what you believe. Jordan dies and is shown to be on the other side with Beth now, at peace (given the painting at the end of the episode), while Sam doesn’t get a moment like that.
They both wind up dead, so it’s left to audience interpretation to decide who got what they deserved and how happy their ending really was.
Tim vs. Josh
Josh Sullivan has gone fully off the deep end. After knocking Colleen unconscious last week he ties her up in one of the hotel rooms and holds her hostage for Kayla to come find. After the creepiest game of Truth or Dare ever, wherein Kayla discovers Josh was the one who killed her mother, (that poor girl is going to need therapy for life), Kayla bargains for her grandmother’s life with her own.
It appears Kayla will be able to rescue Colleen and then be forced to spend some quality time with Josh in whatever sick love fantasy he has concocted, but then he starts dousing the room with alcohol. He plans to light the place on fire to create a diversion for his escape and leaving Colleen to burn in the process.
Kayla is, understandably, upset by the reveal Josh doesn’t intend to keep his promise to release Colleen. Luckily for both Powell women, Tim was tipped off by Katrina about Kayla’s whereabouts (so maybe Katrina is only 99% evil). He gets to the room in the nick of time and pretty much one-two-punches the lights out of Mr. Sullivan.
It looks like their teacher troubles are done… Until we discover they didn’t find Josh’s body yet in the hotel wreckage.
Somehow, Josh made it out alive. He sneaks into the Powell house and terrorizes Kayla one final time before she is able to push him down the stairs and finish him off for good.
Winner of the Fight: Tim… mostly.
Did Kayla get a happy ending? I would say the Powells got the happiest ending they could get. Though given the circumstances, I’m sure they’re all going to need some serious counseling after all of this.
Odds & Ends
- I think I’ve mentioned it before, but the opening credit sequence on this show are gorgeous. I’ve never skipped them even once.
- What was the deal with Katrina and Tim? The relationship was obviously established to be a red herring so people wouldn’t suspect Katrina was evil. Did she actually care for him? We’ll never know now that she’s dead. Although given how blasé she was about her mother’s untimely death, I’m guessing the answer is a resounding no.
- What was the point of Nick’s whole “disguise” thing at the end of last week’s episode? It doesn’t really serve much purpose in the end.
- I know Katrina is bad and all but, Hannah and Gabe were responsible for a few deaths and Hannah did steal and keep money that wasn’t hers. I was rooting for them (Hannah was my favorite) but she could have given the money (that was never even hers and clearly blood/dirty money) up a while ago and ran away with Gabe. I doubt Katrina would have followed him once she had the cash back since that was all she wanted in the first place.
Tell Me a Story has been renewed for a second season, stay tuned at HiddenRemote for information about its return.
What did you think about the season finale? Do you have any hopes about what fairy tales might be featured in the follow-up? Which story and character was your favorite? Hit the comments below to chat about the episode!