Why didn’t Gabi change her name on NBC’s Found?

In Found episode 5, “Missing While Undocumented,” we’re treated to a flashback which revolves around Sir’s attempt to manipulate Gabi into “adapting” to her new circumstances by presenting the idea that she’ll one day get to leave captivity and travel the world with him. In this scenario, they’ll abandon their previous identities and embrace new ones as they step into a new reality of their creation.

Sir tells Gabi that their first stop will be Paris and then from there the world will be their oyster. At first, Gabi is transfixed by the idea. She’s been held hostage for 275 days and this would be her opportunity to get reacquainted with the wider world around her in a way she hasn’t been allowed to for nearly a year. It, however, comes with a steep price.

In order to be granted permission to leave the place where Sir has her imprisoned, Gabi would have to shed her old life and embrace the new one that her captor has created. He’s given her the chance to choose her new identity just like he’s chosen his own. In the life he’s envisioned for them as globetrotters, Sir will adopt the name Eric Blair which was the given name of George Orwell.

Obsessed with the American literary canon, he thinks Felice would be a good name for Gabi to take. He tells her the character from Toni Morrison’s novel Jazz fits her best, but it’s up to his captive to choose her new moniker. Gabi tells him she’s thought about what name she’s going to claim as her own and, much to Sir’s disappointment, she says she’s going to be Gabi Mosely as it’s the name that her mother and father gave her, and she’s never going to give it up.

Gabi walks a fine line when it comes to being influenced by her father and Sir on NBC’s Found

As an adult, Gabi struggles with the choices she’s made regarding Sir. Part of the story in “Missing While Undocumented” is her reluctance to spread her father’s ashes because she’s not ready to let go. Being reminded of the time that was taken from them, and their fractured bond because of the trauma surrounding her kidnapping, resulted in Gabi punishing Sir by denying him edible food and attempting to hold off from asking for his help because of what he did to her.

By the end of the episode, Gabi finds equilibrium again by calling on Det. Trent to sit with her as she navigates her grief by the body of water where her father, Robert, wants his ashes to be spread. The place holds a cherished memory as the two went fishing there together and Gabi watched her dad give the catfish they caught to a friend who had recently lost his job.

Trent’s words on how she was her father’s greatest legacy and that she’s just like him, helping people who need it most, reinvigorated Gabi’s sense of identity. Their shared moment was so impactful that she returned Sir’s books that she’d taken in Found episode 3, “Missing While Widowed,” and she told her captive that they’d be operating by new rules, her own.

Gabi was firm in her stance that she wasn’t going to be like Sir because she is a Mosely. She wasn’t going to follow the “carrot and stick” routine that he’d groomed into her. But he didn’t let her sit on her high horse for too long, reiterating that she is just like him. She is after all keeping him against his will and if she really wanted to be different, she’d let him go.

Of course, she didn’t and wouldn’t which Sir pointed out and then he handed her the splintered wood piece he’d been holding onto all day. It’d broken off when he was doing pull ups and, while he could have used it on her, he chose not to. By handing it over to her, Sir saw himself as proving to Gabi that he’s not the monster she thinks he is.

In all honesty, Gabi and Sir’s push-and-pull dynamic is fascinating but also could be in danger of becoming one note. Something is going to have to give with these two before the back-and-forth grows tiresome. For now, they’re locked in an impasse with Sir behaving and biding his time while Gabi’s clients reap the benefits of his specialized expertise. Though, even if Sir were to find a way out, it doesn’t seem like he’d go too far from Gabi. He’s got a toxic bond with her that been keeping him in line and tied to her since he sees them as equals and wants to be her partner.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more Found news and coverage. New episodes air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. Next day streaming is available on Peacock.