'Found' Just Revealed Who Really Kidnapped Jamie

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Found Season 2.

After Found‘s newest season confirmed our theories about the identity of Sir’s (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) accomplice, we felt pretty confident about Found’s various other mysteries. Chief among them was, of course, the kidnapping of Margaret’s (Kelli Williams) son Jamie (Parker Queenan). And with as suspicious and hostile as Margaret’s ex-husband, Darryl (Scott Daniel Johnson), has been portrayed this season, we were convinced that he had something to do with Jamie’s kidnapping.

But, plot twist! The seemingly random, seemingly kind woman, Carrie (Suehyla El-Attar), spotted comforting Margaret at the bus station as she put up fliers for Jamie, was actually his abductor — not only that, but Carrie then spent the next several years befriending Margaret to learn about Jamie from her and try to get her to move on. While all of that is horrifying, what’s more interesting is the position this now puts Jamie in.

Will Jamie Turn on Carrie in ‘Found’ Season 2?

Ever since returning, Jamie has been cagey about his abduction and has refused to give details. But in the face of Margaret figuring out Carrie’s identity and, in turn, being assaulted by Carrie when confronted, will Jamie allow himself to finally name his kidnapper? He obviously harbors complex feelings about his abduction and the woman behind it. When he arrives at Margaret’s home and finds her knocked out and bleeding on the floor, it takes him a moment to realize Carrie is responsible for Margaret’s injuries. When considering his 13 years of captivity and the ways in which Carrie would have propagandized him against Margaret, this hesitancy to see Carrie as the villain makes sense.

We know Jamie will choose Margaret when she’s in direct danger. We saw him do this when Carrie attacked her. And we’ve also seen him do this when Margaret was being held hostage in a previous episode. But there’s a difference between the choices made instinctively in moments of stress and the choices made when allowed to think things through. In fact, Jamie’s been sitting on the identity of his kidnapper since he returned without disclosing a single detail about her. Perhaps Carrie’s attack on Margaret will be enough to motivate Jamie to turn her in, but what if it isn’t?

What Happens If Jamie Protects His Kidnapper on ‘Found’?

13 years is a long time, and Jamie was incredibly young and vulnerable when he was taken. Though he may love Margaret as his birth mother, Carrie essentially functioned as an adoptive mother for that time. Additionally, Jamie was taken after being sent off in frustration by Margaret. While it’s certainly not Margaret’s fault Jamie was abducted, the emotional state Carrie would have found him in is critical to the bond that formed between them. Carrie is wrong in her assertions that Margaret didn’t deserve her son because she was frustrated and tired. But there is an emotional truth at the core of that sentiment that is reflective of Jamie’s lived experience.

This internal conflict is key to understanding the impossibility of Jamie’s choice. By turning Carrie in, he would be betraying the woman who had cared for him for the majority of his life. She may be evil, but on an emotional level, she’s his mom. So is Margaret, but Jamie can’t honor one without disgracing the other. And though the law might name Carrie a dangerous criminal, that wouldn’t change the emotional attachment Jamie has to her.

Jamie’s been interested in Gabi (Shanola Hampton) to a near-concerning degree, and while many speculated this interest had something to do with him being an impostor or Sir’s accomplice, now that it’s clear he’s neither, the truth is obvious. Jamie’s interest in Gabi is an attempt at understanding himself. Sir held Gabi captive for an entire year at the farmhouse. He took her because he believed she was being neglected — the very same reason Carrie took Jamie. Although Sir hasn’t had a literal hold over Gabi since the farmhouse, he’s maintained a level of emotional control Jamie relates to. In fact, it would not be surprising if this had something to do with Jamie’s choice to visit Sir in prison in Season 2, Episode 16, “Missing While Witnessed.” We don’t get to see Jamie’s conversation with Sir, but what if it was something as simple as Jamie wanting to understand the perspective of a kidnapper?

Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf leaning against the desk in his office in Brilliant Minds

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“That is what gives us the courage to continue.”

Though M&A is full of wonderful, kind people, they also lack a critical perspective. In Season 2, Episode 6, “Missing While Gabi Mosely,” Lacey (Gabrielle Walsh) outright tells Gabi that Sir’s ability to see the episode’s kidnapper as a perpetrator and not a victim is a character flaw on his part: “Sir’s only insight came because he’s broken… Where we saw a kidnapping victim, Sir’s twisted mind saw a suspect.” Gabi and her team are lovely, but they see any understanding of Sir and other kidnappers as a sickness. But for Jamie, that understanding is what he needs to work through his trauma and the confusing feelings he has about it.

There is a presumption, both by some characters in Found and certain viewers watching, that Jamie’s difficulties reintegrating into his life are indicative of some underlying malice. But the truth of the matter is that trauma is not one-size-fits-all. Different people have different reactions and emotional attachments to those who have hurt them. The rage and horror Gabi feels about Sir is just as valid as the complicated feelings Jamie doubtlessly has about Carrie. Some victims want revenge. Some victims want justice. Some victims want their abusers to atone. Whether Jamie ultimately chooses to turn Carrie in or not has nothing to do with “choosing” Margaret over Carrie (or vice versa), and everything to do with meeting his specific emotional needs as a victim.

Found Season 2 Episode 19, “Missing While a Casualty,” will premiere Monday, April 14 at 10 PM EST. After that, new episodes of Found premiere Thursdays at 10 PM EST on NBC. Episodes are available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.