Is Gareth Dead? What Happened to the Compound?

In Apple TV’s ‘Last Seen,’ the search for his missing daughter puts Ian Ridley through the wringer. He has spent eleven years waiting for Mags, who was kidnapped from their house when she was 3 years old. Now, a phone call brings him the hope of finding her. The investigation leads him to a man named Henry Reid, whose father, Gareth, is known to have run a cult-like community in a desolate place. When Ian comes looking for Mags, now named Sarah, Henry is forced to run from his isolated farm to the only place he can find shelter in his father’s compound. Things, however, turn out very differently, especially as Henry discovers that the compound is not what it used to be. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Compound is Torn Down by the Government

Before Henry and Jenna built a life for themselves at the farm she inherited from her aunt, he used to live at his father’s compound. Gareth was a deeply religious man, with his dedication bordering on, if not crossing into, fanaticism. He was also against mingling with the society he believed was being raised entirely on chemicals and other substances that polluted their minds and bodies. This meant that the compound grew its own crops entirely organically. They raised their children without outside intervention, so the children did not attend school or college. He was even opposed to modern medicine, believing they had enough resources to take care of things themselves. This meant that people often went untreated for their injuries, and children went without vaccination.

For several years, Gareth’s ways worked for him, but eventually, the government got a whiff of what he was doing. It is not clear who, if anyone, reported him, but one of those days, he was accused of endangering the lives of children and other people in the compound. He didn’t bow down even then, and so one day, the government barged in and took away all the children, putting them in foster care to ensure they had all the educational and healthcare opportunities they needed. While Gareth was not arrested, he was left with nothing. Presumably, when the children went away, so did their parents, who decided to go back to society to keep their children with them. It is also likely that their mistreatment made them realize Gareth wasn’t really who he said he was. Moreover, the commune had already started to run out of money when Henry and Jenna left, which means the government intervention left them with nothing.

Henry Kills His Father to Save His Daughter

Gareth’s compound had been dismantled years ago, but Henry didn’t find out about it because he and his family were not connected to the rest of the world with the Internet or even proper television. The reason that he forced them into an even more isolated bubble is that he didn’t want anyone to find out that he’d kidnapped Mags, whom he now calls Sarah. In fact, the only reason he thinks about his father is that he has been caught and has nowhere else to go. By the time this idea comes to him, Jenna is heavily injured, and a police officer is dead at his hands. He leaves his house in such a hurry that he has no time to find out how his father is faring. He is surprised to see the state of the compound, but he doesn’t realize how much losing it has changed his father, or rather, freed him to do whatever he wants.

When Henry returns with Sarah, Gareth suspects his son is not telling him everything. Still, he is ready to fight Ian, since he sees this as just another case of an outsider intervening in his family’s affairs. He becomes so adamant about finishing what Henry started that he is ready to use Sarah as bait. He knows that Ian will come out when he hears her cry. However, when Henry sees this, he cannot bear the thought of his daughter being treated so. He asks Gareth to let go of Sarah, worried that she will get hurt, but he doesn’t listen. Gareth mocks Henry for his inability to see anything through, and the more he talks, the clearer it becomes that he doesn’t actually care about Sarah. He wants to shed someone’s blood, and while he may have his eyes on Ian, it won’t matter if it’s Sarah’s. This leads Henry to shoot him dead, though he doesn’t regret it for one second because it means keeping his daughter from harm. Gareth dies in his desolate compound at the hands of his son, meeting a forgettable end.

Read More: Is Ian Ridley Based on a Real Dispatcher? Is Mags Based on a Real Girl?