Diksha Sundriyal
After many twists and turns, Apple TV+’s ‘Lucky‘ comes to an end with a finale where the protagonist faces some very difficult choices. At the end of the penultimate episode, Lucky decided to help Agent Rand catch Wayne once and for all in return for her and John’s freedom. This episode begins with her in the car with Rand, on her way to the rendezvous point, entirely unaware of the fact that someone attacked and killed the agents guarding her father. At the moment, she is focused on finding ways to get out of the situation alive, while Rand advises her not to get any ideas in her head that might make her stray from the plan. Of course, the agent has no idea that Lucky has her own plan in motion. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Lucky Faces Wayne and Priscilla
At the meeting point, Lucky and Rand are greeted by Kershaw, who gives her a gist of what she needs to do. Before she hands over the money, she must make sure she has Wayne talking about his crimes, a confession they can use in court against him. Her safe word is “genius,” and she should focus on sticking to the plan. Rand and Kershaw will be watching from the top of a very high water tower, while the backup agents are a short distance away. Meanwhile, Priscilla prepares herself for the meeting. Dutch is unhappy about not being allowed to join her. Before she goes, he gives her Cary’s watch to comfort her. Then Wayne arrives in his car to take her away. On the way, she thanks him for getting her out of prison, even if it was so that he could get his money back.
He eases up, too, expressing his condolences on Cary’s death. But then, he starts talking about how he is bad at being sentimental because his father beat the emotion out of him when he was a teenager, which is why he never wanted kids. This irks Priscilla, as she reminds him that Cary was his kid, only for Wayne to point out that she was the one who wanted the child, not him. The conversation ends when they reach their destination, where they find Lucky waiting for them. The introductions begin on hostile terms as Lucky talks about how Cary talked about his despicable absent father. While amused, Wayne also tells Lucky that there is a limit to what he will endure for the sake of money.
This leads Lucky to pull out her phone and reveal that all the money is in the crypto account. This is news to Priscilla, who is disgruntled that Lucky never mentioned the money had been converted to crypto. Lucky reveals it was Cary who did, and that he stole the money as a huge middle finger to his father. She also points out that while Priscilla had no idea, Wayne already knew about it from his source at the FBI. She wonders whether the source was still there when Priscilla was arrested and, if so, why didn’t Wayne stop it. Anyway, the point of crypto is that Lucky will leave them with the account and walk away, and once she is far and safe from them, she will text them the 12 code words to access the money.
What Happens to Rand? Does Priscilla Go to Prison?
When Lucky mentions Wayne’s spy in the FBI, she names Kershaw, which prompts Rand to focus on the man next to her. She is shocked by Kershaw’s betrayal, but he mocks her for being too blinded to see what was right in front of her. When she wonders why Kershaw turned, he reveals that he was the one who went to Wayne long ago. He wanted more money than his job as a government servant provided, and working for Kershaw was highly profitable. In any case, words and reasons are futile now, and a fight breaks out between them. Kershaw almost kills Rand by throwing her off the tower, but she survives, makes her way back to the top, and then kills him.
Meanwhile, Wayne has become irritated with Lucky. To push her to give up the password, he brings out a beaten-up John. She is caught off guard by her father’s presence, but he also reminds her that the moment she gives up the password, they will both be dead. She tries to bargain with Wayne, but his patience runs out soon enough, and he decides he doesn’t care about the money anymore. The main issue is that John stole from him, and that cannot go unpunished. So now, he will kill Lucky in front of John and then kill him too. Since Lucky is part of Priscilla’s mess, he hands her the gun and asks her to finish the job. While John and Lucky beg her not to do it, Priscilla already has blood on her mind, but it’s not Lucky’s or her father’s; it’s Wayne’s.
She turns the gun towards Wayne and shoots him. Before his men can attack her, Dutch shows up and kills them all one by one. Priscilla looks at a dying Wayne, mocks him, and then puts another bullet in him, ending his story once and for all. Lucky and John try to run away amid the chaos, but Dutch finds them and brings them to Priscilla. Under different circumstances, she would have killed them, but she decides to show them mercy for Cary’s sake. She even lets Lucky leave with the money because that’s what her son would have wanted. By the time a battered Rand arrives at the scene, Priscilla and Lucky are both gone.
Later that evening, Rand comes to Priscilla’s house to confront her. Priscilla is deeply tired, not just by the events of the day, but also by what she had to lose in the past few days. She tells Rand to take the victory of Wayne and Kershaw’s downfall and step back. But Rand has her mind set on Priscilla now. Before she leaves, she vows to get her someday and put her behind bars for good. She could shoot the crime boss down this very instant, but she’d prefer throwing Priscilla behind bars for the rest of her life, where she can reflect on all her crimes and wrongdoings until the day she dies.
Why does Lucky Dupe John?
Having made it out alive from an impossible situation, Lucky and John go to a motel, where they reflect on the day’s events. He asks her how she knew about Kershaw, and she confesses that she knew there was a mole, but Kershaw was just a hunch that turned out to be right. He is impressed with her bluff and invites her to celebrate their win. They go out and have burgers, and John asks what Lucky intends to do now that she has all the money she could ever need. She reveals that she doesn’t want anything to do with it. He tries to talk her out of it, but it’s clear she wants out of the con life, and this is her way to do it. He asks her how she found the password, and she shows him the soft toy with Cary’s voice. He is impressed that Cary had more presence of mind than expected.
Back at the hotel, they reminisce about old days and fall asleep. The next morning, Lucky wakes up to find that John is gone and so is the soft toy. But she is neither surprised nor heartbroken by it. Years ago, when Lucky was still a teenager, and her father was teaching her how to con people, he forced her to do something she didn’t want to do. The plan was for her to jump in the pool, feigning drowning, so that he could threaten to sue the place and its owners and get money out of them. The only catch was that Lucky couldn’t swim for real, and if it weren’t for a good Samaritan, she would have drowned. This was when she realized her father didn’t really care for her. He was always working an angle and was ready to sacrifice her if that’s what it took.
She anticipated that he would do the same with the money, so she planned accordingly. She replaced the recording in the soft toy with a message for him, explaining how she knew it would get to this. She tells him she has given him his freedom, but this is the last time he will see her. He is also not getting the money. She is done being his puppet, and when she talked about wanting to be free of this life, she wasn’t lying. Clearly, her father is way too far gone to change his ways, and she cannot change who he is. So, it’s better if he leaves her alone, and they can both live the life they want.
What Happens to the Money?
As for the money, Lucky wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t want it. The money had her father’s duplicity and Cary’s blood on it. It was never meant to be in her hands. She thought Priscilla would take it, but when that didn’t happen, she knew where the money should go. She wrote the twelve-word password on paper, put it inside a laptop, and sent it to Rand’s office. Around the time John realizes he has lost the money and his daughter, the laptop is on Rand’s desk, who smiles, knowing what Lucky has done. The last shot is of Lucky at the beach, finally free to breathe easy. Between Wayne, Kershaw, and the money, Lucky has held up her part of the deal rather well.
While Rand may not have gotten everything the way she wanted, she did get enough to resolve a major case she had been working on for years. So now, it is her time to hold up her side of the deal, which is to clear Lucky and John’s names completely. She had asked for full immunity for herself and her father, and while Rand may not have agreed to this at the time, she is now compelled to accept the term. Thus, Lucky and John’s slate is wiped clean, and they are free of whatever plan Rand cooks up next to pursue Priscilla. The only way the father and daughter will fall back into the law’s clutches is if they commit another crime. While there is a good chance John will find a new target soon, Lucky doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. She is free in all senses of the term.
Read More: Is Lucky a True Story? Is Luciana “Lucky” Armstrong Based on a Real Criminal?
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