Sumith Prasad
Apple TV+’s thriller series ‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ follows the disappearance of Owen Michaels, who vanishes when the software startup company he works at gets investigated by the FBI. Owen disappears without letting his wife Hannah and daughter Bailey know about the same, making them set out to find their loved one. Although Hannah and Bailey have a troubled relationship, they keep their differences aside to unravel the mystery behind Owen’s disappearance. Along with the two of them, the viewers must be wondering what really happened to the software engineer. Well, here’s what we can share! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Owen’s Disappearance Amid FBI Probe
Owen Michaels disappears when The Shop, the software startup company where he works as the head software engineer, gets investigated by the FBI. He vanishes from his family and company right before his boss gets arrested for fraud. After his disappearance, Grady Bradford, a marshal from Austin, Texas, meets Hannah to ask about her husband’s whereabouts. Hannah wonders why an officer from Austin is looking for Owen, who is based in San Francisco. Hannah eventually finds out that Owen did live in Austin, at least briefly, and hid such a part of his life from his family and friends. Considering Grady’s involvement in the case, it is evident that Owen’s disappearance is linked to his connection with the Texan city.
Owen might have lived in Austin when Bailey was a child with his first wife Olivia. That must be the time when he took his daughter to a college football game in the city as she recollects to Hannah. If that’s the case, something consequential must have happened during the time for Owen to convince his friend that he had never been to Austin. During his stay in the Texan city, he might have been involved with criminals, which threatened his and his loved ones’ lives. Owen must have even gotten forced to betray a crime lord or the latter’s gang, possibly paving the way for his relocation to San Francisco.
Owen must have been living in California under an assumed identity. Since Bailey doesn’t remember much of her Austin days, he might have moved when she was little. Even Olivia’s death must have happened in Austin due to an altercation between her husband and a crime boss or group, likely making Owen leave for California to protect his daughter. Owen must have disappeared from San Francisco to avoid an investigation. He must be believing that an arrest may make him infamous enough for his friends and enemies in Austin to find out that he is alive. By vanishing from his family, Owen must be avoiding both the FBI and a crime syndicate that may want to kill him.
Owen may haven’t expected his wife Hannah and daughter Bailey to leave for Austin to unravel the mystery behind his life since he hasn’t told them about his time in the city. He may even know his enemy or enemies well enough to know that he/she/they would not hurt his loved ones instead of him in case they track him down.
Owen’s Mastery of False Identities
If the show is a faithful television adaptation of co-creator Laura Dave’s novel ‘The Last Thing He Told Me,’ we can expect Owen Michaels to stay alive. Since Owen has succeeded in maintaining a possible fake identity for a long period, likely away from his enemies, it is safe to assume that he knows how to stay away from threats and dangers without jeopardizing his safety. Owen must be living in another city under another false identity, hoping that his family wouldn’t get hurt. In the novel, Owen calls Bailey through a “special app” he installed on the latter’s phone, which indicates that he stays alive after his disappearance.
Although Owen most likely will remain alive, his identity must have “died” the moment he decides to vanish from Hannah and Bailey’s lives. He may not be able to return to their lives as Owen if his enemies find out that the two women are closely connected to the man they are trying to hunt down. In the novel, Hannah accepts that Owen is gone forever, only to bump into a man who wears a similar wedding ring. The man can be Owen and he may secretly keep an eye on his family to make sure that they are not in any danger.
Read More: Where is The Last Thing He Told Me Filmed?
