Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You Recap Episode 5: Switzerland
- 13 hours ago
- 6 min read
‘We catch ‘em. We don’t cook ‘em’, Max told his daughter Sarah, when she started wondering if he ever chased after someone he thought could be innocent. It was the photo Rachel had that got her wondering, along with David’s curious behaviour. If all he wanted was to escape jail, why has he not headed for the border? Why did he decide to stick around, through all the close calls with the FBI and local law enforcement?
It was Sarah’s digging that caused the case to branch into a Switzerland connection, and you know what? I don’t hate it. I’m okay with the case now having an international connection as long as it is later tied satisfactorily into the narrative. If David was right and Matthew was alive, they needed to find out who the kid was who was previously identified as Matthew. Sarah started looking for a boy who matched his physical characteristics who went missing within six months, and sent it to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, and Interpol.
It turned out that there was such a boy. Five years ago, a couple of drug dealers, Nathan and Bridget Bischof, were found dead in their residence. Detective Muller found a young boy who must have been their son hiding in a closet. He took this kid, Martin, to an orphanage run by a family from Boston. Martin disappeared soon after; Sarah’s notice looking for Matthew was a fresh lead for the Detective, given their physical similarities and the Boston connection.
In an effort to find David, Sarah suggested using Kyle Bergin as bait. The show lost me a little here, because Skunk was a known murderer. He was a mob enforcer. David was an escaped prisoner who may be innocent of the crime he was accused of, killing his son. Why release a guy you know to be very dangerous to catch another guy who may be innocent? Even if he were tailed, and he was, here, there was no guarantee that he would not slip away or harm someone.
David’s plan to go see his father Lenny was complicated by Rachel’s editor Jim, who wrote and published a story about David’s case, including the possible connection to Nicky Fisher. A police car was parked outside Lenny’s house whilst waiting for the FBI. David and Rachel used a Prohibition tunnel to get past the cops and into Lenny’s house, but found that it was empty. They were only there for a few minutes when Sophie arrived.
When a show like I Will Find You pauses albeit briefly its fast paced narrative for a quick emotional hit, when done effectively, it’s devastating. So it was here, when Sophie had to explain to David why he was looking for Lenny at the hospital. Lenny was diagnosed with colon cancer six months ago; the disease was advanced enough that he would never miss his chemo. Of course David did not know, he had refused all visitors in prison until Ted Wesson made him see Rachel. It was notable, however, that Philip knew Lenny was sick and never told David.
Sophie had already checked Lenny’s bed and found that it looked like it had not been slept in. She was worried that something happened to him. She showed Rachel and David the case file Lenny, Philip, and Adam had been reviewing, and mentioned how Cheryl’s now husband Ronald lied about the bus crash the night Matthew died. The last that Sophie knew of her brother was when he went to see Ronald. David mentioned the name Nicky Fisher, and Sophie immediately recognised the name.
The quick reunion was interrupted by the arrival of Max and Sarah, and I have no idea why Sophie even allowed them inside when Rachel and David were hiding in the closet. They threatened to get a warrant, maybe let them? They saw Liam Fisher’s file and threatened prosecution, and Sophie eventually claimed Lenny was at Boston General. Max and Sarah took her with them anyway, for obstruction.
David insisted on going to Nicky Fisher alone, and so Rachel headed to the hospital to find out why Ronald lied. David got a gun from his father’s safe, this would be the third gun he handled in this series. Was he comfortable with guns because of his cop father, or did he himself have previous gun-related experience, perhaps in the military? Outside of the mention of David being a law professor, we still don’t have information on his background, including his night terrors, which must have been extreme enough so that his father’s mind immediately went to it when the boy they thought was Matthew died.
How David got Adam to come meet him was well executed, because it was also a quick illustration of the decades-long neighbourhood ties that bound these characters. Adam got a call from Eddie at the pharmacy and told him he needed to come get his father’s prescription. Once he got there, Eddie hurriedly closed up shop and left. David was waiting, and immediately asked Adam about Nicky Fisher. Adam said Nicky was semi-retired and that no one knew where he was. David remembered Nicky’s daughter Lena, who was just a few years behind them at school. Adam tried to dissuade him from going to Lena’s house and offered to make some calls, but David slipped out, and headed straight to the mobster’s daughter.
Lena might not have been part of her father’s criminal enterprise, but she has lived a lifetime amongst men with guns, and she remained calm even with David holding her at gunpoint. She called her father, as he demanded, and though David offered Lena’s life in exchange for his son Matthew, Nicky merely told him to put the gun down. Bergin arrived with two more of Nicky’s men, and with David distracted, Lena tasered him.
As this was happening, the FBI team tailing Bergin sat in a car outside. Had Adam not arrived, the FBI would have had to explain how they released a known murderer to murder again in a mob daughter’s kitchen. Adam told Bergin that Nicky wanted to talk to David, and yes, Adam worked for Nicky. What????
And so the FBI Team watched as Bergin and his men left Lena’s house with Adam and David. They left in two vehicles, with old schoolmates Adam, David, and Bergin in the first car. A deeply pained David asked if Adam had known this whole time that Nicky took his son. Whilst Adam did not directly answer this, he murmured he had no choice.
Max and Sarah soon joined the follow team in pursuit as they figured Nicky was having David flown out via a small private airstrip. A gunfight occurred, and as Nicky’s jet landed and opened its door, Bergin yelled for David and Adam to get to the plane. Sarah was distracted when Bergin’s bullet hit Max, and she shot Bergin. The plane took off, and next we saw, David was in Key West, Florida getting punched by Nicky Fisher.
Rating: B
Strays
🕵️The police had traced Hayden’s gun that David used back to him. His mother Gertrude filed a police report stating that Hayden agreed to help out his old friend Rachel Mills when she asked for a place to stay, but that he did not know she was with David, or that David took his gun. Hayden called Rachel to tell her about this. In an effort to protect her from prosecution, he also deleted the security footage in his place showing her and David. Note that this also meant the security footage showing Hayden and David had been deleted.
🕵️Ronald’s explanation on why he lied about the bus crash was that he had a crush on Cheryl, and he wanted to spend time with her. It was the lousiest of timings. Cheryl later told Rachel that when it was difficult for her and David to get pregnant, she started thinking of using a donor, but then they got pregnant with Matthew. After his birth, however, there was distance between them. She knew Ronald liked her, and she stayed to have coffee with him because it was nice to feel wanted; she has carried the guilt of being unable to stop David’s night terror from killing Matthew ever since. Rachel finally showed Cheryl the photo of the boy that could be the still alive Matthew.
🕵️When Rachel was released from prison, they must have had to return her belongings, which included the photo. But Sarah had a copy, too, she must have made a copy whilst Rachel was in jail.
🕵️Sophie finally admitted to Max that she did not know where Lenny was, she thought he was taken by the same people who took Matthew.
🕵️In 2016, Nicky’s son Liam was arrested for murder, the arresting officers were Lenny and Philip. Three months into his sentence, Liam was killed. If Nicky blamed Lenny and Philip, why didn’t he have them killed back then?
🕵️Rachel went through social media posts on the same day that Matthew was photographed in Six Flags, and found out that Payne Industries rented out the whole park that day. So how did Rachel’s friends get in? Were they working for Payne Industries? Rachel asked Hayden for access to the photos by the corporate photographer, and he agreed.
🕵️Stephano told Gertrude that Hayden was still helping Rachel. Gertrude told him to make sure Rachel did not get any further, Hayden must never know the truth. Hmm. Gertrude later met with Max and Sarah’s boss Special Agent D’Souza.
Episode Writers: Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt
Episode Director: Adam Davidson
Original Release Date: June 18, 2026