Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You Recap Episode 6: The Doctor
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
In the Episode Four recap, I mentioned Dr. Heller, because at that time, it was his second brief appearance on the show, and I wondered if he would become connected to the main story later in the series. My recapping instincts were right. If the fifth episode took us to Switzerland, the sixth episode has now taken us to a fertility clinic, and David’s latest theory on what may have happened to Matthew – that his biological father, the donor Cheryl used to have a child, took him.
First off, let’s address the Nicky Fisher red herring of it all. Ten years ago, Nicky’s son Liam was involved in a bar fight that ended in someone's death. Nicky paid off the witnesses, and the DA was ready to drop the charges, until Lenny and Philip manufactured evidence to make sure Liam served time. Liam died merely three months later.
It was Nicky who had Lenny kidnapped and taken to his semi retirement place in Florida, on a boardwalk he painstakingly put together to resemble where he and his son Liam used to go to every weekend. Nicky was a father who never ceased mourning his son. Nicky had one of his men put a gun on Lenny’s head and asked David to choose between his father and his son.
David initially refused, but Lenny told him he would not survive the cancer. At least this way, he would go out on his terms. Adam pulled his gun on Nicky to get him to stop and raised their deal. It was a decade ago when Nicky put a hit out on Philip and Lenny for Liam’s death. Adam proposed that if he spared their lives, he would be Nicky’s man inside Boston PD. See, I didn’t get mob guy vibes from Adam, and I am glad the show gave this explanation for his Nicky ties.
With Lenny’s prompting, David finally agreed, and just like that, it was over. It was all a show. NIcky never had any intention of killing Lenny. He just wanted to make sure that David was innocent and that Matthew was still alive. He declared that he did not kidnap kids.
Nicky’s sole involvement on Matthew’s case was Hilde Winslow. He could not stand the hypocrisy of Lenny planting evidence to send his son Liam to prison, and later hiding evidence to try and save his own son David. So, he paid Hilde to lie on the stand. How did Nicky even find out that David and Lenny hid the murder weapon? Why did Nicky send Skunk to kill Hilde? I doubt we would get answers to these questions in later episodes, and that’s all right. In a mystery thriller like this, there are things we can let go, though of course we will judge its overall execution once we finish the series.
Nicky told David he was free to go, and even gave him some helpful advice regarding the case. Matthew’s abduction was planned; he was targeted. David needed to look into why, on what happened on his and Cheryl’s past that may have led to the targeting of their son.
Now this is something I refuse to let go – What was David’s past? Was there anything in his past that caused him to have night terrors so bad that his own father thought he killed his own son because of it? Did he continue to have night terrors when he was in prison? On the lam, he was in a very high stress situation. Would we perhaps see him have a night terror at some point?
Adam told David that Nicky’s plane would take him back to Boston, but that Lenny would have to remain as insurance. Adam, too, did not think he would survive, given that he put a gun on Nicky’s head. He asked David to tell his father he loved him. There were tears on his eyes as he reiterated that he only did what he did to protect Philip and Lenny. I believe him, and so did David.
Whilst David was in Florida, things went from bad to worse for him in Boston. Rachel received the photos from the company photographer, but noted that there were three missing – 110, 111, 112. The photographer promised to send them. Hayden was on his way to help her go through the photos when Getrude’s man Stephano broke in with a gun. Rachel threw a trophy out a glass window to attract the attention of the cop who was sitting outside keeping an eye on her, which worked; the cop entered her house. Stephano shot him.
Rachel was able to run outside, and just in time, Hayden pulled up. They drove off, and Hayden offered to get her on a plane in an hour. Hayden pointed out that she was being hunted. He promised to hire the best lawyers to exonerate David and help find Matthew, but he begged her to allow him to keep her safe. There was this tender shot of Rachel leaning in and Hayden kissing his head. I have truly missed seeing Milo Ventimiglia on screen. Their moment was interrupted by David’s phone call; he asked her to meet him at an airstrip and said that Matthew may not be his son.
According to David, when he and Cheryl could not get pregnant, Cheryl looked into using a donor. She went to a fertility clinic behind his back. She claimed it was only for consultation, but David wondered if she lied and went through with it without telling him. Rachel at first insisted that Cheryl would not do that, but the seed was already planted in David’s mind. He thought that it was the donor who kidnapped Matthew because he wanted his kid back.
David wanted to talk to Cheryl, but Rachel told him that the cops would be all over her given what just happened. Stephano was actually Detective Stavros, and after Rachel got away, he stayed behind to frame David. His story was that he heard Officer Ramirez’s Code 7 over the scanner and came over to help. When he arrived, he saw that Officer Ramirez was down, and he went to check his pulse. It was then that David got the jump on him. Due to the death of one of their own, David would now be pursued by Boston PD with increased vigour.
Of course it was likely that Cheryl didn’t even know the name of the donor, but the fertility clinic would. It was Berg Reproductive, and it just happened to be part of Payne Medical Group. All right, let’s back up here a bit. Payne Industries rented out the park where Matthew was photographed. Payne Medical Group owned the fertility clinic Cheryl consulted. Gertrude Payne sent his enforcer after Rachel. Hayden Payne was privy to everything David and Rachel knew because they relied on his help. Paynes are all over this story.
Hayden said he could get the file, and the three of them headed to Berg. Hayden ran a patient search and found there was no file on Cheryl. Perhaps the donor erased it? Hayden told them that five years ago, Berg had to fire a doctor they suspected was impregnating his patients with his own donations. The incident never made the news because Gertrude covered it up. The doctor was Jacob Heller, and he worked at Boston General with Cheryl. Before they could search the Berg database further, the cops arrived. Hayden got himself arrested to give Rachel and David time to get away.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Stephano told Dr. Heller that he needed to leave, because Gertrude could no longer protect him.
Rating: B
Strays
🕵️Max survived the gunshot wound and he and his daughter Sarah had a lovely talk. Julie benched Sarah. Did Gertrude's meeting with Julie have anything to do with this?
🕵️Detective Daniel Muller of the Swiss Police left Sarah a voice mail telling her that he would arrive in Boston the following day, and that he had important information on the Matthew Burroughs case. Later, Chopra gave Sarah a file/ email from Detective Muller.
🕵️Cheryl went to see Sophie (and Philip was there); she was convinced the kid on the photo was Matthew. They needed to prove the DNA results were altered, and that the boy on the bed was not Matthew. Philip said the original sample was in storage, and that he had a friend at the lab who could run it. Cheryl provided hair she kept from Matthew’s first haircut.
Episode Writers: Robert Hull and Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt
Episode Director: Adam Davidson
Original Release Date: June 18, 2026