Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You Recap Episode 8: Finding Matthew
- 12 minutes ago
- 6 min read
In the end, I Will Find You did live up to what I thought when I saw the first episode, that it was an interesting story. It was wrapped satisfactorily, returning to its very human roots of family and finding each other and starting over, again. After eight episodes of twists and turns, the hopeful note it ended on felt appropriate, at times even moving. It was almost enough to make me forget that throughout most of the finale, I kept thinking how the story was one big missed opportunity. It is certainly enough for an entertaining binge watch; it is just that it could have been so much more.
Throughout these recaps, I kept bringing up David’s night terrors, because it was strange how, after it was used to justify David’s wife and father believing that he killed his son, it was just never mentioned again or explored even a little. From what we saw of the story alone, it was like his family believed that David had a night terror one night, and killed his three-year-old son. No context. No recurring night terrors in jail. The condition happened one night, then disappeared.
This is an easy fix. Show flashbacks of David suffering from night terrors before that fateful night, and Cheryl waking him up. Show what may have caused David’s night terrors. Show quick shots David repeatedly experiencing night terrors in jail. Once David was out, include a little something about how he was dealing with night terrors; after all, if people thought he killed his son during a night terror before, why would everyone feel comfortable with him having his son with him again without addressing his night terrors? The hook was great, it just needed more in executing the tale that was based off of it.
Whilst on the subject of backgrounds, we also never got to learn more about David’s background. I am still thinking of this former law professor leaping from the rooftop of one building to another. Having known my fair share of law professors, there is not a single one of them who would even think of doing that. But this is a TV show! That is correct, so let’s work on the story. How about David having served in the military when he was younger? Or, what if his legal background was focused on international law, and he was in a conflict zone gathering evidence on a crimes against humanity trial?
When you have your foot on the pedal of a thriller that did indeed thrill, there is always this chance of the little things slipping by. I get that. I just think spending a little more time cooking the story would not go amiss, and give us not just a story to watch once, but one that stays with us.
Now about the mystery resolution of Hayden being the one who took Matthew and killed young Martin to give the police a body – What I wondered about in the last episode was Hayden not looking further into the fertility clinic and discovering that it was Cheryl, not Rachel, who received his donated sperm. Given his obsession with Rachel, would he not have accessed the security cameras to watch her whilst she was at the clinic? It turned out, he did look further. Before Dr. Heller left Berg, he had already arranged for Hayden to be ‘Rachel’s’ donor. But, though we were not told how, Hayden eventually learned that the ‘Rachel’ who went to Berg was actually Cheryl, and he was ready to let the whole thing drop.
Then, Rachel invited Hayden to the 4th of July party, and introduced him to young Matthew. Just as Hayden developed an obsession with Rachel, the moment he met Matthew, his unwell mind knew he was meant to be the boy’s father. Martin was going to die a painful death, was how Hayden justified killing this child who was given to his family-run orphanage for care. He took Matthew to his mother’s estate, and introduced the boy he thought was the youngest Payne to Gertrude.
Rachel had gone to the Payne estate to stall Hayden by pretending she wanted to leave with him, but the deception did not last long. Rachel told Hayden that Cheryl was already pregnant when she went to Berg, Matthew was not his son. It was here that we found out what that piece of paper was that Dr. Heller gave Gertrude, that she then burnt; it was the DNA test that showed Hayden was not Matthew’s father, which Gertrude hid from him.
Based on the snippets of interaction we saw between Hayden and Matthew, whom he renamed Theo, they seemed to love each other. Hayden probably treated Matthew better than Gertrude treated him. Gertrude’s version of love was suffocation. Gertrude momentarily lost her temper with Hayden and called him weak, but it was when she reiterated her constant presence and support that Hayden snapped. He shot Gertrude.
Sarah, suspended from the FBI, headed to the Payne estate with a handcuffed David. Sarah could not very well take an escaped convict with her, even on an unsanctioned operation, but David already had his story ready – that he went to the Payne estate on his own, that Sarah followed him, and when they find Matthew, she could arrest him. They were still on the grounds of the massive estate when the Payne bodyguards started shooting.
Sarah provided covering fire whilst David ran to the house’s side entrance. Stephano came up from behind him with a gun, and he would have died had Sarah not caught up and shot Stephano. They ran upstairs and found young Matthew, who still had Rhino, the toy David bought for him. Somehow, David and Sarah managed to convince Matthew to come with them. They made it outside, and David was about to return to the house to get Rachel when Hayden came out holding a gun on Rachel’s head.
Rachel betrayed him; his affection for her was gone. There was, however, one person who offered him pure love, the boy who was his son longer than he was David’s. Hayden wanted a trade, Rachel for Matthew/ Theo. Matthew walked up to the man he thought was his father, and Hayden pushed Rachel away and grabbed him. Hayden actually managed to get both himself and Matthew in his car and drive off, but Sarah shot at the tires. With the vehicle stalled, and young Matthew probably terrified of the gunshots, he ran to the nearby woods, with Hayden following.
David, too, followed into the woods, and he and Hayden fought, with Matthew hiding nearby. Hayden shot David just as Sarah and Rachel caught up. With Sarah training her gun on him, Hayden turned to young Matthew, who had come out of hiding. Hayden told him he was the best thing that ever happened to him, before he performed what was essentially suicide by cop; he raised his gun hand when he knew Sarah would be forced to fire.
Eight months later, and Lenny had died. Nicky Fisher apparently let him go, and he was able to spend his last few months with his grandson. Rachel’s career did not just recover, it soared, with the publication of her book about David and Matthew’s case. Cheryl gave birth to a little girl, and he and Ronald reconciled. Adam was also released by Nicky; he lost his shield for helping David, and so he became a private investigator. Sarah took over as head of the Boston Fugitive Task Force, after her father Max retired (sort of, he still frequently stopped by the office to offer his help). Young Matthew still had his struggles, but he was back with his family. David and Rachel held hands, and though I know this could be interpreted in a romantic way, I prefer to think of it as two friends who have each other’s back, who went through hell and back and continued to offer each other support.
Thank you so much for joining me on these I Will Find You recaps! With 24 million views on its first four days of streaming, it looks like Netflix has a massive hit on their hands. Congratulations to everyone involved, and here’s hoping we’ll have more mysteries to binge in the future!
Rating: B
Strays
🕵️After cleaning up the murder of Detective Muller, Stephano actually suggested killing Matthew to remove the one person connecting the Paynes to the case. When Gertrude hired her fixer/ hitman, she chose a really cold one. Gertrude could not allow it because Hayden loved Matthew.
🕵️It was disturbing how Gertrude reassured Hayden that his murder of Detective Muller was necessary.
🕵️Rachel called in a favour to his old editor Jim to announce that David had been arrested, to fool Hayden and convince him to allow her to come to his mother’s estate.
🕵️Hayden called out Gertrude for trying to get Stephano to kill Rachel.
🕵️Whilst Sarah was ignoring Max’s calls, Cheryl showed up at the hospital and told him Sarah went with David to the Payne estate to get Matthew. She also told him that Philip MacKenzie had the blood at the crime scene tested against Matthew’s; the DNA results that were used at trial were doctored. Max called Julie and told her about the DNA test, and threatened to expose her interference with the case unless she sent every available agent they had to the Payne estate.
Episode Writers: Robert Hull
Episode Director: Maggie Kiley
Original Release Date: June 18, 2026