Long Bright River Ending Explained

With Mickey and Kacey getting back together after the killer's identity is revealed, Long Bright River comes to a bittersweet end. Long Bright River, which is based on Liz Moore's best-selling book of the same name, opens with Amanda Seyfried's character Mickey and her partner Lafferty finding a young woman's body in a high-crime neighborhood of Philadelphia. After examining the Jane Doe, Mickey is instantly certain that the death was not due to an overdose. The police officer is even more determined to find the murderer after her sister disappears and two more bodies are discovered.

Mickey collects the clues that lead her to the murderer over the course of the eight episodes of the crime drama series. She makes a few mistakes along the way and blames innocent people for the murder. But Mickey eventually discovers who has been murdering the women and why in the last scenes of Long Bright River, with her sister's assistance.

In Long Bright River, who killed Amelia, Elizabeth, Laura, and Taylor?

Since Long Bright River is primarily a murder mystery, the main mystery surrounding the crime drama is the identity of the serial killer. Like most murder-themed television series, the murderer is always an unexpected character, but when everything is put together, it all becomes very evident in retrospect. In the case of Long Bright River, the first episode reveals the clues that point to the murderer. It takes Mickey a while to figure it out, but she eventually does.

Following Kacey's return to Mickey's life, the two decide to collaborate in order to unravel the mystery. The younger sister informs Kacey that Mickey's partner was the serial killer as she leaves to question one of the women who was almost killed. Telling Mickey that Truman was responsible for the killings, Kacey relays the information to her. Mickey, however, doesn't think she's telling the truth because the man she knew couldn't have killed four innocent women. Since Truman was no longer her partner, Mickey deduces that she meant Lafferty, not Truman, when she instructs her sister to repeat the exact words Emily told her.

Lafferty's murderous behavior is consistent with his personality. He treats the first woman they discover dead with contempt and doesn't regard her as a human being, which Mickey found extremely problematic. In addition, Lafferty kept large quantities of insulin in his home, which he used to murder the women. Laura noted earlier in the series that the murderer was a police officer. More than anything else, Mickey found Lafferty thanks to this clue.

Lafferty's Reason for Killing the Four Women in Long Bright River: An Explanation

The police were unable to determine the reason behind the women's murders when the bodies started to pile up. However, Lafferty tells her why he did it after Mickey apprehends him. Lafferty's badge was being used by Elizabeth, Taylor, Amelia, and Taylor to obtain sexual favors. He started murdering them one by one after they threatened to reveal him to his boss. Although it isn't stated, it's likely that Lafferty's boss and high school friend assisted him in hiding his crimes at the end of Long Bright River.

Do Mickey and Truman End Up Together in Long Bright River's Season Finale?

Despite its dark themes, Long Bright River also features a charming romance between Mickey and Truman Dawes, her ex-partner. Truman and Mickey were coworkers on the police force, but he took a leave of absence after suffering an injury while on duty. Even though they were close, Mickey didn't call or check in with Truman during his break. But Mickey turns to Truman for support when she starts to fear that she and her son could be in danger.

Eventually, their relationship transforms from that of close friends and former coworkers to that of lovers. Their relationship deteriorates when Kacey tells Mickey that Truman killed the women and Mickey starts to suspect him of being the serial killer. She pulls her gun on him because she believes he is giving her something else when she discovers him injecting naloxone into an unconscious woman.

Even though Mickey was aware that Truman was incapable of committing such a horrible act, her mistrust of him was ultimately what caused their relationship to end. Truman was unable to forgive Mickey, despite her repeated apologies and her explanation that she wanted to demonstrate to Kacey that she trusted her due to their past relationship with Simon. Even though it's unfortunate that Mickey and Truman didn't work out in the Peacock original TV series, their relationship's ending was the right one because some things are just impossible to move on from.

Kacey's Experience in Long Bright River

Flashbacks in Long Bright River provide some information about Kacey's past drug use and how her relationship with Mickey was impacted by her addiction. In the first episode of the show, Mickey fears that the serial killer may have taken her sister, who vanished from Kensington's streets. Since the only person who could lead her to her younger sister is Kacey, finding her is actually one of the reasons Mickey is so determined to expose the murderer.

Mickey finds Kacey at her father's house after tracking down the red truck that has been following her around, believing the owner of the vehicle is connected to the killings. As it turns out, Kacey had been alive the entire time and had moved in with her father to work on her sobriety after becoming pregnant. It was good to find Kacey alive, but because of their past, the estranged sisters didn't exactly have a happy reunion.

To put it mildly, Mickey and Kacey had a complex relationship. When Mickey picked Simon over Kacey, they had a major argument. The situation worsened when Kacey became pregnant with Simon's child and Mickey chose to take the child away from her sister because she didn't think she could be a good mother because of her substance abuse issues. In the end, Kacey and Mickey were able to resolve their differences and maintain a positive relationship.

What the End of Long Bright River Actually Means

Long Bright River is more than just a crime drama; it examines how the system fails some people, such as members of underrepresented groups or those who are addicted to drugs. The Philadelphia Police Department's captain and other officers appear unconcerned when the first woman in the series is discovered dead, concluding without further investigation that she overdosed. Mickey is silenced despite voicing her concerns about the three women's strange deaths.

Even though Long Bright River depicts some negative aspects of law enforcement, it also demonstrates how some police officers actually care about the people in their community. The show demonstrates that while some people choose to ignore the weak in society, others are prepared to speak up and act morally. For example, Truman looks after the women whose names society has forgotten, and Mickey ensures that the names of the four women are not forgotten. Long Bright River is ultimately a tale of love, forgiveness, family, and second chances.

Is the Story of Long Bright River Based on Fact?

Some may have questioned whether Peacock's most recent crime drama is based on true events after seeing the terrifying scenes in Long Bright River. Long Bright River is a work of fiction, even though it appears to be a true story. Nonetheless, Moore drew inspiration for the book from events in her life. The best-selling author discussed the factors that shaped Long Bright River in an interview with The Guardian.

Moore clarified that her family, like Mickey and Kacey, had a multigenerational battle with addiction. In addition to her family history, Moore's time in Kensington, the neighborhood where the series is set, served as inspiration for Long Bright River. The author started working with the women of Philadelphia while she was there. Although Long Bright River is primarily fiction, some aspects of Moore's life served as inspiration.

Source: The Guardian