storage unit and asks the clerk for access. Reenie explains there may be evidence of an active criminal investigation there, and she’d like him to bend the rules. He agrees after she threatens him with obstruction. Reenie looks around the unit, which is full of boxes and furniture. She spots a box of Paul’s things from the juvenile detention center and discovers it’s locked from the outside when she tries to leave the unit.
She doesn’t have cell service but improvises and uses a dolly to pry open the door. The clerk’s standing right outside and warns her she shouldn’t threaten people. Reenie isn’t scared, but the clerk should be, especially if he has outstanding warrants.
Colter breaks into Paul’s mom’s house and notices a tripwire just in time to avoid getting shot. He checks for more booby traps before entering the room and discovering Paul’s dead mom and Sal’s missing head. There’s no sign of Paul or Alice.
Reenie describes weird drawings she found in Paul’s storage unit. She thinks they all resemble Alice, and many are set at carnivals. Colter recalls seeing a bowl of tokens that could be from an amusement park. Reenie checks the box and discovers Paul’s employee ID from the Happy Hollow Amusement Park. Colter googles it and finds it’s a seasonal park that is not currently open. It would be the perfect place to take a kidnap victim.
Alice attempts to restart therapy, and Paul talks about his mom. She was promiscuous and he’d catch her with men. His mom dropped him off at the amusement park to get rid of him. However, she caught him studying blowflies living on a dead rat. She was with a man so she laughed at Paul and pretended not to know him. “I gave her what she always wanted. A man who would never leave her,” says Paul, chuckling.
Alice acts offended at his laughter and says she deserves his respect. He shouldn’t treat her like his mother treated him.
Colter makes his way into the amusement park in the pitch-black night. He finds the utility room and looks for any breaker that’s switched on. The one marked “arcade building” is the only one, and a map shows its location.
Alice explains why she didn’t go for her license. She internalized what she heard from patients, and that’s what drove her to alcohol and drugs. Alice got help, and she thinks Paul can get help, too. The darkness doesn’t go away, but you can learn to ignore it.
Colter tries a door and it’s locked. Inside, Paul hears the rattle and goes to check it out. Colter unties Alice as she warns him Paul has a gun. Paul fires two shots but misses. Colter goes after him while giving Alice his phone and telling her to call the cops.
Paul leads Colter on a chase through the park while exchanging gunfire. Paul’s hit but continues to run, making it into the funhouse. The mirrors make it difficult for Colter to determine Paul’s location, but he warns Paul that he doesn’t have to get hurt if he surrenders. Paul believes he was justified in killing his mother.
Alice joins them and asks Paul to show them he wants to be different. He notices she’s holding his knife and is just about to shoot her when Colter takes him out. Alice is safe, and Paul the monster is dead.
Alice’s mom and Miles arrive at the park as the cops are investigating the scene. Judith doesn’t have the words to thank Colter for finding her daughter. She hands over a check and then pulls her family into a big hug.
Episode 12 ends with Colter and Reenie eating dinner at a diner and Colter declaring breakfast is always the best meal. Reenie didn’t take him as a “breakfast for dinner” guy. He admits his mom always made them breakfast when his dad had his episodes. She believed it was like starting the day over. Reenie suggests Colter should speak to a therapist, and he points out that he talks to her. Her therapist was helpful and told her to start her own practice. But Reenie chuckles as she admits she likes that he confides in her.
