Dare Me – Season 1 Episode 10 (The Finale) Recap & Review

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The season finale of Dare Me ends on a pretty significant cliffhanger. It’s worth bearing this in mind because right now, there’s no definitive proof this has been renewed for a second season just yet.

Given Netflix appear to have picked up international rights to this one, it seems likely that if USA Network cancel this, it’s the sort of teen drama that would certainly settle in and find an audience on Netflix. Despite that, there’s enough here to make for a compelling enough finale, even if the answers are few and far between.

The season 1 finale of Dare Me begins with Addy awakening after another nightmare and answering a call from Beth. Having read the newspaper it turns out the police are treating Will’s death as suspicious following the autopsy results.

On the back of this news Addy and Colette meet up, with the former asking whether they should just go to the police and come clean. Colette convinces her against doing this, allowing Addy’s guilt to continue consuming her.

Beth meanwhile wanders into the hotel room and contaminates the crime scene, touching the wall where the bullet hit, and the floor too. Although she does wipe the door handle with her sleeve, this could be problematic further down the line. On her way out, she runs into the neighbour down the hallway, who confirms Colette has been there recently – but she didn’t see her the night of the shooting.

Police show up at the school, immediately causing alarm bells to ring for Addy. Even more alarming however, is the sight of police at Colette’s house, who immediately start asking her questions about her “misadventure”, going on to mention an incident last Tuesday. Still confused, it turns out she’s convicted of a misdemeanour after running over a light pole. Breathing a sigh of relief, she heads inside where Matt tries to remain calm and tells her he needs a minute.

At school, Colette approaches Addy’s Mum and praises her daughter, talking about how dedicated she is. She also goes on to mention Kurtz, drawing the attention away from Addy and herself and steering the investigation toward a different suspect.

Beth confronts Kurtz at school and, knowing he was in the model apartment across the hallway that night, demands to know what happened. It’s a big moment for her, especially after his sexual assault, and one that sees her stand tall and confront him. As she does, Addy arrives and he reveals that Colette was there that night. He heard Will and her making love but goes on to tell them he left before anything else happened. Forcing Kurtz out the room, Beth turns her attention to Addy and tells her the truth will out.

The last game of the season arrives and the cheerleaders head onto the field to rapturous applause. While Addy hurries off the pitch to see Colette, a chilled hush descends over the field as the  soldiers take to the stand and tell them Sarge will not be forgotten.

The team perform their cheer routine, with Addy momentarily distracted as police arrive and arrest Kurtz. Addy begins to act erratically, leading Beth to confront her as they fight over Colette’s true intentions. Beth in particular confronts her over the bracelet which was found at the crime scene, setting her off again as Addy begins panicking. Heading to Colette’s house, she messages her coach and asks her to come outside as she has questions.

Meanwhile, Addy’s Mum finds the bleached trainers in her daughter’s cupboard, Kurtz is shown the footage of him beating up Sarge in an interrogation room while Addy’s message about her hamsa sends Colette scrambling to find the missing jewelry. As she does, Matt arrives and asks what she’s doing, confirming they were both at Will’s place that night where the episode, and series, ends.

Big question marks hang over this series as the final credits roll. Are Colette and Matt responsible for killing Sarge Will? What’s Beth’s involvement in this whole charade? And what will Addy’s Mum do now that she’s found the trainers in the cupboard? Surely she’ll tie this to Addy’s slip-up with the dates last episode and assume her daughter has something to do with this as well?

Even more alarming however is Beth entering the crime scene and touching the wall and floor, surely this is a big problem for the investigation should they go back and sweep for prints again?

There are a lot of questions remaining over this one and hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out if this has been renewed or not. There’s certainly a strong enough foundation to grow into a second season and although some of the stylistic techniques and editing borrows concepts from HBO’s Euphoria, there’s enough here to make for an enjoyable drama nonetheless.

Unfortunately this finale does little to quench your thirst for the truth and shy of reading the book to find out who killed Sarge, we’ll all have to wait on the powers that be to find out if this has a second season in the pipeline or not.