THEM: The Scare – Season 2 Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Box

Episode 8 of THEM: The Scare begins with the cops arriving outside Edmund’s flat. As he cries, he sees the red hair man who calls himself The Scare. He tells Edmund that he will bring his sister to him. All he needs to do is give himself to The Scare. Just as the cops barge in, Edmund kills himself and becomes The Scare. 

What was odd about Bernice Mott’s foster home?

At present, Dawn’s ex, Corey arrives to comfort her and Kel. Diaz pays a visit too and she tells him his theory that all the victims had siblings and Edmund must be trying to send her a message. She decides to visit Mott’s place and Diaz secretly follows her after McKinney convinces him that she is the killer.

Dawn notices that the broken clock and broken glass are missing. Meanwhile, the scratched floor in the closet is hidden under new carpeting. She realises all these missing items are actually memories from her time at the foster home. 

At home, Kel tries to tell Corey what happened but his father finds it hard to believe. That is till he sees Edmund in the mirror. While they are in the kitchen, Edmund lures Corey to the bedroom and throws him down the stairs.

Why does McKinney follow Dawn?

Meanwhile, Diaz calls Dawn to his place with the promise of showing the rest of Edmund’s case files. They see Edmund’s last tape in which he is angry that she doesn’t remember Mott’s abuse while he is haunted by it. She realises that he is going for Kel to hurt her and she tries to leave only to be stopped by McKinney.

McKinney points the gun at her and hurls racist insults as he claims she is the killer. She surrenders yet he beats her. Upset, Diaz pulls his gun on him but McKinney shoots him. In the confusion, Dawn attacks and shoots McKinney with his own gun. Assured that Diaz will live, she runs home to find Corey hurt and Kel missing. The TV switches on to Edmund telling her that he has Kel. 

Why does Edmund target Dawn?

She rushes to Mott’s place and Edmund pulls her into their shared memories. Turns out, their mother is none other than Ruby Lee Emory, the older daughter from Season 1. Wanting a better life for her children, she leaves them with Mott along with Raggedy twin dolls. But as they grow up, Mott is abusive. Edmund hides with Dawn under the sink – the place where Mott’s corpse is found. The broken clock and glass are from Mott throwing things at the kids. As for the scratches in the closet, she would lock the kids there. 

At present, Edmund approaches Dawn and tells her to join him. As she begs for Kel, he twists her body and she sees The Scare version of her behind her. She apologises for forgetting him and says she loves him. This has The Scare leaving Edmund who starts dying. Dawn’s Scare vanishes too and she comforts him as he dies. She finally finds Kel locked in the same closet and hugs him.

How does THEM: The Scare end?

Dawn is again investigated for the death of McKinney but it turns out she had been recording their conversation. It is enough and all charges including that of Benito’s death are dropped. She also hints that the killer had the same description as McKinney and now the killings have stopped since he is dead. Lt. Schiff offers to give her a desk job but she refuses and leaves the force.

She heads home and it seems Corey has been visiting them often. After a happy lunch, she finally looks at the box left by her mom. While looking at the photographs, she finds one of Ruby’s family and is shocked to see that she looks exactly like Lucky Emory. Hiram Epps in the form of the Tap Dance man arrives while whistling the same tune from Season 1 and Dawn looks scared at the end of THEM: The Scare Episode 8. 

The Episode Rating

Did we miss something, why was Edmund targeting Curtis? Could it be that since Curtis abandons his kid to cook meth, it reminded Edmund of Gaines and Athena abandoning him? And was there something deep behind Dawn’s hypertension or was it just meant to set the stage for Athena to reveal the adoption secret?

But the rest of it is all answered in THEM: The Scare Episode 8. The Kwon sisters’ deaths are because Dawn and Edmund are twins. Benito was separated from his brother like them. Athena separated them while Mott abused them. As for Kel, it can be considered that Edmund was jealous.

By the way, the power of love and all that jazz does seem a little ludicrous with the way The Scares are vanquished so easily. But at least we get a definitive ending. The connection with Season 1 is pretty neat and sets up a Season 3 if we get one. But since it is an anthology series, we do wonder if it will focus on Hiram targeting Dawn or if we will get a whole new story with the protagonist being linked to the previous seasons.