‘Bad Monkey’ Finale Recap – Some Things Never Change

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Bad Monkey finale.

Bad Monkey‘s finale picks up right where the penultimate episode left off, with strong gales whipping back the palm trees and hailing the return of the Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith). The immaculate scene continues, as the Queen brandishes her rejuvenated power and confidence against the cowering Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner). But if we know anything about the psychopath, it is that she won’t go down without a fight. Despite the Queen’s resounding warnings about the island needing a sacrifice and the quick flick of her wrist that results in Eve’s chin splitting open, Eve fiercely meets the Queen’s eye. And wins.

The face-off ends with the Queen landing fatally on a tree branch, but her ominous words travel to Eve before she takes her last breath: “you will choke on your lies.” Bill Lawrence‘s Bad Monkey soothes our heartache with an emotional sequence of the Queen’s spirit saying her farewells. She tells Ya-ya (L. Scott Caldwell) that she was right, acknowledging that she found her faith again. She teases Egg (David St. Louis) about knowing that he has a heart beneath his impenetrable demeanor. She also visits Lulu (Amina Massai), passing on her blessing to the new generation of magic practitioners that will reign after her.

‘Bad Monkey’s Finale Sees a Last-Ditch Effort To Capture Eve

After the mesmerizing title sequence, Bad Monkey cuts to Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn) and Neville (Ronald Peet) hiding in the bushes, scouting out Nick’s (Rob Delaney) mansion with the debris of the hurricane around them. Immediately, we realize that Yancy declined Rosa’s (Natalie Martinez) pleas to return to Miami with her, and this is confirmed via a tense phone call when Yancy is trying to pin down the whereabouts of the gun she threw away. Yancy and Neville leave the grounds with another idea in the works, one that requires a gun. As such, he asks Neville if his uncle has another one — he doesn’t, but he gives the guys a pair of binoculars instead. Same thing, right? Later, they manage to hunt down the weapon by scouring the vegetation by the creek, putting Yancy’s new, last-ditch plan into motion.

Meanwhile, Egg had to arrange another goon for hire since he now has a bullet wound in his leg. When he introduces his friend to the Striplings, he finds out that Nick is paralyzed — a spinal injury will do that to you. Funnily enough, Nick is now moving around with the help of Ya-ya’s electronic wheelchair, but Eve doesn’t particularly find this amusing. As always, she prefers to be in the limelight and thus tension riddles their relationship, especially since now she believes he won’t be capable of taking care of her anymore.

Conch Fritters Foils Yancy’s Plan in ‘Bad Monkey’s Finale

Yancy makes a phone call to FBI Director Rhodes (Lauren O’Quinn) and once again unwillingly involves her in a probably illegal plan to lure the Striplings to the States. He asks her to be prepared for the couple’s return and also convinces her to pretend to freeze their accounts and assets. On the island, the bank opens in the afternoon. Yancy and Neville are ready (with a pre-ordained signal that Neville cannot quite grasp) to pounce on Eve when she falls for the ruse and goes to the bank before the account officially freezes.

As she walks out of the establishment, Yancy confronts her. When the police arrive, they arrest Yancy instead, leaving Eve to walk away unscathed. Shortly after, Egg and his new lackey also saunter in, leaving Yancy thoroughly confused about how their plan was foiled. After many attempts at the signal, Neville finally swoops in to rescue him in a wildly driven car, and they approach Claspers (Bob Clendenin), who is also in on the plan. Turns out it was Claspers’ conch fritter addiction that threw a wrench in their plans, as Egg spied him and wrangled the truth out of him while he was trying to get his fix at a bar. But he renews his usefulness by informing them that planes are still grounded — so the only way for the couple to leave this island is via their yacht.

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The Dragon Queen’s Curse Is Completed in ‘Bad Monkey’s Finale

The wedge lodged in Nick and Eve’s relationship becomes insurmountable after Nick is paralyzed, and they begin bickering more often than not. Until it is time to board the yacht. Pushing Nick along, Eve makes a quick detour towards another point of the island while Nick rambles on about regretting his actions and becoming estranged from his daughter. Soon after, he realizes what Eve is about to do and almost accepts his fate resolutely. Eve careens the wheelchair and Nick off the bay, watching him drown in the water. In her eyes, he had officially outlived his use and was now a liability — something she did not sign up for. Even though it was not in the way we expected, the Dragon Queen’s hex that Neville requested in Bad Monkey‘s premiere has now been fully enacted.

Eve makes her escape via the yacht with only herself and Tilly onboard, but as she sets off, Yancy and Neville come running along the quay. Instinctively, Yancy dives into the water and grabs hold of the rope that had attached the boat to the pier, gasping for air every time he momentarily surfaces on this manic joyride. Meanwhile, the more sane Neville desperately yells at Yancy to let go, observantly pointing out that he could very well die. Yancy does not. Instead, a carousel of flashbacks plagues his mind, filled with loved ones reprimanding him for his obsession with justice, pleading for him to let go. And eventually, he lets go.

Though he takes a huge step in his character arc, Yancy floats in the water, despondently watching the wicked psychopath leave a white trail in her wake, getting away with a host of crimes, including murder. Luckily, in the closing scenes of the finale, we also see the Dragon Queen’s final words come to life, as Eve is tucked away in Morocco, gobbling down baby carrots until she chokes on one and falls off the building. In the end, she really did choke on her lies — or carrots — the vampiric Tilly didn’t really notice the difference as she lapped up her owner’s blood.

‘Bad Monkey’s Finale Comes Full Circle

With the villainous couple meeting their karmic demise, everything in Andros and Miami returns to normal, but slightly different. Neville discovers Nick’s body while fishing (it is only fitting that the rest of him was also found on a hook), and whisks away his $250,000 watch so he can rebuild his old shack while starting a new life with Dawnie (Reese Antionette). He also reunites with Driggs (Crystal the monkey) as the stubborn friends can not hide their loyalty to each other any longer. Ya-ya merrily gives Driggs up to see him happy as she returns to her mentor position with a new pupil, Lulu.

Bonnie (Michelle Monaghan) gives Yancy a final phone call, but if this is anything like the beginning of the show, it probably isn’t the final goodbye. But they are interrupted by Rosa, and heartache follows as the two say their own farewells more intimately. While it isn’t a decisive goodbye, Rosa is keen to find her place in the world, as her shenanigans with Yancy shed light on how miserable she actually is. Like in the beginning, Yancy finds himself alone, enjoying the coastal air with a drink and new annoying (though more acceptable) neighbors. Once again, he is joined by Rogelio (John Ortiz), who applauds Yancy’s shift in character, but also mentions that there is something in his car. Yancy declines his offer of another misadventure, content to let his compulsive behavior go and drift away into the beauty of nature: he is a key deer who adapts and drinks seawater. Who are we kidding? Of course, Yancy turns right back around and is curious about what is in the car — some things never change.

Bad Monkey is available to stream now on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

Bad Monkey leaves us right where we started as the show-stopping finale features growth, sacrifice and conch fritter addictions.

Pros

• Bad Monkey’s cast give bittersweet performances as they grace our screens for the last time.
• The finale cleverly circles back to the beginning, emphasizing everyone’s growth and relationships.
• Even with a light-hearted approach, the finale taps into deeper emotions and pathos.

Watch on Apple TV+