The Consultant ending explained: Who is Regus Patoff?

While the series leaves a lot unanswered and left up to interpretation, there are some specific answers given as to what's behind the mysterious and creepy goings-on at CompWare.

But just who is Christoph Waltz's character Regus Patoff? Why did the boss of CompWare hire him? And what happened to Patti?

Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The Consultant.

This article contains mature themes

Why did Sang hire Regus Patoff?

At the very start of the season, Patoff arrives immediately after Sang, the boss of CompWare, dies. He says that he was hired as a consultant to improve business at CompWare - in fact, he has the contract to prove it.

However, in hacking into the CCTV, CompWare employees Craig and Elaine find out there is something more, something far darker, going on. They see that Sang did indeed sign the contract after having a meeting with Patoff, and that after doing so he had fellated Patoff in his office, seemingly having been broken down over the course of a short interaction with the man.

It isn't until midway through the season that we find out just what happened in that meeting. It turns out that Patoff arrived without an appointment, and waited all day to see Sang.

Once in the meeting Patoff revealed that he knew CompWare was in financial trouble and was mere weeks away from going out of business. He also knew that Sang was suicidal and desperate to secure his own legacy, having reached such acclaim and success at a young age.

Patoff revealed that he could offer him a very specific service - he would come into the company as a consultant to improve its business and secure Sang's legacy, but only after Sang was dead.

Sang signed the contract and Patoff said he would return soon - after all, now he knew his legacy would be secured, there was no reason for Sang to stay alive.

Patoff offered him an additional service to arrange his death for him, which Sang agreed to. It seems that Sang's death at the start of the series, being shot by a child who was visiting the office, was somehow arranged by Patoff.

Patoff said he would usually charge a fee for this service, but given the state of the company's finances, would wave it as long as Sang fellated him - showing his obsession for power and dominance, and his ability to manipulate people.

What did Patoff do to Mama Sang and Patti?

While it had at first seemed that Patoff might have murdered Sang's mother, who arrived at CompWare intending to shut it down, it turned out he had actually set her up in a flat, taught her English and given her Patti's phone on which to play Mr Sang's Jungle Odyssey, the company's new game.

Craig and Elaine found this out when Craig got a text from his fiancée Patti's phone asking for money, a text sent by Mama Sang which was meant for Patoff.

Meanwhile, although it initially seemed that Patoff was seducing Patti, he had in fact set her to work in the records room, seemingly through some sort of hypnosis or mind-control. She was completing and typing out records on the company's staff, including Craig.

Patoff certainly seems to have the ability to manipulate people's will. For instance, the final level of his game, Mr Sang's Jungle Odyssey, appeared to be so difficult that it drove (almost) anyone who played it to self-harm through sheer anger.

What was up with the gold skeleton?

Midway through the series, Craig tracks down Frank Flores, who he is told has answers regarding Regus Patoff. He finds that Frank is a gold merchant, who was tasked by Patoff time and again through the use of intermediaries to create a gold skeleton, bone by bone, piece by piece.

The workload and intensity of the jobs took a toll on Frank and he didn't leave the house for a year after completing the skull, during which time his passing trade disappeared, the neighbourhood died out and his wife left him.

As Craig is leaving Frank's shop it is trashed by three invading goons, all wearing exotic animal masks - inkeeping with the theme of CompWare's new game, Mr Sang's Jungle Odyssey.

Craig escapes but what happened to Frank is unclear. Elaine says a fatal robbery hasn't been reported on the news, suggesting it was somehow in Craig's mind - or Patoff has covered it up. Craig's house was also broken into around this time, making him paranoid.

In the final episode, we find out just what became of the gold pieces. Craig faces off with Patoff on the glass bridge next to his office, and after Patoff taunts him, Craig smashes the bridge with a mallet, sending Patoff plummeting to the ground.

He survives and later is seen to have got away, but one of his toes is severed. Craig picks it up and dissects it, finding inside, you guessed it - a solid gold bone. He had the gold skeleton inside of him all along.

Who was Regus Patoff?

In all honesty - who knows? By the end of the series things aren't much clearer than they were at the start. We know his name is fake - it's taken from the side of a postage box, saying "registered at the United States patent office". We know he appears to have a gold skeleton, made in pieces by Frank Flores (explaining Patoff's weight and his struggle going up glass stairs).

We also know he does what he did at CompWare time and again. He also offered his services to Pterodactyl Robotics at the end of the series, which is a company initially set up to develop the first "humanoid workforce". Is Patoff a robot? Again, it's unclear.

In the end the real twist of the story is that, in actual fact, beyond these mysteries he does actually seem to be what he says he is - a consultant, offering a specific service which he follows through on.

He did improve business at CompWare. He did secure Sang's legacy, through the success of Mr Sang's Odyssey and his constant presence in the building (he had a statue made of him).

He also scouted out a new manager. It appears that he was first testing Craig, but quickly found him to be unsuitable and easily broken. Instead, he settled on Elaine, who proved herself to be ruthless and willing to do anything to succeed, after she arranged to have an elephant let free on the streets of LA.

In the end Patoff left Sang's former office with Elaine's name engraved on the outside - clearly marking her out as his chosen successor.

A final tag scene showed us that the boy who murdered Sang was able to complete the final level of Mr Sang's Jungle Odyssey, revealing that inside the golden egg at the end was, in fact, a gold skeleton. What any of that means, well... you're on your own with that one.

The Consultant is available to stream in full on Prime Video. Try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.