The Madness ending explained: Who was after Muncie?

Who had killed white supremacist Mark Simon? Were the same people after Muncie (Colman Domingo)? Would Muncie be able to find out what larger power was at play in the whole convoluted affair?

What started off as a gritty murder case paved the way for a much larger operation, one that was caught up in underground dealings, puppeteering and disinformation.

Having been framed for the murder of Mark Simon, Muncie found himself at the centre of the case and remained on the run, even though he was intent on finding out the truth.

With the kindness of his friends and family, he managed to keep a relatively low profile, but continued to be chased down. By who? Well, we found out in that much-anticipated final episode.

It's safe to say that the finale starts off with quite the shocking scene, but what exactly happens in the finale of Netflix's The Madness? Read on for a full breakdown of the show's final episode.

The Madness ending explained

The episode dramatically opens with Julia Jayne (Alison Wright) ambushing Isiah's (Stephen McKinley Henderson) store and home to find Muncie and his family. She shoots down one of Isiah's friends who is keeping watch outside, and then finds and shoots Isiah once inside, causing him to fall down the stairs to the basement.

Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake) ambushes Julia, hitting her continuously over the head with a blunt object. But Julia manages to shoot Elena once in the neck just before she passes out.

Thankfully, we find out that Elena and Isiah aren't dead, but Julia is.

The next day, the police speak to Muncie about their findings and tell him that they uncovered a nerve agent in Julia's belongings, which seems to be identical to the same type used on journalist Laura Jennings, who was believed to have died of a heart attack.

Ultimately, Julia's laptop has enough evidence on it to exonerate Muncie, and so Julia is the lead suspect in the killings of Mark Simon, Laura Jennings, Donald Sloss Jr, Stuart Magnusson and Magnusson's bodyguard Raul Diaz.

While good news, Muncie also tells the officers that he has audio recordings of Julia acknowledging that she's not working alone, and was working under the orders of Rodney Kraintz, CEO of Revitalize.

Muncie tells Demetrius (Thaddeus J Mixson) that he can move in with him while Elena is recovering in hospital. But while tidying up his home, Muncie sees that it's now all over the news about Julia being the lead suspect in the multiple murder case.

Something doesn't sit right with Muncie, though, who still wants to go after Kraintz, even if the detectives aren't following up on leads.

In hospital, Elena tells Muncie frankly that, although she loves him, she wants him to take a step back in order to allow her to recover.

Still reeling from their conversation, Muncie is approached by a stranger who soon reveals himself to be one of Kraintz's lawyers. He comes to Muncie offering him $5 million in exchange for an NDA to remain silent about what he thinks he knows.

Although it's a hefty amount of money, Muncie admits that it still won't bring him peace of mind that Kraintz won't come after him one day. He wants Kraintz in prison or dead, he says.

That night, he tells Lucie (Tamsin Topolski) about Kraintz being the one to organise the murder of Mark in the hopes that means The Forge take a step back from coming after her.

However, she tells Muncie that Julia actually came to her looking for Mark but under the guise of an FBI agent – and so, revealing his whereabouts, she feels as though she had a part in getting him killed.

With Agent Franco Quinones (John Ortiz) having died by suicide at the end of episode 6, Muncie attends his memorial at the local bowling alley. There, he's given Franco's notebook, which could help with getting more information to help Muncie in his search for more evidence on Kraintz.

The next day, Muncie returns to CNN for a special segment exposing Kraintz (with the help of Franco's notes), but is briefed by his producer, who tells him to hold back on lecturing people. He also reminds Muncie of the possibility of having his own show if this segment goes well.

On air, Muncie plays the audio from Julia confirming her partnership with Kraintz. He also confirms that Revitalize owns one of the only prospective cobalt mines in the US, which is one that will be completely unregulated should next year's climate bill pass.

Quite simply, Kraintz hired Julia to get rid of anyone who stood in the way of deregulation.

Muncie urges the authorities to take action, but also announces in his segment that he won't be appearing as a TV pundit anymore, so as not to contribute to "the madness" any longer.

Back at home, Muncie and Demetrius get into a heated argument about Muncie's next steps. Demetrius disagrees with Muncie's actions of going on TV, believing true justice is to seek Kraintz out for himself and shoot him.

The next day, while home alone, Demetrius spots a letter has been slipped underneath Muncie's front door, and he soon disappears.

When Muncie returns, he finds the letter and sees it's from Lucie, who has provided him with the location of Kraintz's private office.

Of course, with Demetrius taking the stance he has, Muncie fears the worst and goes after him. Muncie finds him as he's ready to jump over the gate with a gun to shoot Kraintz, but manages to get him to drop it and walk away.

Even so, Muncie goes to the private office for himself and is now armed with the gun Demetrius had.

Who was after Muncie?

Breaking in, he confronts Kraintz, who says he's done nothing wrong, instead admitting that he hires people "to keep people like you at bay".

When Muncie confronts Kraintz, the businessman admits that he chose to frame Muncie for the murder of Mark Simon "because you were there", with Kraintz arranging for Muncie to be tailed and threatened all along by Julia.

Although Kraintz goads Muncie into killing him, Muncie chooses to walk away.

We then see that Lucie has been successful in getting the police to raid the home where The Forge hold their meetings, leading to an entire SWAT team coming in and arresting them. One of them escapes, though, around the back of the house.

On the news, we also see Kraintz giving a statement after being cleared of all charges into Simon's death by the DA's office. But just when he's about to get into his car with his security guards, they are all shot and killed by the escaped The Forge member.

What happens to Muncie?

With the truth out there and Kraintz dead, it looks as though things are looking up for Muncie, who has taken a step back from the public eye.

He's teaching in a local high school, and we see him as he's grilling burgers in a park, the same one he would come to with his mother when he was a child. He's spending time with Demetrius and Kallie (Gabrielle Graham), with everyone seeming to be happy once again.

But Muncie is interrupted by the sound of a car with tinted windows driving away, believing it to be someone from Kraintz's wider group that could be out to find him again.

Muncie is instantly cheered up, though, when he sees Elena making her way across the park to meet them. They stand facing each other, with the future for them appearing to be a bright one.

The Madness is now streaming on Netflix – sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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