Girl Taken on Paramount+ ending explained: If creepy Rick was caught and fate of Lily and Abby
The 'dark psychological story full of twists and turns' is based on the Hollie Overton novel
Girl Taken saw Alfie Allen put in a disturbingly creepy performance as groomer, abductor, rapist, and murderer Rick Hansen – and the ending finally revealed what happened to him and his victims.
Those of you who remember Alfie as Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones would have good reason to wish the character the same fate… If you didn’t watch it, you might NOT want to Google it! Although it was no more sickening than some of the things that happened in Girl Taken.
Rick was as vile as they come, preying on those girls he was paid to nurture and educate. Viewers watched in horror as the sadist – masquerading as a teacher – abducted his 17-year-old pupil Lily Riser. He kept her prisoner for five years, raping her every day and getting her pregnant. As if that all wasn’t horrifying enough, he stole her baby from her and gave the child to his wife to raise!
To the outside world, Rick was a charming, caring pillar of the community. To his wife, and victims, he was a monster. So what happened to him in the ending of Girl Taken, and did he get his comeuppance?
***Warning: spoilers from the Girl Taken ending ahead***
What happened in the Girl Taken ending?
The penultimate episode ended with Rick Hansen on the run. He had managed to escape from his prison guard – who incidentally he’d been giving sexual favours to for better treatment in prison (yuk). After Rick feigned a fit, she decided to remove his handcuffs. That was when he promptly attacked her, and ran for it. Well, she won’t be getting a pay rise this year.
The final episode began with Rick on the loose, his wife Zoe also on the run with their ‘daughter’ Alice, and the Riser family hiding out in a safe house.
Episode 6 – entitled Manhunt – also saw the heartbreaking moment that Lily learnt her daughter was still alive. She begged to be allowed to see her, but was told it wasn’t safe to leave incase Rick was looking for her. Which, of course, he was. As the series drew to its dramatic close, the Riser family came together to fight their biggest battle yet to reclaim their lives from their horrific shared trauma.
Was Rick caught in the Girl Taken ending?
In the tense series finale, Rick was hiding out in the very same cottage he’d kept Lily enslaved in. But it wasn’t Lily who found him. In a twist which felt like the twin-bond coming full circle, it was Lily’s sister Abby who tracked Rick down and had the final showdown with him.
In chilling scenes, Rick called Lily on a phone he had ‘borrowed’ from a man (he’d murdered). He uttered the sickening words “hello baby doll” – his disturbing pet name for her. Against everyone else’s better judgement, Lily chose to speak to him, only because she wanted to confront him about what he’d done to their child.
During the call, the master manipulator tried to blame Lily for his decision to take the baby girl away and tell her she was dead. Saying she wouldn’t have been a good mum to the baby. He went on to say: “I won’t give up on you no matter what.”
In response, Lily told him: “You’re going to be locked away. Then you’ll know what it’s like.” But Rick wasn’t locked away. His ending was a lot more final than that…
Who killed Rick?
After Lily’s alarming phone call with her abuser Rick, she told her sister: “This is never going to end until he’s dead.” In the next scene, we saw a hooded girl creep out of the house…
[That is some seriously sloppy police work, by the way. First of all, police office Tommy was asleep on the job when he should have been protecting Lily. And secondly, the safe house seemed to be in easy jogging distance of the cottage Rick had kept Lily captive in!]
In fact, it was Abby, not Lily, who had left the house looking for Rick. She arrived at the house, where Rick was hiding out. In a climatic denouement, Rick taunted Abby. He told her: “Lily and I were happy here, you know. Whatever she says. If it had been you, it would have been perfect.”
Furious at his tricks, Abby lunged at Rick with a knife, only for him to overpower her and pin her to the floor. He warned: “I’m going to put you in the ground like the rest of them.”
But Abby had other plans. She managed to wrestle her arm free and stabbed Rick in the neck… Ding, dong, the villain was dead.
Did Abby get away with murder?
Well, yes, Abby did get away with murder, but most would argue that Rick deserved to die. Policeman Tommy, probably feeling a tad guilty he’d been dozing when Abby left the house, told his colleagues a little white lie about what actually happened.
He said: “I saw him attack the girls. It was self defence. By the time I turned him over, he was bleeding out. Those girls have been through enough.”
Of course, Tommy and Lily arrived too late to see Abby kill Rick. But Tommy, who had a special connection to the family because of his relationship with mum Eve, adapted the truth to protect the girls.
Who was Isobelle Yates and what happened to her?
Isobelle Yates was another of Rick Hansen’s victims. She went missing seven years before, just two counties away. She’d attended a school that Rick had taught at.
Tragically, in the Girl Taken ending, police found her skeletal remains buried in the ground.
Of course, this means that if Lily hadn’t managed to escape from Rick, he would have likely killed her and moved on to another teenager. Probably when she wasn’t a “baby doll” anymore and started aging.
We also know that Rick had threatened to put Abby “in the ground like the rest of them”, so Rick was a serial killer and had likely killed countless young girls before.
What was Zoe’s fate in the Girl Taken ending?
The police tracked down Rick’s devastated wife Zoe, who was on the run with four-year-old Alice. Zoe, also a victim of Rick’s controlling behaviour, hadn’t known that the child was Lily’s. Cornered by the cops, she said a heartbreaking farewell to Alice.
In a bid to take her own life, Zoe tried to jump from a bridge in front of a moving train, but was saved in time by the police officers.
Police officer Rachel later told Lily and her family that Zoe was in custody. She said: “Zoe is traumatised. There are indicators of coercive control – financial and psychological.”
Meanwhile, Alice was taken into temporary foster care.
Did Lily get Alice back?
Lily was allowed supervised visits with her daughter Alice, who was in foster care. If you weren’t crushed when Alice asked “are you going to be my mummy now?” then you need to check your pulse.
After a series of supervised meetings, Lily could look into caring for Alice. So things looked a lot brighter for Lily, who could finally begin to build a future with Rick dead, and her family around her.
Meanwhile, Wes and Abby stayed together, and were excited about the upcoming birth of their baby twins.
Will there be a series 2?
Paramount+ has not confirmed if there’ll be a series 2 of Girl Taken, but it’s very unlikely. Girl Taken was a stand-alone series, based on a book with no sequel.
In the series finale, the evil Rick Hansen was dead. And it was the closest Lily was ever going to get to a happy ending.
If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, please call the NSPCC helpline in 0808 800 5000 or email [email protected].
