Run Away: "Pretty shocking," James Nesbitt shares his thoughts on the finale of the Netflix thriller

James Nesbitt, who plays the role of Simon Greene, was not joking when he said the Run Away finale is "pretty shocking," while speaking with Radio Times.

The last episode ties together the numerous loops of the series and yet still manages to land a handful of surprising gut-punches. Simon makes it out of the shootout alive. On his way to the hospital, he puts the endgame in motion by alerting Detective Fagbenle about Shining Haven.

Run Away dropped all eight episodes on January 1, 2025, and the finale unveils the cult’s true horror when the police raid leader Casper Vartage and arrest him. What is "pretty shocking" here is that all the mystery ends up being reframed in one harsh revelation.

The murders aren’t random violence or the actions of a few rogue cult members; they are filicide by proxy. Casper Vartage once commanded his own children, born in the cult, deemed “non-divine,” and illegally adopted out. He is seen hunting them down years later when they dared to reconnect.

Read on to know more about the Run Away finale and why it is truly shocking.

Here is why Run Away's finale is shocking, according to Nesbitt

In the recent interview, Nesbitt was asked how the finale of Run Away stands out from Harlan Coben's other projects. To this, Nesbitt replied:

“I think it was pretty shocking. I mean, Stay Close was pretty shocking, I have to say. In a sense, you’re just playing the role, you’re not really thinking about how to get there, you’re just getting there slowly and then before you know it, it’s done. But yeah, obviously, you have to play just what is given to you. And what is often given to you is traumatic and shocking."

In the finale episode of Run Away, we get to know that the woman who saved Simon was Mother Adiona, a former top cult member and the biological mother of one of the hunted sons. In a shattering moment, she tells us how Vartage made her abandon her baby, and how finding the hit list moved her to act. While there are answers about the cult, Paige is still nowhere to be seen, leaving Simon and the audience in a state of limbo.

Months later, Simon is physically healed but still looking for Paige obsessively, and his grief is not resolved when Elena’s body is discovered buried in the forest. Just as hope seems all but gone, the series concludes on its most audacious note.

Simon sees Paige alive and well at the hospital while visiting Ingrid. It’s not a flashy reunion, but a quiet, startling reveal exactly as Nesbitt described, an ending that stays with viewers.

What happened to Paige in Run Away?

In the Run Away finale, the true story behind Paige’s disappearance is revealed. She tells Simon that she was in rehab the whole time, that she had no idea what was happening outside. Paige says that she was haunted by Aaron’s abuse and addiction, and that she discovered him dead in their flat and ran away, terrified that she might be blamed.

Paige confesses she couldn’t get clean while Aaron was alive, but what we learn is really that it was Ingrid, not Paige, who killed Aaron. She took out her daughter’s abuser. Ingrid manipulates the murder to look like a gang killing and later goes into a coma after being shot by a local dealer who misinterprets her intentions. Although shaken, Simon consents to conceal the truth, believing that at least now his family could heal.

The show is not done with its shocking reveals, and Simon gets to know that Aaron wasn’t just Paige’s abusive boyfriend, but her half-brother, and that Ingrid had previously belonged to The Shining Truth cult. Old pictures show Ingrid pregnant with the cult’s symbol, so they know Aaron, the first child of Stasha, is also Ingrid’s, one she was told had been stillborn.

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