Summary
The Consultant ends the same way as it progressed, with bizarre mysteries and clever intricacies. Plenty of ambiguities keep fans theorizing, while the showdown finale is quite exhilarating. It’s just a shame that the series relies so much on big, outlandish storylines when the complex mind games and mysteries would suffice.
Prime Video’s workplace comedy thriller series is from Servant creator Tony Basgallop. The Consultant tells the story of a mysterious man named Regus Patoff (Christoph Waltz), who takes over mobile gaming company CompWare after its founder Sang Woo is horrifically murdered. The series follows the unusual antics of Regus as he tries to reshape and improve the company with bizarre and extreme methods.
The Consultant Season 1 Episode 8 Recap
In the previous installment, Regus’ creative liaison Elaine Hayman (Brittany O’Grady) had jokingly suggested letting an elephant rampage through downtown Los Angeles as a marketing ploy for their new jungle-themed game. Of course, Regus persuaded her to make this fantasy a reality. Episode 8, “Hammer,” picks up after this insane marketing strategy, as Elaine deals with her ex-boyfriend’s demands and Craig searches for his missing fiancee.
What happens with the elephant?
The finale opens with a dream-like sequence as Craig Horne (Nat Wolff) jogs down an empty street, noticing smashed-up cars and broken glass on the floor. He then comes face to face with the wild elephant, and a stand-off ensues. In “Hammer,” Craig must challenge a similar adversary as he takes on Regus, his new temporary boss. He wakes to the news that an elephant is on the loose in downtown Los Angeles, but Jumbo, the circus elephant, has died after this rampage.
Elaine sees the breaking news and is saddened to hear that the elephant has died. Her ex-boyfriend Patrice (Jake Manley) arrives to collect his money. Patrice was the one who orchestrated this heinous crime, and he wants the second half of his payment now. Elaine doesn’t have the money, though, and her new boss Regus is nowhere to be seen. Regus is eyeing up his next victim, the owner of another tech company.
READ: Will there be a Season 2 of The Consultant?
Does the publicity stunt work?
The publicity stunt works wonders, and CompWare’s latest release, Mr. Sang’s Jungle Odyssey, is set to land one million users on its first day. The company throws a party to celebrate this huge success. Patrice waits for Regus in his office while Craig gets drunk downstairs at the party. He tells Elaine the ugly truth; he installed stalker ware into the game’s demo to track Regus and forgot to remove it. Their servers now hold data on over a million users’ devices. He thinks he’s going to jail for at least twenty years.
Regus arrives just as they hit the one-million mark. Elaine asks Regus for Patrice’s money, but he quips that they spent it all on the party. Elaine tells Regus that Patrice may get violent, and he wants his payment. Regus gives his creative liaison one minute to devise a plan as they head toward his office. She suggests lying to Patrice to bide them some more time, to offer Patrice more than he is owed. They can then go to the police and pin the whole scheme on Patrice in the meantime. Ultimately, Regus uses his intimidating vibe to scare Patrice out of the building.
Where is Patti?
Craig and Elaine flirt with one another as the party draws to a close. They consider hooking up at her apartment, but Craig’s missing fiancee Patti (Aimee Carrero) messages him before they leave. They track her phone, leading them straight to Sang Woo’s mother. She admits that Regus gave her this phone. Realizing that Regus is involved in Patti’s disappearance, they head back to CompWare to confront him. The audience is shown Patti’s whereabouts; she is locked in the records room, typing up files in a trance.
At CompWare, Craig demands to know where his wife-to-be is. Regus confesses, and Elaine runs over to the records room straight away. Angered by Regus’ psychotic behavior, Craig grabs a hammer off the floor, one which was used as a circus-themed game at the party, and follows Regus to his office. Up on the glass flooring, Craig starts to swing the hammer, breaking the glass under their feet. Craig asks how many lives Regus has ruined and how many careers he has ended. He’s desperate to know who this enigma is, but Regus states that he has a job to do and has completed it. He’s made CompWare successful again. Elaine frees Patti from her prison and her trance. The two women head back to the hub of the offices to find Craig threatening Regus with the hammer.
The Consultant Season 1 Ending Explained
Craig breaks the glass directly underneath Regus’ feet, and the Consultant falls to the ground below. The process severs his toe, but he survives. Patti turns on the fire alarm, and they all bounce. Regus escapes, leaving behind a trail of blood. Craig takes Regus’ severed toe as a souvenir. The next day, the police questioned Elaine. She pins everything on Regus. Patti leaves Craig, and the coder cooks Regus’ toe as you do. Underneath, he finds golden bones.
Elaine’s name is seen on the boss’ door, which implies that Regus left her in charge of the business, impressed by her ruthlessness during their time together. Or possibly Elaine just took the initiative and made herself the boss, as she did with the creative liaison title and the same way she took Iain’s office by force in an earlier episode. As an instrumental of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ starts to play, Regus enters the building, observing the fruits of his labor, before taking a bow and leaving unnoticed.
Who is Regus’ next victim?
In the closing scene, a news story reveals that Pterodactyl founder Rebecca Hood has committed suicide. She was the woman that Regus met with last, his next victim in his never-ending consultancy conspiracy. We then zoom in on a boy called Tokyo, the same kid who assassinated Sang Woo in the opening episode, as he plays the unbeatable final round of Mr. Sang’s Jungle Odyssey in an undisclosed juvenile detention center. He miraculously completes the game; his reward is a golden egg with a golden skeleton inside.
What did you think of The Consultant Season 1 Episode 8 and the Ending? Comment below.
This is not an explanation or analysis. It’s a lazy recap.