All aboard! We're officially cruising into the final episode of the Netflix thriller The Waterfront, which proves to be a tempestuous journey.
In the penultimate installment, we saw Bree (Melissa Benoist) get caught up—literally—in the deadly dealing war between her family, the Carolina fishermen-turned-drug traffickers the Buckleys, and their psycho supplier Grady (Topher Grace). The bloody feud all comes to a head aboard a mega-yacht, with three generations of the Buckley clan joining the fight against Grady and his men.
And back on shore in episode 8, fittingly entitled "Lost at Sea", we see Belle (Maria Bello) making a business alliance with a surprising source, which will upend the power structure of the Buckley business.
Twists and turns abound on this voyage, so let's get into it—here's everything that went down in The Waterfront finale episode.
In the same boat
Belle wakes up Harlan (Holt McCallany) to alert him to the fact that Bree didn't come home last night. We, of course, already know that she's been kidnapped by Grady's men and is being held hostage in the cabin of his yacht in the middle of the ocean. Their fears are confirmed when Grady calls Harlan and proposes a clean swap, him for his daughter—he sends him sailing coordinates and Harlan, Cane (Jake Weary) and Shawn (Rafael L. Silva) take off in a boat.
Meanwhile, Bree is trying to plot a way out of the cabin when the door opens to reveal Diller (Brady Hepner), who saw the men take her in the boatyard and hid in the line locker onboard until the coast was clear. She hides her son away in a closet as Grady's men come to bring her to the top deck, where Grady insanely serenades her with "Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)" and requests they have dinner together while they wait for her father and brothers to arrive.
During their meal, Bree tries to distract Grady with questions and while he's engrossed, she attacks one of his men with a wine bottle and grabs his gun. She demands that they turn the boat around, but one of the other deckies has discovered Diller downstairs and threatens to shoot him if she doesn't drop the gun. She does so, but fights back with a broken-off piece of wood. Grady shoots her in the leg and has her thrown overboard, but before she can sink, Diller throws her a last-minute life raft. She's above water but bleeding pretty bad, and the tourniquet she makes with her belt will only last so long.
Ends and amends
Before he was off on the seven seas trying to save his sister, Cane was starting his day with a simple shower—that is, until he hears mysterious sounds coming from downstairs. He grabs a gun, thinking the worst, but it's just Peyton (Danielle Campbell) returning from Durham. She's solo, having left their daughter with her parents, but he tells her she's not safe there, coming clean about the family's entire drug-smuggling operation.
She seems less concerned about that bombshell than his sleeping whereabouts the last two nights—she has the Ring app, she explains. He drops another hard truth: that he slept with Jenna (Humberly González). Cane assures his wife that he loves her but Peyton still storms off to confront Jenna.
When she finds her, though, Jenna is just back from the hospital—her father passed the night prior and she's inconsolable. Peyton puts their issues aside to comfort her, helping Jenna navigate the funeral arrangements for her dad's service. Jenna tries to explain what happened with Cane: "I didn't plan on any of it, and it was the worst thing." But Peyton compassionately chalks it up to one of life's "moments we can't understand".
Later on, after the whole boat drama (more on that in a minute), Cane stops by Jenna's house—Peyton's already departed but Jenna is deeply grateful for her help. "I screwed up," she tells him. "You were a nice thing during a hard time, a distraction from my dad and my marriage but it's not real." She asks him not to come see her ever again.
Back at home, Peyton pours Cane a whiskey and kiss him in reconciliation. "Everything's fine, you and me," she tells him, adding ominously: "I'm gonna see to it."
Displeasure cruise
When Harlan (with Cane and Shawn hiding below deck) pull up to Grady's yacht, the former immediately goes on the defensive, apologizing to the supplier for his "old dog who can't learn new tricks" dealings. Harlan begs Grady to let Bree go but Grady says he goes him millions and millions of dollars for that exploded heroin, so he threw her overboard. Things get worse for Harlan when Grady's men bring out Diller at gunpoint, but Cane and Shawn take that opportunity to come out guns blazing.
During the onboard tussle, Grady goes running but Harlan and Cane catch up with him on the front of the boat—Cane has him at gunpoint but Grady taunts him, saying he's not man enough to prove the trigger. The Buckley gent brutally proves him wrong and shoots him twice in the head.
With Grady officially lost at sea, they set off to find Bree, who in her last moments of strength sends out a flare to get herself rescued. After admitting her to the hospital, she's suffering from hypothermia and blood loss, but will survive. She's in pain but won't accept painkillers stronger than Tylenol due to her dedicated sobriety. She thanks Diller for throwing that life box and saving her—"You saved yourself," he declares as they embrace.
Meet the new boss
At the hospital, the sheriff confirms with Harlan that the boat was scrubbed clean of guns, bodies and all evidence. However, the Buckleys aren't out of hot water just yet. There are still frozen dead men being stored on ice at the fish house, for one, which Bree calls Emmett Parker (Terry Serpico) to come take care of.
While visiting the fishery, Emmett reveals that he knows all about Bree's marriage, about her betray of Harlan with not only the land deal but Wes Benson (Dave Annable). The Parker man reveals that he thought the land deal was a good idea and that he believes, given the erratic nature of Harlan's leadership, she should be the one in charge.
Later on, she gets a call from Emmett, who proclaims that the Parkers will help her with the land deal—so long as she's officially the one in charge of the Buckleys' operations. She meets up with him at the fish house to talk, but when she gets there, she sees that his men have taken Wes hostage and left him bloodied and beaten. Emmett explains that they won't kill Wes, he's no good to them dead, but he wants to make sure that the developer is loyal to their new boss: Belle Buckley.
"I'll do anything," Wes desperately says, as Belle slowly smiles. We sense there's plenty more drama coming to the Buckley household next season.
