The Terminal List Season 1 [Recap] Ending Explained: Is Ben Edwards Alive or Dead?

The Terminal List Season 1

The Terminal List is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Carr yet another overstuffed Prime Video series aimed solely at parents, is a touch too eager to offend Chris Pratt’s younger-skewing Marvel fandom as it settles into its complex Kindle potboiler plot. It’s a show with certain important points to convey, but it takes too long to do it.  In the action-packed premiere episode of the series, Pratt plays Lt. Commander James Reece, a Navy SEAL whose entire platoon is ensnared in a devastating ambush. He makes it out alive, but he discovers that his memories of the disastrous operation are rather hazy. He is led to assume that all of the remaining members of his squad were involved in a plot that they weren’t meant to escape when he learns that the other survivors are mysteriously dying off.

Reece vows to kill everyone to blame when his squad and family are killed. The list that Reece keeps on the back of one of his daughter’s drawings gives the program its name. James Reece embarks on an investigation with the help of a feisty journalist (Constance Wu) and his CIA agent brother (Taylor Kitsch). Everyone tries to stop him from revealing the details of whatever nefarious activity he has found, including hitmen, criminals, and other various governments better. Here is all the information you require regarding “The Terminal List” season 1’s conclusion. Spoilers follow.

The Terminal List Season 1 Recap

Reece and his squad are getting ready to embark on a mission in Aleppo, Syria when the show opens. They have been pursuing Chemical Kahani, an Iranian expert in chemical weapons, for a very long time. He is finally in the US soldiers’ grip, the intelligence claims. But the endeavor rapidly turns into a total failure. Reece’s soldiers are mostly dead. He is the only one to escape, along with Ernest “Boozer” Vickers. Reece is questioned about the mission by war writer Katie Buranek (Constance Wu) just before arriving back in the US. Naturally, Reece stays silent.

Reece experiences migraines, paranoia, memory problems, and hallucinations after returning to Coronado, California, where he lives with his wife Lauren (Riley Keough) and sweet daughter Lucy (Arlo Mertz). Lauren advises Reece to see a neurologist since she believes he hasn’t fully recovered from the concussion he sustained during the trip. Boozer appears to commit suicide in the meanwhile, but Reece doesn’t buy it. He ultimately sees a doctor after realizing that his health is considerably worse as he initially believed. But while Reece is there, two masked assailants strike the building. Reece murders one of them and injured at least the other, causing the latter to flee. They murder the physician but fail to kill Reece. Reece goes back home after learning that the attackers have his gun and discovers Lauren and Lucy dead, having been shot by Reece.

The Terminal List Season 1
Reece has a small part of him that wonders if he murdered his daughter and wife. He ignores that aspect and persuades himself that Kahani’s henchmen were to blame. Nevertheless, Reece is informed of Kahani’s death by Defense secretary Lorraine Hartley (Jeanne Tripplehorn), whom he had previously met at Boozer’s burial. Josh Holder, the NCIS agent in charge of his wife and daughter’s case, starts to make Reece think he’s one of the killers. Reece gains entry to Holder’s apartment with the aid of his closest buddy Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch), a former SEAL and CIA agent. Even though he learns that Holder didn’t kill his daughter and wife, he did provide Saul Agnon (Sean Gunn) with information about Reece and his family.

Reece gets in touch with Katie in episode 3, “Consolidation,” and informs her about Agnon, who he has discovered is the Vp of Asset Management at Capstone Industries, a firm with a 60 billion dollar investment pool. Agnon is the subject of the episode. Some of Katie’s own findings have been made. She obtained Reece’s medical records and gave them to a neurologist for review. A walnut-sized brain tumor is present in Reece at the node connecting the amygdala and the hippocampus. Its signs include headaches, paranoia, and memory problems—exactly what Reece has been going through. She learns that Reece was telling the truth all along when she and Reece are fired upon by an assassin.

Ben, former Military pilot Liz Riley (Tyner Rushing), and Mexican billionaire Marco Del Toro (Marco Rodriguez) support Reece as he tenaciously seeks retribution. Steve Horn (Jai Courtney), the mastermind behind the entire plan, is revealed to Reece and Katie. Katie wants to make Horn known to the world, but she quickly understands that Reece won’t be content with that.

The Terminal List Season 1 Ending Explained

In the season 1 finale, Reece turns his attention to Hartley after murdering Holder, Agnon, Marcus Boykin, the last remaining assassin who killed Lauren and Lucy, Horn, Captain Bill Cox, JAG Captain Howard, and Admiral Gerald Pillar. She contributed to what occurred to his family and fellow soldiers, just like the others did. Additionally, Reece discovers that the CIA was the source of a chemical weapons terrorist, Kahani.

Is Ben Dead in The Terminal list Season 1’s Finale?

The Terminal List - Is Ben Dead

Yes, Ben Edwards has passed away. As Reece and Katie discover, Nubellum Pharmaceuticals, a Capstone subsidiary, had created a medication called RD 4895 that was intended to prevent PTSD by inhibiting the imprinting of trauma on the brain. Horn hurried the human study despite the fact that the studies with rats and dogs had proved effective. The medication was provided to Reece and his troops through an arrangement made by Howard, Pillar, and Cox. They sent the SEALs on the fatal operation before realizing they had brain tumors.

Lorraine Hartley, in contrast to other people, didn’t accept any payment from Horn because she really wanted to treat PTSD as a result of her father’s suffering. She was willing to do whatever it took to achieve her goals. Katie tells Reece that Oberon Analytics, a strange organization whose name was discovered in Horn’s computer, is routing through a bank in Peru some time after Hartley kills herself. Ben had already disclosed to Reece his intention to retire in Máncora, Peru.

The Terminal List

This becomes the season’s last surprise and the final puzzle piece. Ben admits that he agreed to give the false information after learning about the tumors because he thought his old allies would prefer to leave with their boots on when Reece confronts him. Naturally, the $20 million he earned from Capstone was significant in his choice. Ben is probably dead because Reece hasn’t spared anyone on the list, even though we can’t precisely see him fire the shot. Reece now seems to have some closure with Ben’s passing. He kisses Lucy‘s drawing once more and holds it in his fingers before casting it into the water.

Where Will Reece Go? Ending Explained!

Reece discovers a map on Ben’s sailboat. The Mozambique-focused shot suggests that Reece is moving in that direction. In Mozambique, Reece’s friend Raife Hastings’ extended family resides. In the first season of “The Terminal List,” Raife was frequently discussed but never really appeared. This is the ideal setup for the next season 2. In the second novel in the “Terminal List” series, “True Believer,” Reece travels across the Atlantic Ocean before arriving in Mozambique’s Niassa Game Reserve, where Raife’s uncle runs a company named RH Safaris. Before the US government comes looking for him to handle a brewing issue in Europe, he spends a few months with the Hastings family.

The Terminal List Season 1

Additionally, the show skips over another section of Carr’s original book. The epilogue reveals that Reece’s tumor is benign. His voice mail is left by a clinic doctor, but the FBI agent Tony Liddel (JD Pardo) is now holding his phone. It’s not until chapter 31 of the second book that Reece finds out about it. The second season will probably play a role in the story if it happens.