Netflix’s Run Away ending explained: James Nesbitt and Ruth Jones reveal they didn’t predict [spoiler]

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*Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final episode of Run Away.*

Okay, so I’m a huge Harlan Coben fan, and his stories always save the biggest surprises for the very end. But with ‘Run Away,’ things were already so crazy by episode eight – we’d seen some major deaths and unexpected turns – I was seriously on the edge of my seat, wondering how Netflix was going to possibly tie everything together. It was a total cliffhanger!

It quickly became obvious that Paige (Ellie de Lange) was involved with the dangerous Shining Haven cult. The finale explored how she connected with them. Meanwhile, Dee-Dee (Maeve Courtier-Lilley), a member responsible for carrying out the cult’s killings, was also revealed to have intentionally murdered Elena (Ruth Jones) at the end of episode six.

What happened in the last episode of Run Away? Here’s a complete recap, including exclusive comments from James Nesbitt and Ruth Jones.

Run Away ending explained: What happens to Simon?

While being taken to the hospital, Simon asks the paramedics to tell Detective Fagbenle he has information about Paige’s whereabouts. The scene cuts to Fagbenle and his team raiding Shining Haven, the home of the Beacon of the Shining Truth cult. They don’t find Paige, but they do find the cult’s leader, Casper Vartage.

Fagbenle is determined to catch a man accused of abuse and linked to several disappearances, but the search proves difficult at first. He finally locates the suspect, who is preparing to take a fatal dose of poison to avoid imprisonment. Fortunately, Fagbenle intervenes and arrests him before it’s too late.

Visiting Simon in the hospital, Fagbenle finally understands the connections between all the characters. He reveals to Simon that Aaron, along with his half-brothers, was born and raised within the cult. These brothers were all illegally adopted and were fathered by Vartage, who believed none of them were worthy and therefore hired a hitman to kill them after they discovered their connection to one another. As viewers already know, Vartage tasked Dee-Dee and Ash with carrying out the hit.

Fagbenle asks Simon to let him know if he sees the woman who saved his life by killing Dee-Dee. Simon agrees, but we then see a flashback revealing she actually visited him the night before.

Mother Adiona shares her history with Simon, explaining her long involvement with The Shining Truth. She reveals she was initially told her first son would lead the organization, but Vartage demanded she relinquish her second son. After years of searching, she found him through a DNA website and reconnected with him. However, learning about the plot to eliminate all younger brothers, she couldn’t remain passive. She expresses gratitude to Simon for keeping her secret about Dee-Dee’s death, but sadly admits she doesn’t know if Paige is truly safe at Shining Haven.

Over the following months, Simon recovers and becomes determined to find Paige, searching the town and asking people if they’ve seen her. Meanwhile, Fagbenle discovers Elena’s body in the woods and sadly shares the news with Lou and Simon. Then, while visiting Ingrid in the hospital, Simon unexpectedly spots someone familiar – Paige.

What happened to Paige and was she found?

It was revealed that Paige had been in a rehabilitation facility the entire time. Without access to her phone or the internet, she hadn’t known what had been happening until her counselor told her about Ingrid. As soon as she found out, she immediately went to the hospital to see her mother, but explained to Simon that being in the hospital environment made her anxious about potentially relapsing, as she had been sober for a month.

Paige explained that she discovered Aaron had died at their apartment and panicked, fearing she might be to blame. She went into hiding and then entered rehab, but when Simon questioned how she knew where to go, she revealed she’d been there previously. She was making progress until Aaron unexpectedly broke into the facility and injected her with drugs while she was sleeping. This led to her leaving rehab with him the next day.

Paige finally revealed that Ingrid was the one who got her into rehab, and Ingrid confessed she’d also gone through rehab years ago. Simon didn’t know any of this, but he still offered to drive Paige home the next day.

When they arrived, Simon challenged Paige about inconsistencies in her account of the night Aaron died. It became obvious Dee-Dee and Ash hadn’t been to the property before, as they were surprised by Simon and Cornelius. This meant they couldn’t have been there earlier to kill Aaron. Paige finally confessed she killed Aaron because she couldn’t overcome her addiction as long as he was alive.

Simon is skeptical of her story, so he asks if Paige went to Ingrid immediately after Aaron assaulted her. Ingrid advised Paige to return to rehab, but when Paige got back to their apartment, she found Aaron dead. After sleeping for several days, Paige came to believe that Ingrid had actually killed Aaron to protect her. Simon agrees they won’t confront Ingrid and will keep this knowledge between them.

Eventually, Ingrid recovers from her coma, bringing peace back to the Greene family. Simon goes to Elena’s funeral, where she’s laid to rest beside her husband, Joel. Following her time in rehab, Paige is picked up by Simon and returns home.

While walking in the park, Simon questioned Ingrid about the murder of Aaron. Ingrid explained that she had planned to kill him after learning from Paige that he had abused her. She’d seen a news report about a gang-related killing and decided to make Aaron’s murder look like it was connected. Simon was confused about how Ingrid could have hidden the fact that Paige was in rehab, especially since he had spent months searching for her.

Ingrid confessed that she and her coworker, Jay, weren’t involved romantically, and he only served as her alibi for the night. Jay was concerned about her and followed her home, but she managed to get away and continue with her plan to kill Aaron. However, as she left Aaron’s apartment, she encountered Luther, a local drug dealer, who ultimately shot and killed her. It turns out Luther shot her because he’d seen her at the drug den earlier and mistakenly believed she was there to harm him and others.

Ingrid kept a secret from Simon to shield him and ensure their children would be cared for if she were arrested. They promised to be honest with each other, and things seemed to improve. However, Simon grew suspicious and went to Ingrid’s sister, Yvonne’s, house hoping to find old photos. He remembered Ingrid getting upset during a Christmas gathering when Yvonne showed pictures of her from when she used to model. He found the photos he was looking for, and when one fell to the floor, he was shocked by what he saw.

What does Simon find out about Ingrid?

Simon came home later that day to find his family happily preparing and sharing lunch. He spotted Paige outside in the garden playing guitar and went to talk to her, asking how she felt about Aaron.

I was really surprised when Simon told me he always thought it was strange that Paige and Aaron had separate single beds instead of sharing a double. Then he said he went to see Doug Mulzer to get some answers about what happened to Paige. Apparently, Doug claimed he was attacked – by a guy in a balaclava, and Paige realized it was Aaron. But the thing that really got me was Doug saying that when Aaron was attacking him, he yelled, “No one hurts my sister!” It just shows how protective Aaron is of Paige, even after everything.

Paige was researching her family history for a school project and discovered that Aaron is her half-brother – meaning Ingrid is their mother. Meanwhile, Simon recovers a photo he took from Yvonne’s house and shows it to Paige. The picture reveals a young, pregnant Ingrid standing in front of a symbol associated with The Shining Truth.

Paige revealed that Ingrid confessed she hadn’t pursued modeling overseas as a young woman, but was instead involved in a cult. Ingrid became pregnant and believed her baby hadn’t survived, but she later escaped and went to a rehabilitation center – the same one she eventually brought Paige to. Paige described the shock of discovering Aaron was her brother, and how he was the one who first introduced her to drugs.

Paige admits she confronted Ingrid about having a child before her, but Ingrid claimed she believed the baby had been stillborn. Struggling with addiction at the time, Paige didn’t trust Ingrid and left. Now, she’s realizing her actions led her mother to kill Aaron, and that Aaron was actually her own son.

Paige warns Simon that revealing Aaron’s true identity to Ingrid would be devastating for her, and they must keep it a secret. While Simon is tired of keeping secrets, he realizes telling Ingrid the truth about Aaron would have serious consequences, and he reluctantly agrees.

Regarding the finale, Jones admitted they were surprised by how things unfolded, saying, “I really didn’t expect that.”

According to Nesbitt, Harlan Coben is a master of plot twists. Even though Coben uses them frequently, it’s surprisingly difficult to predict them. The stories are so engaging that you’re always caught off guard by the unexpected turns they take, making the ending genuinely shocking.

Having appeared in three Harlan Coben series, Nesbitt described the finale of ‘Run Away’ as particularly shocking, though he noted ‘Stay Close’ was also quite intense. He explained that as an actor, he focuses on playing the role as it unfolds, letting the story progress naturally. He added that the scripts often involve deeply upsetting and surprising events, and his job is simply to portray them authentically.

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Read our guide to the best Christmas TV for 2025.

The new series, Run Away, will debut on Netflix on January 1st, 2026. A Netflix subscription starts at just £5.99 per month, and you can also watch on Sky Glass or Virgin Media.

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Authors

Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack writes about TV and streaming drama for TopMob. Before that, she was an Entertainment Writer at Stylist. She also has experience in content marketing, freelancing, and holds a degree in English Literature.

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2026-01-01 18:37