Rabbit Hole (Season 1), Episode 4: Recap & Ending Explained

Rabbit Hole (Season 1), Episode 4: Much of Rabbit Hole’s thrill lies in its narrative twists. While John Weir tries to find Crowley’s details, he faces a challenge almost every step of the way. Owing to the genre of espionage, the series is filled with details that are revealed only at crucial points. As a result, this stylized thriller has just the right amount of ingredients to keep you hooked to the screen.

Previously, we saw John getting access to Valence’s comms, and in the end, saw Xander tragically falling all the way down from his office. Jo Madi, who was already suspicious about Xander, encountered his death first-hand. The episode left us wondering who killed Xander. And does getting access to Valence’s data help John and Ben in any way? The latest episode, streaming on Paramount+, has some of the answers.

*Spoilers ahead*

Rabbit Hole (Season 1), Episode 4 Recap:

Episode 4: The Person in Your Ear

The episode begins by diving right into what caused Xander’s (Joans Chernick) sudden death. Earlier, I assumed that he committed suicide much like how Valence (Jason Butler Harner) did. However, it turns out John’s ex-intern (Walt Klink) has pushed down Xander. He enters Xander’s office right after his textual conversation with someone, hits him with a bag, and brings Xander to the balcony to throw him down. Before leaving, he puts a small Vladimir Lenin statue on Xander’s desk.

Meanwhile, John (Kiefer Sutherland) shifts his operations to another safehouse with Hailey (Meta Golding), Ben (Charles Dance), and Edward Homm (Rob Yang). After setting up an antenna, he speaks with Ben about the last message Valence received before his death. Unfortunately, none of his comms helped him identify who that person was. However, John finds one distinction in Valence’s records – he was buying NFTs from a guy called Elliot Gao.

But as far as John knew, Valence was not interested in art. Since it was out of character for him, John believes it is worth looking into. Homm guesses Gao’s relation to it right away but refuses to share any further detail until they let him contact his wife, Stacey. Eventually, John makes a truce by giving him access to their house security footage. Homm sees that his wife is safe and then shares the details.

Elliot Gao is a high-end money launderer who helps other billionaires launder their money. He looks at NFTs as assets he can privately buy and sell. They are non-fungible/unique, and their values are based on the two parties that make the deal. Besides, it helps them move money without getting caught in tax issues. That’s why Gao helps other affluents move money anonymously. John & Ben decide to get close to Gao to gain access to Crawley.

Meanwhile, Madi finds out that the doe-eyed intern entered Xander’s office right before his death. While she decides to follow that lead, the intern speaks with his superior on a call, who scolds him for impulsively punishing Xander. The intern’s girlfriend asks him to cease working for this guy, but he responds that he is paid well for the job. Then the two see an anti-data-mining rally and decide to join it.

John decides to intimidate Gao and make Crowley consider him a threat. To do that, he plans to infiltrate an upcoming event at Gao’s place with Hailey’s help. He plans to share an anonymous tip with Madi to direct her to Gao. Madi, meanwhile, enters the site that she had noticed the intern getting out from. That’s when she gets a call from her co-worker telling her about a tip. The text mentioned that Homm was investigating Arda Analytics and Gao. So, Madi calls Gao and scares him off, as John suspected. Because of his huge event that evening, he agrees to meet her the next morning.

On the other hand, John trains Hailey to get her prepared for their next plan. He demonstrates how she can figure out the truth from a lie. She reveals that she was an in-house counsel for a real estate development company and that she got blackballed. But John understands that she is telling only a half-truth. They finally reach a convenience store where John sends her to steal a particular magazine. He gives her an ear bug and tells her to follow his instructions.

By the time Hailey reaches the magazine, a police officer enters the store. John tells Hailey to have a small talk with the officer so that he won’t consider her to be a shoplifter. She flirts with him and manages to get out safely without getting caught. Meanwhile, Homm notices his wife getting close to his neighbor, Kevin. It may be because she believes Homm is dead like the rest of the world. But it still hurts Homm to see her that way.

On the other hand, Madi believes John is messing with her by making her contact Gao. She asks for the records from John’s phone (the phone they received the anonymous tip from) but figures out it was a burner phone. However, looking at the call log, she notices an incoming call and thinks he made a mistake by using the same phone twice.

Back at Gao’s lavish event, billionaires gather to get their money laundered with unique items. Hailey enters the place and poses as Jo Madi. She baffles Gao since he believed they would meet the next day. While she continues to scare him, she suddenly notices someone standing in the crowd. It’s her old boss, Craig Payne.

Turns out, before she left his company, Craig and other developers were seeking her counsel to cover up their shady plan. So, she stole crypto from their fund, which is now valued at $26 million. This is the reason why she stole the phone in the previous episode. She looked at the current value before she dropped it in the backyard.

Anyhow, John tells Hailey to abort the plan considering the risk factor. By that time, Gao receives a text saying ‘he’ is coming to see him. On the other hand, John realizes that Craig’s associates are onto her and tells her to stay where she is. John enters the building with Homm, posing as Department of Buildings employees to inspect the elevators. They try to buy some extra time for Hailey while Gao realizes that Hailey is not Madi. He reveals that Crowley is coming himself to handle the situation. She tries to inform John about it.

Rabbit Hole (Season 1), Episode 4 Ending Explained:

Soon after, she sees Ben walking from the door and Gao welcoming him as Mr. Crowley. In reality, Ben poses as Crowley to get the details of his relation to Crowley. Gao talks about his plans for Crowley, not offshoring the money but concealing the source. He says that he did not talk about Intraverse or Ledger with Madi. Then, Gao receives a text message from Crowley telling him to take Ben’s photo. Gao hands over the phone, and Crowley reveals that he recognizes Ben.

While Gao and his men get ready to shoot Ben, John switches off the fuse to their building and guides Ben & Hailey to escape. The two eventually get out and enter a van with Homm and John. When John speaks about Intraverse, Homm explains its relation to a website that provides a consensual affair service. He says half of the D.C. officials signed it. The person, who recently died, got his relation to it leaked by WikiLeaks.

So, John & Ben figure out that it is a honey trap scheme meant to lure these officers into sharing information about them that can be further used to blackmail them. John decides to get help from his old team. This means that the burning incident was just a way to distract others by making them feel that they had died.

Meanwhile, a radio show influencer, Morgan Shaw (Matthew MacFafzean), appeals to impressionable youth about the exploitation by the authorities by using consumerism as their tool. He calls the angry youth to join his riot. The intern and his girlfriend enter and start attacking a vehicle. That’s when two guys get hold of them and hurt the intern.