'Crookhaven' Ending Explained & Series Recap: Will There Be A Season 2?

Crookhaven is one of those series that you have very low expectations from. It starts off as too kiddish and then predictable, but the show picks up pace soon, and before you know it, you’re invested in the lives of the crooks! The series has far too many similarities with Harry Potter, but it eventually manages to find its own identity. One day, Gabriel Avery, a smooth pickpocket, lost his lucky coin. As he searched frantically in his pockets, he found a card that hinted at the possibility that someone had stolen the coin from him, and that if he wanted it back, he had to take a train to Moonheart the next day. Upon arriving at the empty station, Gabriel ran into twins, Ade and Ede. They too had received the same note when they tried to hack into a system. Gabriel had figured that whoever stole his coin must have done so when he tried to pickpocket an old man. Gabriel, Ade, and Ede soon met Jia, who was also invited to the same spot, and she was a brilliant lock picker. It was evident that Gabriel, Ade, Ede, and Jia were chosen because they were master crooks, but why? Well, as it turned out, they’d been invited to join “Crookhaven,” a school for crooks where they learned to hone their skills to protect the world. Officially, they didn’t exist, but unofficially they had been responsible for global security for 200 years. Instead of letting these young talents turn into criminals, the school trained them for a bigger and better cause. Now that I have discussed the basics, let’s dive into what happens at the end of Season 1. 

Spoiler Alert

Why did Nicki work for the Nameless?

Nicki, who pretended to be one of the weakest crooks of the class, turned out to be a spy. She managed to break into the security room, and she added the Chameleon to the guest list as a ‘Violet Shaw-Singleton’ for the ‘Crooked Cup,’ an annual event where students had to overcome challenges to claim the cup and ten thousand pounds in cash. While the Chameleon was seen arriving at Crookhaven, she disappeared soon after. Nicki panicked; she feared that she would be held captive if she didn’t manage to escape soon. She had hoped that the Chameleon would come and save her, but now that she was just gone, Nicki couldn’t figure out her next step. She spoke to the ‘Leopard,’ the head of the Nameless (an organization that used their skills without any limitations and brought destruction to the world), and asked him for help. She could barely hear because of bad reception, and she figured she had to climb to the top of the tower to communicate. She wasn’t interested in winning the ‘Crooked Cup,’ but since climbing the tower was one of the final challenges, she ended up in third position in the competition. While she begged Leopard to answer her, she didn’t receive any response. Just when she thought her cover was blown and her life was over, Leopard told her that she wasn’t alone, and that he had people in place to handle the situation. It was assumed that Nicki was responsible for Amira’s disappearance, but no one had concrete evidence against her to prove her guilty. While a broken boat was found in the lake, Amira wasn’t in it. Nicki had confessed to Gabriel that she’d left Amira in the middle of the lake, knowing that she couldn’t swim, but her statement couldn’t be proved true. Later, when Velasquez confronted Nicki, she told him that she’d lied about Amira because she wanted to misguide Gabriel. 

Crookhaven’s ending revealed that Nicki had a rough childhood, and she was picked up from the streets and offered a dignified life by Caspian Lockett, the headmaster. She used to work for the Nameless, and she went by Villette at the time. Caspian didn’t really expect Villette to drastically change. He knew that she would betray him, and that was exactly what he wanted. He had hoped that Nicki would bring the Nameless to Crookhaven and he would have the opportunity to hold them captive. Nicki thought she’d outsmarted Caspian, but when she couldn’t find her earpiece, she realized that Caspian had stolen it. Nicki was fiercely loyal to the Nameless, possibly because they’d been there for her at a time when she had no one to turn to. She felt she owed her life to Leopard and Chameleon, and she was ready to do anything just to make them happy. Meanwhile, Gabriel was desperate to track down his friend, Amira. He’d noticed Caspian talking to Nicki in secret, and he wondered if the headmaster could be trusted at all. He decided to follow Caspian to a basement, and he heard him speak to a woman. Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder if Amira had been held captive, simply because she was assumed to be a Nameless. But when he sneaked into the dungeon, he came across Chameleon.

Who was the Chameleon?

Surprise, surprise! The Chameleon turned out to be Gabriel’s mother! Gabriel was close to the truth. He’d already discovered that his parents used to be crooks as well, and that made him a legacy student. But he wasn’t sure why the school was so desperate to conceal the names of Adria Viva and Luciano Lopes. If they were his parents, then why was his existence almost erased from the school’s history? After speaking to his grandma, Gabriel was almost certain that his parents died after leaving him with the old lady (grandma) they met at a hotel. He decided to go through the school’s records to find out what had happened on May 15th, 2011 (the day he met his grandma). Penelope helped Gabriel in his endeavor; they used to be nemeses, but they soon realized that they had a lot in common. Penelope was desperate to find out about her missing mother, especially after her father refused to answer any of her queries. While going through the records, Penelope discovered that on May 15th there was an intercepted bank raid. A crew of three members was sent to stop a bank robbery, but they were compromised. One of the members sold the others out, and they fell to the Nameless. Gabriel instinctively assumed that Diego Velasquez was one of the teachers who he’d believed used to be close to his parents. 

The ending of season 1 confirms that Gabriel’s parents were the Nameless. He’d thought Velasquez had betrayed Adria and Luciano, but it was obviously the other way around. Instead of stopping the bank robbery, they ended up stealing the money for themselves. Gabriel was shocked when Chameleon, aka Adria, revealed that she was his mother. He didn’t believe her at first, but when she mentioned details that only someone who’d been following him over the years would know, he figured she wasn’t lying. Adria mentioned that she’d had to make the difficult decision of parting ways with her son, but she continued to always watch over him, and she celebrated his birthday every year, albeit from a distance. Gabriel remembered seeing Adria in a hooded sweatshirt at the fish and chip shop, and he realized that she was right; she never really gave up on him. Adria told Gabriel that Caspian Lockett wasn’t the good man he portrayed himself to be. He’d found Gabriel and lured him to the school because he knew Adria would do anything to protect her son. His goal was to capture her, and he used Gabriel as bait. This infuriated Gabriel; he’d assumed he was selected based on his talent, but clearly Caspian had an ulterior motive. His mother added that Caspian thought himself to be superior, and didn’t allow anyone to leave the Crooked Complex. When they tried to escape, Velasquez apparently betrayed them, but they somehow managed to survive. Adria reassured Gabriel that she’d come to rescue him. Gabriel sympathized with his mother, and he started to despise Caspian. He was just a young man who’d met his mother for the first time, so naturally he believed whatever she told him.

What was Caspian Lockett’s plan?

Caspian Lockett wanted to bring his wife, Carmen, home. Carmen was a brilliant crook, and she believed she was the right candidate to bring down the Leopard. Caspian didn’t want to assign her the mission; he knew the risks involved, and he feared the worst. But Carmen was adamant, and she threatened to leave Caspian if he didn’t let her take up the mission. She didn’t want to hide behind the walls of Crookhaven; she knew she was talented, and she was convinced that she would successfully carry out the mission. But it had been months since she’d gone missing, and Caspian was ready to do anything to find his wife. He figured that if he could lure Adria to Crookhaven and hold her captive, maybe the Leopard would let go of Carmen. Meanwhile, Gabriel was determined to free his mother, and he’d decided to leave Crookhaven forever and live with his parents. During the masquerade ball, Gabriel decided to execute his plan with the help of his schoolmates, Leon and Isabella. The only good news was that Amira was back; as it turned out, she had managed to row the boat to the shore that Nicki had left her in, and then sneaked back into Crookhaven. Gabriel hacked the surveillance camera at the dungeon and played a video on a loop while he rescued his mother. He attempted to escape with her, but Caspian got hold of them. He mentioned that he’d been watching them and there was no way he would let them escape. Gabriel expressed his frustration, asking Caspian why he made him believe that his mother was dead. Caspian explained that was exactly what Adrian wanted him to believe, although his mother claimed that she did so for his own safety. Caspian warned Gabriel that his mother was a dangerous woman, and he must be careful. But Gabriel refused to listen to him, and was hellbent on saving Adria. 

Meanwhile, Isabella turned out to be with the Nameless, and she and Nicki managed to get hold of Penelope so that they could get her to free Adria. Leon too was a member of the Nameless, and he misled Gabriel’s friends who’d deduced that Gabriel and Penelope were in trouble. Caspian was worried seeing his daughter held captive. Penelope blamed her father for putting their lives in danger; she’d assumed he was the one who’d chosen her mother for the dangerous mission, but she soon discovered that Carmen went of her own free will. Just like Penelope, Caspian too was cuffed to a desk, and suddenly his grand plan started to crumble. He’d done everything to bring Carmen home, but clearly, it wasn’t enough. Adria told Caspian that the Nameless didn’t have Carmen, so there was no way he would get to find out what happened to her. Adria asked Gabriel to leave with Leon, and when he left, she asked Nicki to start a fire so that the school’s maximum security protocol (that involved draining oxygen) would be activated and Penelope and Caspian would run out of oxygen and die. Nicki had no idea that Gabriel was Adria’s son, and all this while, she thought that Adria was coming to rescue her. Well, “heartbroken” was an understatement for Nicki, and she just couldn’t make herself light the matchstick. Adria took the matches from her, and she asked Isabella to get Nicki out of her sight. Adria managed to activate the security system, and before she left, Caspian remarked that she and Luciano (aka Leopard) were his best students and he wanted to believe there was some goodness left in them. Adria told him that the world he believed in was long gone, and she left without an ounce of guilt. In the very end, Penelope managed to pick the lock on the cuff with a sharp pin she always carried with her (thanks to her mother, who’d once advised her to do so). She managed to stabilize the air inside the room by breaking open a window, and she successfully rescued her father. 

Why did Gabriel decide to stay at Crookhaven?

Leon had locked Gabriel’s friends in the Cooler, and when Nicki joined them, she told them that Adria was Gabriel’s mother, and he went along with her willingly. Ade, Ede, Jia, and Amira decided that they needed to come up with a rescue mission to save their friend. They were confident that Gabriel wasn’t thinking straight and they needed to stop him before he joined the Nameless. Thankfully, Edgar and Dorian (the school bullies) came to their rescue. Well, they’d assumed that the rest had organised an afterparty at the Cooler and they weren’t invited. They didn’t realize what they’d done, but everyone was grateful to Edgar and Dorian. They rushed to the boathouse where Gabriel, Adria, Leon, and Isabella were headed. Velasquez was the first to block Adria’s path, asking her to hand over Gabriel and do the right thing. Gabriel stepped forward, stating that he’d made his choice, but he started to have second thoughts when his friends showed up. Amira begged him to reconsider and when he discovered that Leon had locked his friends in the cooler he started to wonder if his parents had an ulterior motive. They didn’t want him to make a sound decision; they perhaps were even ready to abduct him if it came to that. Nicki no longer cared about being faithful to Adria, she’d been betrayed so she told Gabriel that his mother had tried to kill Penelope and her father. When Gabriel asked his mother to explain herself, she responded that they brought it upon themselves and it was their only way to get a clean getaway. Gabriel started to doubt his mother, and he also realized that he felt deeply for Penelope and he couldn’t bear the thought of someone hurting her. During the ending, Gabriel decided to stay back with his friend because they were the ones who truly knew him, unlike his mother, who had been trying to brainwash him to join the Nameless. As expected, Adria tried to forcefully take Gabriel with her when he refused to come along. But she had no idea that Gabriel’s friends had already thought of this possibility, and they’d come up with the perfect plan to stop them. All the school students arrived at the spot, resulting in complete chaos, and they constantly changed their masquerade masks, making it impossible for Adria and her team to figure out if they had the right person with them. By the time they made it to the boat, they realized that instead of Gabriel, they had abducted Edgar, and they immediately pushed him into the lake. Edgar swam back to the shore, and he felt elated when everyone started to celebrate him. This was the recognition he’d always craved, and finally, in the most absurd way, he’d achieved it. 

Can We Expect Season 2?

The ending of Crookhaven confirms that Gabriel ultimately stayed back; his friends had become his family, and moreover, he had a strong moral compass, and he couldn’t imagine harming others for his own benefit. This also meant that Gabriel will have to fight his parents, and that obviously won’t be easy. The journey is going to get complicated and emotionally draining, and at every challenging instance Gabriel will have to make the tough choice over and over again. In the final scene of season 1, Penelope decided to leave Crookhaven to find her mother. After finding out that Carmen was likely in danger, she figured she had to risk her life to reunite with her mother. Caspian wouldn’t have allowed her to leave, so she had to run away without telling him. She didn’t think her father made the right decision by putting the entire school in danger just to bring home his wife. She figured whatever she had to do, it was important that she did completely alone. She wrote him a letter that Gabriel found. He met Penelope just as she was about to leave in a boat, and he begged her to take him along. But then Gabriel figured Penelope wanted to do it all by herself, and although it broke his heart to part ways with her, he supported her decision. She asked him to look for her if he disappeared like her mother did. If Crookhaven returns with another season, we expect it to revolve around Gabriel and Penelope. Well, it’s evident that they’ve developed feelings for each other, so if he doesn’t hear from her for months, Gabriel will surely step out of Crookhaven to find her. His friends will likely join him on the adventure; moreover, we don’t know who Leonard is. Well, his face hasn’t been revealed yet, so it’ll be interesting to find out more about this mysterious evil entity. 

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