‘Girl Taken’ Ending, Explained: Spoilers About ‘Baby Doll’ Series Adaptation

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Girl Taken Episodes 1-8.]

The following post contains discussions of child abduction, abuse, sexual assault, and suicide.

The newest drama miniseries on Paramount+, Girl Taken, is a heavy one. The series, which adapts the Hollie Overton novel Baby Doll, explores the many, many devastations involving and following a child abduction by a predator.

In the series, which is fiction but echoes far too many true-life tragedies, a 17-year-old named Lily Riser (Tallulah Evans) is abducted, imprisoned, abused, and raped by her former school teacher, Rick Hanson (Alfie Allen). She’s locked away alone in his cabin for five years before finally escaping his clutches. Her disappearance wreaks havoc on her mother, Eve (Jill Halfpenny), twin sister Abby (Delphi Evans), and former boyfriend Wes (Levi Brown), and leaves Lily severely traumatized. And running away from Rick is only half the battle; once she’s free, she then has to grapple with her experiences plus unwanted media attention, the very slow and painful arc of seeking justice, her continued fears for her safety, and gaslighting from her abuser, among other ills.

It’s a very bleak story, but it does end on a somewhat hopeful note. So what happened to Lily and everyone else at the end of Girl Taken? Here’s a look.

Is Rick Hanson dead?

Yes. After Rick managed to escape prison custody after his bail hearing, he then retreated to his burned-down cabin, where he found Abby waiting for him. He attacked her, but then she managed to defend herself by stabbing him in the neck with a knife. He bled out and died right then and there. The officers involved in the initial kidnapping investigation determined it was an act of self-defense right away and declined to investigate Abby any further.

Paramount+

What happened to Lily’s baby?

Another victim of Rick’s ills was the child that Lily gave birth to, called Alice. While he told Lily the infant was a boy and died as a result of her falling down the stairs in an attempt to escape while in labor, he secretly brought the child home to his wife, Zoe (Niamh Walsh), who could not have biological children due to a hysterectomy, and they raised the child for four years as their own. Police soon discerned that the baby belonged to Lily and, after some resistance, Zoe finally surrendered her to the police. She was taken into protective services for safe keeping, and, in the end, reunited with Lily, who may eventually raise her.

What happened to Zoe?

After surrendering Alice to the authorities, Zoe considered jumping off of a bridge in front of a moving train but was talked off the ledge by the police. Her future fate is unclear, but it is apparent that she, like Lily, will need psychological counseling, as she was also a child when she first came into Rick’s orbit and has been lied to and manipulated by him for years.

Paramount+

What happened to the rest of Lily’s family?

After Abby learned that she was pregnant from her relationship with Wes, Lily forgave Abby for taking up with her former boyfriend while she was kidnapped and gave her blessing to the couple and their pregnancy with twins. In the end, they were shown enjoying a joyous meal together with their mother.

What happened to Isobelle?

Despite hopes by the police and, eventually, Lily that the girl might be alive, Isobelle was found dead. Isobelle was another then-teen girl who was abducted by Rick at his prior school, around two years before he took Lily. Her remains were buried near Rick’s cabin, thus solving a cold case after Rick’s demise.

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How does the story differ from the book?

Though much of Girl Taken echoes the events of Baby Doll, there are some key differences between the six-part series and the novel upon which it’s based. For one thing, Lily’s baby, named Sky (which was the name Lily chose for her during her pregnancy in the show version), wasn’t taken away from her. Instead, she grew to six years old in captivity and escaped alongside Lily. Also, Lily’s time in Rick’s clutches was eight years, instead of five, and the book also delves more into the media’s narrative that Rick is too wholesome of a man to have done the things he is accused of. Overall, though, the series is strikingly similar to the source material.

Girl Taken, Paramount+

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.