‘M.I.A.’ Ending, Explained: Cary Elwes & Marta Milans Break Down Wild Finale Twist (VIDEO)

Peacock’s new crime drama M.I.A. is action-packed from the very first episode right down to the final moments, where an unexpected twist leaves the show on a cliffhanger that no one saw coming. With all episodes streaming now, TV Insider spoke to Marta Milans and Cary Elwes, who play Caroline and Kincaid, respectively, about that jaw-dropping last scene and more. WARNING: Spoilers for all episodes of M.I.A. ahead.

The show follows Etta Tiger Jonze (Shannon Gisela) in her quest to take down the 12 men who killed her entire family due to their involvement in a drug cartel. The cartel is headed by the Rojas brothers and their sister, Caroline, who handles the white collar aspect of the business by running a real estate company that provides a financial front for the criminal activity happening behind the scenes. Caroline hires Kincaid, a private investigator, to find out exactly what law enforcement knows about the truth of what happened to the Jonze family.

At first, Kincaid is in the dark when it comes to what Caroline and her family are up to, but when he figures it out, he drops Caroline as a client and rejoins the Miami Police Department to work on the case in a more official manner. “He probably wouldn’t have taken the job, had he known of [Caroline’s] connection to the cartel and the Rojas brothers,” Elwes told TV Insider. “I think the great thing about this season is that Kincaid starts out as someone who is just a coin-operated investigator, and then, as the season progresses, he starts to find his moral compass again.”

As the series unravels, Etta, who the cartel believes died with the rest of her family, is able to kill several of her targets and eventually enlists the help of a mentor (Tovah Feldshuh) to continue with her mission. When she learns who Caroline is and of her involvement in the scheme, she adds her to the list of those she wants to take down.

Amid her quest, Etta hesitantly forms a romantic connection with a man named Matt (Tyler Perez), and he brings her to meet his mother in the final scene of the show. Etta is left shell-shocked when her boyfriend’s mother is revealed to be Caroline.

Jeff Daly/Peacock

“I don’t think [Caroline] found out who Etta is yet, which makes it very interesting,” Milans told TV Insider. “Obviously, that’s the last shot of the season, so I kept going back and forth with our showrunner. Does she know? Does she not know? That innuendo and uncertainty kind of makes it better because you have to figure it out for yourself.”

Below (and in the video above!), Milans and Elwes break down that twist and more.

Finding out Caroline is Matt’s mother at the end is a huge cliffhanger. When did you find out, and what was your reaction?

Marta Milans: I found out she was Matt’s mother about halfway through the show. I knew there was a big reveal that was going to happen. The showrunner kept hinting at it, but wouldn’t say much. Then I found out, and I was blown away at how it was going to be presented at the end of the show. I’m very excited to embark on that big change for Caroline’s arc. I would sit opposite my son, because we obviously didn’t have any scenes until the end of the season, and he didn’t know at all until the very end. It was hilarious because Etta, Shannon’s character, did know, I knew, obviously our showrunner knew, but [Perez] didn’t know. We would be exchanging comments and talking about the show, and he had no idea I was really his mother.

Do you think Matt was aware of who Etta was the whole time, or was their meeting coincidental?

Milans: I think it was coincidental. I would think he doesn’t know. I think he really is an innocent, good young man, which makes it even more complicated as they get intertwined and as I get thrown into the mix and the cartels and the Rojases. It’s a lot.

So Matt is not involved in the family business at all at this point?

Milans: No, no, he’s not. I do believe one thing that Caroline wants to do, what her father wanted her to be, was her to be fully his legitimate child. He worked really hard to keep her protected from that. He does a really good job until obviously he’s no longer in the business, so she kind of crosses over to the dark side. But I think for her, her son is off limits. I think she really wants to protect that and keep him sheltered from that darkness, which is why she will go to no limits to protect that.

How aware was Caroline of what her father and brothers were doing in the field? Did she know the specifics of how violent they were?

Milans: I don’t think she knew about how violent they were. I don’t think she needed to know. I think she chose not to know. She just knows she has to launder the family money and make herself legitimate and make her family legitimate, and that’s what she really focuses on.

Jeff Daly/Peacock

Caroline proves she could get her hands dirty when she kills Judith – how easy is it for her to get pushed to that point?

Milans: I don’t think it’s easy for her. I think she really is aware of the illegal part of her family business that she wants to make legitimate. I don’t think she ever thought or planned to kill anyone. She gets pushed over the edge because she has interests to protect and very clear goals. Nothing will stand in her way. Whatever stands in her way, she eventually will eliminate it.

Kincaid starts having his doubts about Caroline, little by little. What was the last straw for him?

Cary Elwes: I think how evasive she was being, and once he made the connection that she was related to the guys behind the murders. He’s drawn back to his roots on Miami PD, realizing that the money is good, but his soul is more important.

Kincaid told Caroline he was no longer working for her and kind of ended that phone call with a little bit of a threat – that he’s rejoining the force to put murderers away. Is this something that’s concerning to her?

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Milans: I think so. I think she knows that that private investigator is a good private investigator. It’s a good little push for her to be like … I gotta be more careful. But she’s such a fox. She’ll find ways to get her way, I think.

Elwes: Oh, I think so. I think she hired him to try to throw him off the scent and find out how much he knew. And once he discovered just how involved she was, that’s when he made that decision.

Kincaid could just turn over the information he knows and let it all go, but he returns to the force. What went into that decision?

Elwes: The backstory of that, which is not something you end up seeing onscreen, is that he was involved in a case where he was trying to help a young lady who is wrapped up in a murder case, and he was trying to save her from the threat of being killed, and she ended up being killed under his watch. He felt a lot of guilt about that, so that weighed heavily upon his decision to never let that happen again.

Moving forward, do you think his focus will be on finding Etta or taking down Caroline? What is more important to him in this moment?

Elwes: I think tracking down Etta. And bringing the Rojas brothers, the family, to justice. I think they go hand-in-hand.

Do you think he has any inkling that Etta’s also onto the Rojas’?

Elwes: Yeah, well, she’s smart. I don’t think they realized who they were dealing with when they murdered her family. That’s part of the draw of this show and how powerful it is. She’s no wallflower. You find out that Etta has strength and grit and determination, the likes of which you’ve never seen in a young lady who happens to be a tour guide. Of course, she’s leaving a lot of clues behind. She’s not a professional. She does have an incredible trainer, but she’s not a professional, so that allows Kincaid to pick up the clues and figure out what’s going on.

Jeff Daly/Peacock

What are your hopes for Caroline if there is a second season?

Milans: I like the fact that she’s trying to get into politics, which is a very dirty world, I think. Mixing that with the intent and legitimacy of the drug business into the real world, I think, would be really interesting and dark and dirty.

Could there be a redemption arc for her?

Milans: If you murder someone, I don’t know if there’s much redemption for that. Now, this is fictional, and this is Miami, so I don’t know. Anything goes. But I think it’s really fun to play dark characters and really fun to play villains. To play a very intelligent villain that gets to dress in really cool clothes is so fun.

If there is another season, what questions do you want answered?

Elwes: I’d want to know how involved [Caroline] was from the start, right? Was she just trying to protect her family, or is this whole thing a con for her to take over the enterprise and become the new head of the family?

Caroline’s proved a few times in the show that she’s willing to do whatever it takes, which could be an interesting dynamic if Kincaid was to come for her in the future. What do you hope for your character’s storyline in a potential second season?

Elwes: I hope for that. I hope that we confront each other, and maybe there’s a dynamic that happens where she proves that the grit that she wants to show to her family, but to herself, that she’s capable of running this whole cartel and taking over from her dead father and her mother. I think there’s a lot to be explored.

M.I.A., Streaming Now, Peacock