The Pact season 2 ending explained: Unpacking the devastating finale

With the family in an intensely vulnerable position, tensions continued to mount until the real story behind Connor's identity was revealed, plus a second staggering truth about Christine.

The Pact ending explained

Christine's friend and former colleague Kate had a pregnant client many years ago who had substance abuse issues. After she gave birth, she bolted, leaving her baby behind in the squat. Kate, who was wrestling with problems of her own, panicked and reached out to Christine for help, and she stepped in.

Having suffered an unhappy childhood herself, Christine wanted the baby to grow up in a loving home with the support network she'd never had. If the child went into care, there was a possibility that wouldn't happen, so she claimed him as her own and named him Liam.

But Christine had no knowledge of his brother Connor until he entered her life.

Her husband Harry wasn't pleased with her decision but he understood and supported his wife. Overtime, however, the strain grew too much and their relationship fell apart.

But that wasn't the only secret revealed in the finale.

"What about the others?" Megan's husband Gethin asked Christine. "If you can lie about Liam, what about Will and Jamie and Megan?"

Will mentioned that he'd never seen a photo of Christine while pregnant, with Megan recalling that they moved around frequently when they were younger, first London, then Manchester, and then Wales.

Christine attempted to convince the trio that their stories didn't match Liam's, but the damage had already been done.

"This isn't a family," said Megan. "It's a cult."

A short time later, Christine's client Kayla arrived at the house with her new baby. Like Liam, she had a substance abuse issue, which was negatively impacting her ability to care for her child.

But there was another matter weighing on her.

Kayla admitted to Christine that she had been with Liam when he died. He was feeling low and with no family around to ease his despair, he asked her to bring him something "strong". Kayla injected him, as she would herself, but the results were fatal.

On learning the truth, Christine wanted to inflict the pain she'd felt when she lost Liam on Kayla and abducted her baby. She headed to a spot overlooking the sea where she used to sit with Liam when he was teething while her family scrambled to find her.

Megan eventually arrived on the scene and took the infant from her, with Will and Jamie appearing directly after. But when their backs were turned, Christine hurled herself off the cliff, leaving behind her three bereft children and her phone with a voice recording claiming responsibility for the GHB in Connor's system.

We weren't given details about Megan, Will and Jamie's respective backgrounds, but we can assume that they also came from unstable environments in which they were at risk.

As with Liam, Christine acted with the best of intentions to rescue them from suffering as she had. Her behaviour, while legally indefensible, holds moral sway, and myriad viewers will undoubtedly empathise with how she responded to those dilemmas.

"Christine, like every parent, will do anything for her children," Rakie Ayola told RadioTimes.com and other press. "And sometimes the choices she makes aren't the best for everybody, but she thinks they're the best for them. She will do whatever it takes to make sure that they are OK."

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