We've reached the end of Harlan Coben's new gripping mystery thriller series Just One Look, and it's time that Greta finally gets the answers she's been seeking. What is the story behind that mysterious old photo, and why did it cause Jacek to disappear? Will Jacek survive his wounds? Find out what happens in the series finale of Just One Look, now streaming on Netflix.
Spoilers ahead from Just One Look episode 6!
Jacek is actually Szymon in Just One Look
At the start of the series finale, Greta discovers a package at her doorstep. Inside, she finds a flash drive from Jimmy. Curious and uneasy, she inserts it into her laptop to uncover its contents. A video dated Sept. 10, 2009, begins playing, showing Alex, Sylwia, Jacek, and Szymon at a rehearsal for their band, LAAD. Greta watches closely as Alex introduces each member of the band.
But then, something unexpected happens. When the camera pans to who's supposed to be Jacek, it’s not him. It’s the other guy band member. Then, when the camera moves to Szymon, Jacek stands in his place. Oh my! This means that Jacek has actually been Szymon this entire time. But why did Greta's husband lie about his true identity? That's what Greta has to find out. From now on in this recap, I'm going to refer to Greta's husband by his real name, Szymon.
Greta heads to Szymon's mother's (Alina) house, hoping that she'll provide answers. Alina doesn't open the door for Greta at first. It's not until Greta tells her that her son is in the hospital that Alina finally unlocks the door. As Greta walks through Alina's home, she finds photos of her children on the walls. Alina approaches her, and Greta asks her where she got the pictures. She then yells that the kids in the photos are her kids. Alina tells her she knows. At this moment, Greta knows for sure that who she thought was Jacek is really Szymon. She and Alina then head to the hospital to visit Szymon.
As they stand over the unconscious Szymon in his hospital bed, Greta decides to leave, still upset over the lies she’s been told. Alina tries to stop her, insisting that she needs to explain everything. She tells Greta that Szymon was only trying to save her as she had been very ill. She tells her that after the real Jacek passed away, Szymon took over his identity to help her out. He wanted money to pay for her operation. While this new information sheds some light on Szymon’s actions, it still doesn’t answer Greta's crucial question. Why was it necessary for him to completely change his identity to get the money?
Jimmy meets a tragic end
After meeting with Alina, Greta meets up with Jimmy later that evening. She wants to know why he gave her the flash drive with the video. Jimmy tells Greta that someone conned him, but he won't say the name. Our guess is that it's Sandra, as she's the person he got into a heated argument with in a previous episode. He even claimed that Sandra ruined his life because of their deal.
Greta stands up to leave, but Jimmy stops her. He tells her that she was there the day everything happened. The scene then shifts to a flashback, showing Greta opening a door to a room and finding Jimmy lying on the ground. Something terrible seems to have occurred, though the full details remain hidden. Greta quickly shuts the door and walks away. Jimmy follows her, urgently explaining that it’s not what it appears to be and pleading with her not to tell anyone what she just saw. Greta then walks off, and the flashback ends. As Greta sits back down, the episode shifts back to the flashback, now revealing the full truth of what really happened.
It was the day of the 2009 concert. After Jimmy finished performing "Just One Look," he returned to the dressing room. Suddenly, the real Jacek bursts in, furious, and confronts him about singing the song. It turns out the track belonged to Jacek, and he was upset that Jimmy performed it as if it were his own. The argument quickly escalates into a physical struggle, which ends with Jacek accidentally getting fatally stabbed in the torso by Jimmy. A woman then walks through the door and runs to help Jacek. This is also when Greta opens the door. The flashback ends here.
Jimmy tells Greta that he never meant to stab Jacek and insists it was an accident, but Greta remains unconvinced. She accuses him of killing Alex and Sylwia, suggesting he murdered them over the song. Confused and frustrated, Jimmy stands up and tells Greta that if she wants to uncover who really killed Alex and Sylwia, she should watch the video again. He then walks out, only to be struck by a car as he crosses the street. Greta runs outside to help him, but it's too late.
Later, she returns home and looks at the video again. She discovers something new. She notices that it's a woman recording the band. It looks like Sandra!
Greta uncovers the truth, only to lose the love of her life immediately afterward
The next morning, Greta returns to the hospital, where the doctor informs her that Szymon has awakened ahead of schedule, despite still being weak. Once Greta reveals that she knows his true identity, Szymon immediately comes clean about everything. He explains that he didn’t know how to tell her the truth, but he realized he couldn’t continue living with the lie once she showed him the old photo.
Szymon then explains why he changed his identity, and it all revolves around Sandra and his need for money to care for his sick mother. Sandra knew that her brother Jacek’s song, "Just One Look," would eventually become a hit, but with Jacek dead, all the royalties would go to their cruel father. She knew she wouldn’t see a penny of the money, so she manipulated a vulnerable Szymon, who was desperate due to his mother’s illness.
The plan was for them to cover up Jacek’s death, making sure no one knew the truth, while Szymon assumed his identity. Sandra even had someone create a fake ID for him to make the ruse more convincing. With Szymon posing as Jacek, he would funnel all the royalties to Sandra, who would then place them in a secure fund. She would get her share, and he would get his. This right here explains why Greta saw all that money in Szymon's account in an earlier episode. He used some of the money on his mother's operation.
Szymon explains to Greta that Sandra blackmailed him, Alex, and Sylwia. They weren't to speak of Jacek's death. Another thing to note about this scene is that Szymon reveals that he and Greta knew each other back in 2009. Apparently, a relationship never happened between them back then, but Szymon was determined to find her. He finally found her in France, but she didn't remember anything about Jacek's death. They would end up getting together after reuniting.
Greta rests her head on Szymon’s chest as he confesses the truth about everything, but soon his condition deteriorates quickly. The doctor and nurses rush into the room, urgently pulling Greta away. Unfortunately, Szymon doesn’t recover and passes away shortly after.
Greta finally takes down Sandra
After taking some time to grieve Szymon’s death, Greta decides it’s time to go to the police. She’s determined to bring Sandra to justice and knows she’ll need their help to make it happen. She sets up a meeting with Sandra at her law firm, where she basically confronts her about everything. Although Sandra never really comes clean about anything, Greta presses her, revealing everything she knows about the cover-up and the lies Sandra has been hiding.
Here's a list of everything that Greta tells Sandra she knows about regarding the cover-up:
- Sandra convinced Szymon to take on Jacek's identity after his death so that he could collect the royalties from his hit song and give them to her. Of course, Szymon got his cut too.
- After Greta showed Szymon the old photo, he realized he could no longer lie to her. He immediately contacted Sandra, telling her that he was going to come clean about everything to Greta. Greta believes this made Sandra panic, so she had hired a hitman aka Robert Bonczyk to abduct Szymon.
- Sandra was the one who recorded the video Jimmy had sent Greta of the LAAD band. She was also the one who rushed into the dressing room to tend to the fatally injured Jacek, but instead of doing the right thing, she chose to cover up his death for her own benefit.
- Sandra used the concert fire to further cover up Jacek's death, making it easier to hide the truth. She also became Wiktor's lawyer to stay on top of things and get the case closed.
- Since Jimmy wouldn't give up the rights to Jacek's song, Sandra manipulated him by saying that she'd tell the police about his involvement in his death if he didn't.
- Sandra paid off Alex and Sylwia so they wouldn't speak out about what really happened to Jacek. Greta also believes that Sandra had them killed and tried to have her killed as well.
As their conversation concludes, Greta informs Sandra that she recorded the entire exchange. Greta then exits through the door, and moments later, the police arrive to arrest Sandra.
Here are other important things that happen in the series finale before the story wraps:
- Borys confesses to Greta that he crossed out Alex’s face in the old photo and placed it among her stack of vacation pictures. He also admits to signing the back of the image, where it appeared Alex was pregnant, and to bugging her house. He explains that he did all of this because he wanted to uncover the truth about what happened to his daughter.
- Greta is shown to be the person who took the old photo.
Just One Look is now available to stream on Netflix.