The Enemy Within Season Finale recap: What becomes of Erica Shepherd now?

The Season Finale of The Enemy Within concluded with a shocking development in the story’s plot. The question is: Did Erica Shepherd make the right decision?

In the season finale of NBC’s The Enemy Within, Erica Shepherd (Jennifer Carpenter) finally shows the audience where her loyalties lie. And surprisingly, Shepherd is on the right side of this seemingly unwinnable fight.

Warning! Spoilers for the season finale of The Enemy Within follow. Read on at your own discretion.

The battle with Tal inevitably brings everyone to the Sierra Maestra facility in Cuba. There, Shepherd is given a very important decision to make — save Agent Keaton (Morris Chestnut) or capture Mikael Tal (Lev Gorn). She had an opportunity to stop him for good but Keaton’s capture made the situation difficult to navigate.

Fortunately, Shepherd manages to do both. She successfully dispatches Tal’s henchmen and then puts a bullet in the villain’s back as he runs off. This prevents him from escaping and grants Shepherd an audience with the man who ruined her life.

When they confront each other on a nearby beach, Tal is moments away from death. He’s spitting up blood and Shepherd is ready to shoot him once again. They have a brief conversation where Tal reassures his archrival that his mission will still succeed. Tal then informs Shepherd there’s a high-ranking official in the intelligence community who’s still working to make their dream a reality.

Tal makes his confession to Shepherd right before he reaches towards a gun on the floor. He makes a wholehearted attempt at it but Shepherd is too quick for him. She puts one more bullet in his chest and the terrorist is dead.

What’s important about this particular exchange is that another of Tal’s operatives can keep the mastermind’s vision alive, assuming it was his vision to begin with. It’s quite possible that Tal was just at the forefront of the fight while the intelligence officer he spoke of was the true leader.

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In any case, Tal being taken out of the picture presents a serious problem for Erica Shepherd. She no longer has a reason for remaining with Agent Keaton’s team — and she chose to conceal critical information from Keaton in the finale’s concluding moments, which may result in Shepherd being sent back to a supermax prison. Although, Keaton appears to have grown a soft spot for her. Keaton even tells Shepherd that he’s requested she remains on the team for the foreseeable future. There’s no telling if she will but the odds are in her favor.

What do you think will happen to Erica Shepherd in season two of NBC’s The Enemy Within? Let us know in the comments section below.

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