This article contains major character or plot details.
When we meet Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson) again in Season 2 of Mike Schur’s A Man on the Inside, he’s ready for a juicy case to sink his teeth into.
In Season 1, the detective story was a crime that turned out to not really be a crime at all, since an Alzheimer’s disease patient stole missing jewelry at San Francisco’s Pacific View Retirement Community. “Season 1 is about a guy whose life is getting very small, who decides to push outwards against the walls that are closing in and keeping him from having a bigger life,” says Schur. “He meets people, makes friendships, and forms a community. He experiences things in life that he hadn’t experienced.”
Coming into Season 2, Charles is ready for a challenge with higher stakes after sleuthing for a year. (He certainly has uncovered his fair share of cheating husbands at this point). So it’s to his delight — and his boss Julie’s (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) signature apathy — that he’s just the man who’s needed to go inside once more — this time, undercover as a professor at Wheeler College in Season 2.
Here’s the 411 on the case: Wheeler College is about to receive a donation from a major donor, Brad Vinick (Gary Cole). He isn’t exactly the most magnanimous billionaire alumnus around, nor does he see the value of a well-rounded education. But the school needs his money, and it’s President Jack Beringer (Max Greenfield)’s job to raise it.
Seems like everything’s full steam ahead until … someone steals Beringer’s laptop, which starts a chain reaction of sabotage to block Vinick’s donation. Neither the staff nor the students are necessarily thrilled about the billionaire’s involvement in Wheeler’s future, which makes everyone a suspect. So who’s behind it all? And how does our man on the inside get to the bottom of it? Find out how Charles cracks the case in the finale below:
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Who stole Beringer’s laptop?
Charles and Julie start the finale thinking that Beringer was behind the theft for self-serving reasons. That is, before English department head Dr. Cole (David Strathairn) suddenly barges into Beringer’s office, claiming he was the one behind it all and immediately resigning. But, as it turns out, neither of these staff members was the true culprit.
Actually, a whole separate group of Wheeler College staff conspired to save the school from Vinick’s corrupt donation, with provost Holly Bodgemark (Jill Talley) as the ringleader. Surprised? Charles was, too! But once he realizes who truly has Wheeler’s best interests at heart, he knows he has to go hear the whole truth from Holly. He has no desire to turn her in, since that isn’t what the school needs. But, as a sleuth, he simply wants to learn how she pulled it off.
Here’s the scoop: Five months ago, Holly overheard her boss, Beringer, meeting with Vinick. Turns out Beringer was looking to move to a new gig at a Texas university, so he gave Vinick carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with Wheeler — from firing nearly every professor on staff to rebuilding a whole new school in his image — after the contract was signed.
Aghast, Holly searched Beringer’s computer for proof of the plan after Beringer and Vinick left the office, but she couldn’t find it. So she took the laptop to buy more time and sent Beringer the initial threatening email. She confesses it was her idea to hire a private investigator — Charles — with the hope he would uncover hard evidence of Vinick’s plans, so she could leak them to the board of trustees and torpedo the deal.
Over time, the plan grew bigger, to the point where every department head teamed up with Holly to take down Vinick, including engaging in sabotage, sending anonymous texts from a mysterious “Wheeler Guardian” account and leaking documents to the school paper. Two professors were decidedly not involved, though: Mona from the music department (Mary Steenburgen), because of her close relationship with Charles (more on that below), and Dr. Cole(!), who Holly tried to keep in the dark because of their longtime friendship.
But Dr. Cole could sense there was something going on behind the scenes and asked Holly to fill him in, so she told him the whole story. He then took it upon himself to bring the laptop and an incriminating pen that Holly had stashed to Charles and Julie, taking the fall to spare his colleagues.
Holly confesses to Charles that she feels terrible that Dr. Cole took the blame for her, because the school was his whole world. But Charles insists that if she turned herself in now, the school would be engulfed in even more scandal. “The best way to say thank you is to stay here and keep Wheeler safe,” he tells the true “Wheeler Guardian.”
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
So what happens with Vinick’s donation?
The board of trustees rejects it! Vinick’s secret “Project Aurora” plan gets leaked to the college paper, The Daily Wheeler. If he’d gotten control of Wheeler, that would have included faculty and staff firings, ousting board members and replacing them with Vinick loyalists, shuttering humanities departments and keeping only three areas of study (biotechnology, economics, and computer science) as options for students to pursue, and tearing down historic buildings. Safe to say, this was not a lesson plan the college approves of!
Furious that his deception has been made public, Vinick drones on and on about how, under his domain, Wheeler would have churned out billionaires who make real money in tech and business. But provost Holly reminds him that there are lots of other schools for that. Wheeler’s mission is different, she says: “We value community and knowledge for knowledge’s sake.”
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
What happens to Charles and Mona?
Charles learned a valuable lesson in Season 1 of A Man on the Inside. When it comes to the people he sincerely cares about and wants to be a part of his life, he has to read them in on his line of work. Think back to how hurt his best friend Calbert (Stephen McKinley Henderson) was when he belatedly found out Charles is a spy.
So when Charles meets and immediately becomes smitten with vivacious music instructor Mona, who is played by Danson’s real-life wife, Mary Steenburgen, he doesn’t beat around the bush. He realizes he needs to trust this genuine connection between them and come clean about why he’s at the school. His honesty pays off: Throughout the season, she helps him as he tries to solve the case, and thus rejuvenates his spirit.
After Season 1 debuted, Schur and Danson started ruminating on the possibilities for Season 2, since Charles had spent real time processing his loss, grief, and sadness. For Schur, the next logical question was: Is there room in his life for a new romance? “There was only one possible person to play that role, and it was Mary,” says the creator. “They are so in love with each other, and they respect and admire each other so much. And frankly, it’s very annoying. It makes the rest of us feel bad about our lives, that they set an impossible standard.”
Danson adds that a key theme of Season 2 for Charles and all the characters is the notion of second chances. Now that he’s head over heels at 77, Charles is wondering, “Will you have a second chance at the love of your life?” And even, “Is it okay to fall in love again?”
In the finale, Mona’s sense of adventure leads her to accept a position teaching a music course in Croatia for a year, and she wants Charles to come with her. It’s easy to see why Charles is tempted to say yes, inspired by Mona’s desire to revel in something new. “She’s so wonderfully wise and cuckoo all at the same time and a lot like me, but also different from me enough that it fascinated me, too,” says Steenburgen.
But when he confides in his daughter, Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), he realizes that he can’t leave the community he’s worked so hard to build for himself over the last few years after coming out of his shell. “Charles discovers that he’s still a little fear-based, and he meets somebody who’s just total love, no fear. Just, ‘Let’s live, stay in the moment, and have joy be the word for the day,’ ” says Danson. “My character loves it and is excited by it, and he thinks that he can run with her. But then he bumps into his limits.”
Mona is understandably disappointed, but they part as dear friends. “As the person who played her, I’m guessing she might’ve just really had her heart broken for the very first time in her whole life at age 74,” says Steenburgen.
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Is there a vibe between Didi and Julie?
There sure is. In the Season 2 finale, Pacific View’s managing director, Didi (Stephanie Beatriz), comes to Charles’s surprise party to, yes, celebrate that he’s now become a licensed private investigator. But mainly she’s there to address the (begrudging) tension she has with Charles’s boss, Julie. “When Lilah’s and Stephanie’s characters bump heads, it’s something to see,” says Danson.
During the party, Didi corners Julie and asks why she was even invited, and Julie takes the opportunity to get vulnerable. She apologizes for not having a better handle on her emotional issues and engaging in behavior that was hurtful and callous towards Didi. Julie also assures her that she is getting better and is a work in progress.
Didi graciously accepts her apology and admits that she did have an agenda for hiring Julie to do some standard background checks this season: She wanted to spend more time with her! After Julie and Charles met with Didi at the end of Season 1 to encourage her to stay at Pacific View, it made Didi wonder if there was a vibe there … and it turns out, there is. Julie asks Didi to get a drink, officially melting the ice.
Where does Dr. Cole end up?
Truth be told, Dr. Cole has no family and lives alone, so his pal Holly is concerned for his well-being now that he’s no longer at Wheeler. Ever the caring man on the inside, Charles pays his cantankerous former colleague a visit to check on how retirement is treating him. Upon his arrival, Charles asks Dr. Cole for a favor, which is Charles’s sneaky way of helping Dr. Cole find a revitalized sense of purpose.
And so Dr. Cole agrees, delivering a sealed envelope to Didi at Pacific View. The letter inside reads: “Please take care of Ben. He’s a very stubborn professor. He needs your help.” Didi immediately knows what to do. She asks Dr. Cole if she could enlist his expertise to refurbish the retirement community’s library, as Charles’s letter said he “might fit the bill.” And just like that, Pacific View has welcomed a new member into its community.
PHOTO BY COLLEEN E. HAYES
Is there a bonus scene?
Yes! Don’t miss a charming bonus scene at the end of Season 2’s final episode. In it, we happen upon a book club meeting at Pacific View, where Dr. Cole, Calbert, Charles, and more of the retirement community’s finest are all in attendance. This week’s read? Why, a page-turning thriller, of course: The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
Watch Seasons 1 and 2 of A Man on the Inside now, only on Netflix.
Additional reporting by Brookie McIlvaine and Troy Pozirekides.
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