‘Lethal Weapon’ Season Finale Sets up Surprising New Mission

Lethal Weapon wrapped up its third season with an action-packed episode. But will the series return for another season?

During “The Spy Who Loved Me,” the drama caught up to Cole (Seann William Scott) and Murtaugh (Damon Wayans) as a bomb in a skyscraper threatened their lives before Natalie’s (Maggie Lawson) wedding.

The beginning of the episode caught the team in the big moment, with Natalie and Cole having to jump from a 33-story building to save themselves from a bomb while Murtaugh could be seen being carried in a stretcher after an injury, but stayed conscious enough to warn first responders about the blast.

The episode then flashed back two days to Maggie breaking the news to Cole that she and Andrew will be moving Maya (Shay Rudolph) out of the country for a year. He reluctantly agrees, as he keeps appearances that he is happy for his ex-wife’s upcoming wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, Murtaugh’s intimate phone time with his wife is interrupted by some agents of the FBI, who reveal they are investigating his partner and are recruiting him to wear a wire or risk getting arrested himself.

Murtaugh arrives to Cole’s motel room and finds out he already left with packed bags. Cole finds himself chasing down a killer who is targeting Andrew for some reason. He fights the hired gun and accidentally kills him as Murtaugh arrives on the scene.

The next day, Murtaugh and Cole realize the criminal was a cartel assassin. Cole is determined to find out how Andrew is connected while keeping’s partner in the dark. He arrives at Natalie’s just as Andrew is having for his bachelor party, and he gets Andrew to invite him to the celebration.

After a couple of drinks, Andrew admits to Cole that he got himself embroiled with the CIA overlooking some shipments in his Doctors Without Borders role, which explains why he is suddenly a target. Cole later finds Murtaugh, who is wearing a wire for the FBI, and starts to tell him about what’s going on, but they are caught in a fight in the club bathroom. The FBI breaks out the heated fight, and Cole realizes Murtaugh’s betrayal.

The FBI later reveals to Cole that Andrew is one of many doctors being manipulated by his friend, Tom Barnes (Mykelti Williamson), who recently left the CIA and has been doing criminal activity behind Cole’s back. Murtaugh apologizes to Cole for betraying their partnership but he understands why it had to happen.

On Natalie’s wedding day, Cole meets with Barnes and tries to convince him to turn himself in. Barnes cuts his old friend’s wire and tells him that he kidnapped his ex-wife and he won’t see her again unless he gets him $10 million the LAPD confiscated from the cartel.

With the help from the team, Murtaugh and Cole get the money from the station and rush to the meeting point in an effort to save Natalie. The duo finds Barnes, and after he tells him where to find Natalie, he shoots Murtaugh in the back.

At the top of the building, Natalie works on treating Murtaugh as Cole tries to diffuse the bomb. Fearing he might die, Murtaugh calls the radio station where his wife is appearing and he tells her that he loves her. Cole and Natalie heal Murtaugh’s wound and send him downstairs to the first responders when the bomb starts to count down. The show then catches up to the beginning when Natalie and Cole jump from the building. The pair miraculously survive the jump as Murtaugh watches from below.

The season wraps up with Cole, Natalie and Maya driving together away after she cancels her wedding. Murtaugh gives his wife the wire that will exonerate Cole before he heads into surgery. Two weeks later, the team reunites at Murtaugh’s house to celebrate his recovery, and he and Cole agree to go after Barnes together on a secret mission.

Ahead of the finale, series creator Matt Miller revealed the writers are planning Season 4, despite the show not yet being renewed and Wayans previously saying he wants to leave.

“The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, less so than in the previous 2 seasons, but it’s definitely a launch to where we want to go in Season 4,” Miller told Entertainment Weekly. “Since we’ve already mapped out in detail what season 4 looks like, it will definitely be a bummer if we don’t get to tell that story.”

Are you satisfied with the Season 3 finale? Lethal Weapon has not been renewed for Season 4 yet.