Shanola Hampton Answers Burning ‘Found’ Questions After Series Finale — Including If [Spoiler] Is Dead (Exclusive)

Fans of Found may never have closure as that shocking season 2 finale will now serve as the series finale.

During the episode, which aired on Thursday, May 15, Gabi (Shanola Hampton) finally revealed at a press conference that she kidnapped Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar).

“The theme for Gabi this season has been penance,” Hampton, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly about that first shocking reveal during an interview that took place before NBC cancelled the show. “She has come out the worst of it because it has already happened.”

Hampton pointed out that Gabi started the season out at rock bottom when her loved ones found out what she did.

“She lost her family’s trust at the beginning of the season. Sir took away her ability to do the time for her crime,” she continued. “By the end of the season, it was enough of this game of cat and mouse — and enough of him dictating how she would not pay for the crime. [He can no longer] hold that over her. She takes ownership now because the people that she cares most about already know. So now the public can do what they want with it.”

It is important to note that kidnapping is still a crime. So will Gabi go to prison?

“It will be interesting to see what the wonderful imaginative writers come up with. I doubt she’ll be in prison. How would she last without her heels?” Hampton quipped. “[That ending has] always been the plan.”

Speaking of prison, Sir was seen concerned for Gabi before her press conference. The next time viewers checked in on Sir in prison, he was bleeding out following a mysterious injury. Hampton didn’t know the plan for Sir moving forward, but she did show support for Us‘ theory that it was a fake death amid a greater plan.

“It’s going to be interesting now that we’ve seen that Sir is working with the FBI. There is one thing that we all know about Gabi and that is that there is nothing more important to her than finding missing people and doing it quickly,” Hampton noted. “We got to see it with the other characters. You are forced to use your resources.”

She continued: “That I think will be an in for why there will always be a Sir and Gabi [connection]. Her explanation for this is just to find these people — that is her justifying that — but also it will play into the addiction that they have for one another.”

While discussing a possible renewal, Hampton admitted she couldn’t “imagine” filming future seasons of the show without Gosselaar. Despite that cliffhanger, Hampton hinted that Sir was likely still alive and nothing was off the table — including more kidnappings between Gabi and Sir.

“He’s a serial kidnapper. Do you think suddenly he would be like, ‘Oh, I’ll never kidnap her again. I am sitting here talking Dutch to a man in Amsterdam [planning to take Gabi out of the country],” she joked. “It is definitely plausible that he could kidnap her again. That is a very fair thing to say that a serial kidnapper could kidnap Gabi again.”

Hampton told Us that from season to season there was “a lot of pressure” to keep the audience surprised by the twists and turns.

“Every episode ends with a cliffhanger. We also do 22 episodes. Out of those 22, maybe you saw one coming — the cliffhanger part of it. But generally speaking, the writers have gotten it right every time,” Hampton gushed. “For season 3, there [would] be a lot there. But there was pressure for sure to keep the thrill alive and to keep it interesting. The stakes were being raised over and over. A lot of that will have to do with the Sir and Gabi connection and their back and forth. That always raised the stakes.”

Found is currently streaming on Peacock.