High Tides, or Knokke Off, is a Belgian drama series that first released in 2023 and gained quite an audience when Netflix streamed it globally. Now, Netflix is back with a 2nd season, in which the characters have to deal with the consequences of their decisions and choices, and by the end, there are some more serious incidents that are bound to further mess up the lives of the individuals we have been following. As Patrick Vandael manages to survive his young daughter shooting at him and continues to recover from his injuries throughout the season, an old enemy returns seeking revenge, although he has no idea about him. Meanwhile, Louise and Alex keep floating towards and then away from each other, while the new boy in town, Daan, is stuck in the middle of this strange dynamic. This article takes a look at the explosive ending of High Tides season 2, while also discussing the possible turn that the series might make in the 3rd season.
Spoiler Alert
What is Thomas’ real identity?
High Tides season 2 introduces two new central characters, Mrs. Vandael, the mother of the billionaire businessman Patrick, and her assistant and lover, Thomas Peeters. Mrs. Jacqueline Vandael, lovingly called Bonmamie by her grandchildren, is a ferocious matriarch who is tremendously protective of her son and the family business, which is currently in the hands of Patrick’s wife, Eleonore. Bonmamie is not at all convinced of her daughter-in-law’s abilities, and there is an inherent sense of dislike for her in her mind. The elderly woman feels that Eleonore always tries to make things and situations about herself, which is too harsh an assessment, even if her daughter-in-law is a bit self-indulgent. Therefore, she comes to the town of Knokke to take control of the family business and also to carry out a personal investigation into the accident of her son. Other than a handful of people, everyone had been told that Patrick had fallen down the stairs, which led to him being in a comatose state, and although most doubted this story, nobody dared to question the Vandaels.
It is Bonmamie who does not hesitate to do something about the matter, but she does so indirectly, with the help of her assistant, Thomas. The relationship between these two individuals is what catches everyone’s eye at first, for Thomas is a young man, perhaps in his late 20s or early 30s, while Bonmamie is easily over 70. What makes their relationship unusual in the eyes of the high society people of Knokke is that it is not strictly professional, and the two are instead seen together everywhere. Bonmamie gradually reveals that Thomas handles her accounts and finances as well, although this later turns out to be a lie as she changes the structure of her property ownership without his knowledge. But what is most shocking to the people, and particularly to her own family members, is Bonmamie’s revelation about Thomas being her lover as well, and her intention to marry him soon.
There is hardly ever any doubt that Thomas is with the old woman only because of her wealth, and he acts like her lapdog so that she does not question his intentions at all. As part of Bonmamie’s plan, Thomas approaches Melissa, the nanny of Olivia, for more information regarding the supposed accident of Patrick, and there is an instant chemistry between the two. Thomas grows close to Melissa very quickly, and they secretly start an affair as well, following which he agrees to Bonmamie’s proposal of getting married. Melissa is naturally angered by this decision of his, and as she confronts him, it is revealed that Thomas is not only marrying Bonmamie for her tremendous wealth, but he has revenge on his mind.
Thomas Peeters has an identity beyond just being the much younger boyfriend of Bonmamie, which he keeps hidden from the rest of the world for the longest time. In reality, Thomas is the son of Jacques, and has now come to Knokke to seek revenge for his father’s untimely death. Back in High Tides season 1, Jacques was a businessman running a popular surfing club and restaurant who also significantly struggled with alcoholism. It was gradually revealed that Jacques had resorted to alcohol abuse when he was betrayed by Patrick as a young man, after the two had started a business venture together. Years later, when Jacques helped Patrick’s son, Alex, to start his own men’s club, the Vandael patriarch wanted to humiliate his old business partner once again.
Patrick suddenly bought out Jacques’ surfing club restaurant, technically driving the man out of his profession, which was the only thing keeping his life in control. As a result, Jacques had started drinking even more and very quickly died from a cardiac arrest. Thomas held Patrick responsible for the death of his father, and now he wanted to seek revenge against the man and his entire family. Therefore, Thomas’ plan is to marry Bonmamie and get control of all the family wealth so that he can cut off Patrick and his family financially as a sort of revenge. Thomas’ main intention is to humiliate Patrick in whatever way possible, but he really does not have an exact plan, which is why he goes haywire towards the end. Melissa and then Daan are the only people who get to know about Thomas’ real identity, and they decide to keep the matter a secret from the world, for they, especially Melissa, have their own agenda against Patrick Vandael.
Why does Thomas want to kill Bonmamie?
Thomas and Bonmamie eventually get married at a courthouse without informing any of the Vandaels, and they celebrate the occasion in their own way. But it does not take long for Thomas to show his true colors, for he had never loved the old woman and got close to her seeking only revenge. But what comes as a shock for Thomas is that Bonmamie had already guessed what he was up to, although not fully, and she felt that the only reason a younger man would be willing to marry her was because of her wealth. While Bonmamie apparently getting convinced by Thomas’ efforts at showing his love did seem unbelievable earlier, it is now confirmed that she was playing her own game against her beloved. The woman had probably already guessed that Thomas was getting romantically involved with someone else, and she simply wanted to make use of him, physically and otherwise, before the disillusionment came around.
Therefore, Bonmamie had transferred all her wealth and property to a corporate fund before her marriage with Thomas, and she had willed everything to her son, Patrick, who would inherit all the wealth. When Thomas learns of this cunning step by his wife, he loses all mental stability, and this is when it becomes all the more clear that the man never really had any concrete plan for the future. His intention was to deprive Patrick of his family wealth and humiliate him in every way possible, and so when he hears that it is the very man who is going to get all the wealth so easily, despite his best efforts, Thomas lunges at Bonmamie and starts suffocating her with a pillow.
Thomas clearly wants to kill Bonmamie at this specific moment, although hurting the woman, or at least taking her life, was never a part of his plan before. It is the extreme rage and desperation that makes him attempt such a crime, and the revelation makes Thomas blindly violent and carefree about his own safety. Thoughts of all the horrific things that Patrick and his family had done against his father, Jacques, which, in turn, had affected Thomas’ own life as a child and even later on, rush to his head and make Thomas completely disregard how he will have to face the consequences of his actions as well.
It is only because young Olivia and Eleonore visit the house at this very time, because the girl wants to apologize to her grandmother, that Thomas is interrupted, and he does not end up killing Bonmamie. From Bonmamie’s house, Thomas rushes to seek his ultimate vengeance and intends to kill, or at least grievously injure, Patrick. He attacks Patrick, who is naturally unable to fight back, as he is still recovering from his injuries, and the desire for revenge completely takes over. Thomas is driven by an immense anger against all individuals from high society, the people who still rule over others indirectly and, in the process, get to do whatever they want and hurt whoever they want. His attack almost becomes a class crusade, but the fact that Thomas is ultimately intending to do something extremely illegal and immoral, which is to take someone’s life, is also constantly raised by the other characters and the series as a whole.
What happens to Thomas in the end?
When Thomas reaches the Vandael house and attacks Patrick, Alex tries to stop the intruder and gets terribly injured. Incidentally, Daan is also present at the place, after having come to visit his mother and tell her how his photography exhibition had been cancelled. They soon hear Thomas beating up Patrick and Alex and so naturally rush to stop Thomas from committing any reckless crimes. Although Daan and Melissa are both immensely frustrated and angry at the billionaires for having upended their lives, they still possess the mental stability to distinguish between right and wrong, which Thomas has clearly lost by now. Thus, the mother and son try to stop Thomas, which he sees as a threat, and he starts to beat up Daan as well.
This is when the maternal instincts of Melissa kick in, and in an effort to protect her son, she hits Thomas at the back of his head with a heavy object, which is enough to stop the man. Thomas lies dead in a pool of blood, and although Melissa had technically tried to come to her son’s rescue, she does end up saving Patrick and Alex in the process.
During High Tides season 2’s ending, Thomas’ dead body is taken to one of the many construction sites being developed by the Vandael family business, and it is buried under a thick layer of cement. Although Daan is shaken by this experience and also bears the heavy guilt of covering up a crime, he goes ahead with the plan to save his mother from any legal trouble. As Thomas dies in the end, the incident also leaves Daan and Melissa dependent on the Vandaels for their own protection, despite having understandably hated them all this while.
What makes Louise get herself admitted to the hospital?
The ending of High Tides season 2 also has Louise finally decide to help herself and bring her struggles with bipolar disorder under control by getting herself admitted to the hospital. Ever since season 1, Louise has been acting so strangely that she has ended up using the people in her life, especially Daan, even if she technically had no wish to do so. After getting into a relationship with the young man earlier this season, Louise got physically intimate with Alex and even seems to have emotionally connected with him at some instances. Despite all the pain and suffering that Alex had directly or indirectly caused her, Louise still could not get over her feelings for the young man, which had developed over a very long time since their childhood.
What became even more concerning was that Louise had once again stopped taking her medication, which made her have extreme mood swings and turn extremely happy and carefree at times, which simply turned dangerous for people around her. She started to feel that Daan did not value her artistic endeavors and only cared for his photography, which was being appreciated recently, and so she vandalized his photographs, which had been put up at the gallery on the day before the exhibition. Louise simply did not have any idea about the repercussion of this action, which was, once again, a direct result of her mental ailment, and in this one swift blow, she completely ruined the potential of Daan’s budding career as a photographer.
Ultimately, when Daan confronts Louise and calls her out for being a selfish person, the young woman starts to understand her mistakes. While her act of vandalizing the photographs was terrible by itself, her first selfish act was arguably that of stopping taking her medication, which affected the lives of those she considered her friends. After a long walk through town, during which she even seems to contemplate taking her own life, Louise finally decides that suicide would be one more selfish act, and so she starts to actively think for others. Thus, in season 2’s ending, Louise walks into the hospital herself, much to the relief of her distressed parents, and agrees to go through the necessary treatment.
What to expect from season 3?
If High Tides returns for a 3rd season, which is possible since season 2 does end a bit abruptly, then the most interesting thing to watch will be the changing dynamics between Melissa and Patrick. While Melissa had already gotten the answer regarding where her sister had been buried, she still held Patrick responsible for the woman’s death. At the end of season 2, Melissa was ready to give up on her pursuit for justice and return to Breda with her son, since Daan also wanted to leave. However, following the unintentional murder of Thomas, Melissa will surely not be able to leave Knokke so easily, and Patrick will most definitely use the incident to extort her and Daan in some way.
Although Bonmamie will not go looking for Thomas after he tried to kill her, we can still expect a serious rift between her and Patrick for her having risked the honor of the family by marrying someone of lower stature. With Louise currently away at the hospital receiving treatment, Daan might get back with Anouk if the latter can stick to her promise of staying away from drug peddling. While a new plot line should take over season 3, it might be that some old acquaintances, like the worker at the Vandael factory, John, can also create new troubles for the family. It is clear that John has helped Patrick secretly bury many more dead bodies, just like Thomas’, and so he might just end up blackmailing the Vandaels, which will give a new twist to High Tides.
