High Tides season 1 left us on a potential cliffhanger; from there, a lot of things were uncertain. However, one thing that became extremely clear was that the Knokke’s rich spoiled brats had mastered the art of making the worst possible decisions and wrecking their personal relationships. Daan has a brief affair with Louise, but until the end, the latter is just not able to make a clear choice about what she wants in life. She had seen how toxic Alex could get, but time and again, she went back to him only to be disappointed. So let’s find out what happened with these characters in High Tides season 2 and what fate had in store for them.
Spoiler Alert
What did Jacqueline plan to do?
Patrick’s mother, Jacqueline, came to Knokke after she heard that her son had fallen down the stairs and gone into a coma. Jacqueline wasn’t so naive as to believe that he actually fell and hurt himself, but that’s what Eleonore told her, and she had no evidence to prove otherwise. Jacqueline was a living, breathing personification of cunningness, shrewdness, and pragmatism combined. She knew how to play her cards right and how to run the show. Jacqueline’s biggest strength was that she didn’t let her judgment be impaired by her emotions. She was always in control of her senses, and she abstained from making any impulsive decisions, an art that had been mastered by her grandson, Alex. Jacqueline had a boyfriend, Thomas, who was even younger than her son, but in that relationship, she also made sure that she was the one in charge. From the outside, it would have seemed that Jacqueline was being influenced by the young man, but it was not so. Jacqueline had seen too much in her life to fall for a honey trap. The first thing that Jacqueline did was to make it clear to Eleonore that she was not in charge. She had doubts about Eleonore’s intentions, and she thought that she had tried to kill Patrick. One day, Eleonore left Patrick in Christine’s care, which shocked the latter for obvious reasons, but Christine made full use of the opportunity. Christine realized that Patrick was able to blink his eyes, and he was able to comprehend what she asked and answered her with his blinking. She asked him questions as she wanted to know if Eleonore had tried to kill him. Soon after that, Christine went to meet Jacqueline and told her that Patrick’s injury wasn’t the result of an accident, and that made the old schemer even more suspicious of her daughter-in-law.
Jacqueline wanted Alex to be like his father, to take some responsibility, and not waste his time abusing drugs and alcohol, but she also knew that the boy had miles to go before becoming that sort of person. Jacqueline gave an ultimatum to Alex and told him that if he wanted to be the heir to the Vandael empire, then he needed to prove his worth. Alex, as a result, started interning with the construction workers of his own company. Jacqueline had a lot of expectations from Olivia, and she felt that the little girl was the most sensible of the lot. Jacqueline gave around 18 million euros to Oliva and told her that until she became an adult, Thomas would handle her funds. Eleonore was scared that Thomas would take undue advantage of Jacqueline, and that the latter, blinded by her love, wouldn’t be able to see through his intentions. Just around that time, Jacqueline decided to get married to Thomas on his insistence, and Eleonore and Alex felt like their worst fears were going to come true.
What happened between Daan and Louise?
Louise was suffering from bipolar disorder, but she was doing nothing to treat it or even to lessen its effect on her. Louise and everybody else around her knew that, without medication, she became impulsive due to her chronic Bipolar disorder and it spoiled her own cause. Everybody had witnessed the kind of mood swings she got in High Tides season 1, which is why Angelique, her mother, made sure that she took her doses every day. But she also couldn’t do anything once Louise became stubborn and made it a point not to take her pills. Louise very clearly decided in the previous season that she didn’t want to be with Daan. She loved him, but he came from an entirely different background, and she knew that if she stayed with him, she would ruin both their lives. But now, in season 2, she once again went back to him. Louise stopped taking her medication as she wanted to feel inspired and motivated. She converted her garage into a painting workshop, and slowly, she started feeling the excitement that she craved constantly. To top it off, she once again started consuming drugs and alcohol, and as a result, she did something at Alex’s party that made things complicated for her and even the people associated with her. Louise got intimate with both Alex and Daan at the same time. Daan woke up feeling very awkward the next day, and he told Louise that he didn’t feel what happened was right. Louise, at the same time, was having a rather explicit conversation with Alex over text, and somehow, she’d managed to convince her conscience that she was not cheating. But the delusion that she harbored was soon going to get shattered, and Louise had no option but to face reality. Louise’s mood swings not only hampered her life, but she ended up ruining Anouk’s life too. Anouk had feelings for Daan, and had Louise not interfered, they would have been happy with each other. It would be a little unfair to just blame Louise here, as even Daan was responsible for it equally. Daan was infatuated with Louise from the beginning, and he was with Anouk only because Louise didn’t want to be with him. Now, I know nobody wanted to hurt the other person, but they did end up doing just that. And Anouk had to go through all those bitter feelings through no fault of her own. She was the one who had always been there for Daan. Life was hard for her, too, and moreover, she had to work extremely hard to earn a livelihood, something that the rich brats of Knokke didn’t have to care about. That said, dealing with bipolar disorder is not easy, but having all the resources in the world to do whatever you feel like and, moreover, access to the best medical care surely helps.
There came a point at the end of High Tides season 2 when Louise became jealous of Daan’s success. Daan’s photographs were being showcased in Christine’s art gallery, whereas nobody paid any attention to Louise’s paintings. I firmly believe that, in her right state of mind, Louise would have never done what she ended up doing. As stated before, she wasn’t taking her medication, and moreover, she made it a point to get sloshed every other night. Louise took a couple of buckets of paint, and she destroyed all the black and white photographs that Daan had clicked. Daan’s big day was ruined, and after that, he just didn’t want to stay in Knokke. He went to confront Louise and told her that she was the most selfish person he had ever met. Louise was disappointed and beyond frustrated with herself. She tried contacting Daan multiple times after that, but he didn’t pick up. Angelique and Jan had gone through enough because of their daughters. Emilie, Louise’s elder sister, was having an affair with Jean-Jacques, the performer who had been hired for her bachelorette party. Charles, Emilie’s husband, got to know about the affair, and he decided to divorce her. Emilie felt bad for her parents, but she made the choice of being with Jean, as she loved him.
In the end, Louise decided that it would be best for her to get herself admitted to the hospital and get proper care for her issues. She knew that, if not for herself, she had to do it for her parents and her loved ones.
Why did Olivia want to help Melissa?
Patrick was showing signs of recovery, and Olivia was extremely scared of what he might do to her once he was able to walk and talk. Olivia knew that it was about time she needed to go and talk to her father. She knew that she couldn’t hide from him forever. So the little girl did the right thing; she went and told her father that she was sorry for what she had done. Until that time, Patrick was able to move a little and murmur a few words. Patrick told Olivia that he was sorry too for making her go through all that. Olivia knew why Melissa, Daan’s mother, was working at her place, what deal she had made with Eleonore, and what she sought to achieve. Olivia might have been a kid, but she knew that her mother was paying Melissa to keep her mouth shut regarding the mysterious death of her sister Claudia. Olivia went and asked Melissa why she wanted to know where Claudia was buried, and the latter told her that she wanted to get closure and pay her respects to her. Olivia was brave enough to go to her father and ask him directly where he had buried Claudia. Olivia, in season 2, told Melissa that Claudia was buried in one of the construction sites. Eleonore once asked Olivia why she wanted to tell Melissa the truth when things could be easier for the family if she kept these things hidden. That’s when Oliva said that she was done living a life of lies. She wanted to come out clean and do things the right way. Eleonore could have stopped Olivia from doing what she wanted, but she didn’t stop her. She knew that, out of all of them, she was probably the only one who had some righteousness left inside her, and Eleonore didn’t want to be the one to kill it.
Who killed Thomas? And why?
The biggest revelation of High Tides season 2 was that Thomas was actually Jacques’ son, and he was with Jacqueline because he wanted to take revenge on the Vandael family and destroy their lives. But Thomas had no clue that the woman he was trying to fool was as conniving as a ruthless predator. Thomas believed that, after marrying Jacqueline, he would get all the property in case something happened to her, but that was not the case. Jacqueline told Thomas that all of their assets and the money were tied up in a corporation, and it was all in Patrick’s name. Jacqueline didn’t have much to her name, and she had no intention of leaving anything for Thomas because she knew what he was after.
At the end of season 2, Thomas tries to kill Jacqueline, and he would have managed to do it if Eleonore and Olivia hadn’t arrived there at the same time. Thomas made all sorts of excuses and told Eleonore that she couldn’t meet Jacqueline. But when Eleonore didn’t listen to him, he had no option but to lock Eleonore and Olivia up with Jacqueline. Thomas actually had no plan of action after he was duped by Jacqueline. He went directly to Patrick’s house, and he tried to kill him too. But Alex, Daan, and Melissa arrived there just at the right time. There was a scuffle between Thomas and the others, and in the end, Melisa, in order to save her son, ended up delivering a deadly blow to Thomas’ head. Thomas died on the spot, and Alex and Patrick knew that there was no option other than to bury the body and keep the incident a secret. So Alex and Daan took the body and buried it in one of the construction sites of the Vandael corporation, just like the former had done with Claudia. Daan couldn’t believe what had happened, but Alex assured him that nothing would happen to him if he kept his mouth shut. In the end, Anouk’s fear that Daan would one day become like Knokke’s rich spoiled brats came true. Daan didn’t want to be like Alex and his friends, but his intentions didn’t align with his choices, and that caused all the difference. Daan always said that a life of debauchery wasn’t for him, but in the end, he missed out on the one chance at love that life gave him. There was a girl who was broken from within, who was abandoned by her own mother when she was just 14 and who wanted to spend her entire life with Daan. Daan’s existence probably gave Anouk hope and some semblance of normalcy, but the former made it clear to her what he wanted. It would be interesting to see where life takes Daan and others in the subsequent season (if there is one) and if he is able to bring his life back on track.
