The Copenhagen Test Finale Twist Changes Everything for Season 2

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘The Copenhagen Test’

Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test starts as a slick spy thriller, then folds into some rather dark, brutal sci-fi ideas about identity, trust, and surveillance. Asking what would happen if an intelligence analyst for the U.S. government were hacked with his eyes and ears transmitting state secrets, the series traps Simu Liu’s Alexander Hale into a nightmare where even his own senses can’t be trusted. By the time the series hits the season finale, it’s not just about finding the person behind the hack but realizing how many have been shaping Alexander’s life, and how long the “test” has really been going on for.

That layered storytelling was always a part of the plan, according to co-creator and showrunner Thomas Brandon, who explains to Collider in an interview that the eight-episode series pulls from puzzle-box thrillers like Inception, not because it wants to be confusing but because the tension comes from who’s controlling the narrative. “Whereas Inception was about dreams, this is about who’s telling the narrative,” Brandon says. “Each person at the center of this story is trying to figure out their own agency… ‘Who am I, and how far will I go to prove that I’m loyal to this order I’ve been given?’”

And if that eighth episode feels like the rug gets yanked out from under you, that’s because it’s designed that way. The finale reveals that Victor (Saul Rubinek) wasn’t just a paternal figure in Alexander’s life — and the man who helped his parents come to America — but is deeply connected to the Copenhagen Test itself. As showrunner Jennifer Yale puts it, the twist was always the plan: “It was from the beginning,” a reminder that in this world, the people closest to you are often the ones you can’t fully trust.

For executive producer James Wan, what makes The Copenhagen Test really unsettling is how close it feels to real life. “It doesn’t feel fully [like] science fiction,” Wan says. “It feels like science eventuality… just literally around the corner.” That realism is what keeps the show grounded even as the conspiracy expands — and why the finale’s last reveal hits so hard.

In this spoiler-heavy interview, Brandon, Yale, and Wan break down Episode 8’s biggest twists, why the season had to end with the world getting bigger, and what that means for Alexander now that he knows he’s not the only one.

#peacock #thecopenhagentest #jameswan #simuliu #scifi

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