The Accident Season 2 Ending Explained: Are El Charro and Lupe Dead?

Created by Leonardo Padrón, the second season of Netflix’s ‘The Accident’ takes the family saga on an even more harrowing journey than before, as everyone prepares to get their hands dirty. It has been a year since the accident that took the lives of three children, and yet the four families involved are still struggling with the loss. With no easy way to cope with their grief and start a new chapter in life, each character chooses whether to take the path of vengeance, redemption, or forgiveness, giving birth to a complicated thread of interpersonal dynamics. The previous season of this Mexican drama thriller series ended with El Charro, the father of one of the deceased children, Gabriel, being arrested for a double homicide. Around the same time, Emiliano’s role in the accident is made public by Carla, leading to his imprisonment. As both fathers wind up behind the same bars, more tragedy awaits. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Accident Season 2 Plot Recap

The sophomore season of ‘The Accident’ begins right where the story last left off, with Emiliano and El Charro being pitted against each other in prison. At the final court hearing in Charro’s double homicide case, he is found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison. As it turns out, Lupe is having an affair with her husband’s lawyer, Ulisis, and together, they orchestrated a poor showing in court to ensure that Charro stays behind bars. However, this doesn’t turn out to be the case, as a mysterious figure from his past, named Tamara, hatches an elaborate prison escape. Before he leaves, Charro stabs Emiliano as revenge, but the latter miraculously survives. With a dangerous criminal now roaming freely, the entire city is on high alert, and all the attention is on Emiliano and his family. Relief washes over Daniela when her husband is released on parole, but with his mortal enemy still on the hunt, things are far from hopeful.

As the search for Charro continues, he, along with an accomplice named Dynamite, finds refuge at Tamara’s house. Here, we learn that Tamara is his former partner, with whom he also had an affair. We are also introduced to his daughter, a child named Chelita. However, this family reunion is far from pleasant, as there is enough risk surrounding the gang leader. Still, he makes the risky move of returning home, only to discover Lupe’s relationship with Ulisis. With this, his target changes entirely, and he grows hell bent on getting revenge on the people who conspired to put him in jail. This does not exclude the animosity he already has towards Emiliano, and a multi-pronged battle royale begins to take shape. While Emiliano is initially declared paranoid for amping up his home security, his doubts prove to be correct, as Daniela narrowly avoids being shot to death by Dynamite.

Around the same time, numerous developments take place in the larger family circle, starting with Brenda and Jarvis’ worsening relationship. When she names her newborn child Mateo, after her deceased son, Jarvis claims that she is treating their child as a replacement, which prompts frequent fights between the couple. Elsewhere, Clara finds David’s buried body at last, providing her with closure. Soon, she finds companionship in Fabian, who is struggling to make sense of his daughter, Paula’s claims of talking with Ricardo’s ghost. Alex and Lucia’s relationship also worsens over time, especially when he discovers that his mother is the real culprit in Moncho and Eulogio’s murder case. When Tamara uses a business deal as bait to bring Lupe out into a secluded location, Charro’s real plan comes to fruition, and the stage is set for a climactic confrontation.

The Accident Season 2 Ending: Does El Charro Live or Die? Is Lupe Arrested?

Season 2 of ‘The Accident’ ends with the death of El Charro, who is first shot by Emiliano and then fatally choked by Lupe, bringing an end to the cycle of violence. Although he and Tamara spin the perfect web to trap Lupe and Ulisis, the plan goes south right when he is about to kill both of them. Charro guns down the lawyer with no remorse, but when it comes to killing Lupe, he hesitates on two levels. Not only is he still deeply in love with his wife, but he has also made a promise to Alex not to kill his mother. This hesitation irks Tamara, prompting her to leave early and unintentionally sign Charro’s death warrant, as unbeknownst to them, the police are already on the way. Fearing for his mother’s life, Alex at last calls Daniela, revealing exactly where his father is. From there, Daniela relays that information to Emiliano, unaware that he would become the first to reach the site and bear the brunt of the final showdown.

Just as Emiliano reaches the scene and tries to jump in to save Lupe’s life, he is cornered by Dynamite, who seems ready to kill him then and there. At the same time, Charro steels himself to kill Lupe, but is ambushed by her trusted bodyguard, who starts a shootout as a cover to rescue Lupe and drive her away. This distraction also helps Emiliano gain the upper hand over Dynamite and return to his original mission, exacting vengeance against Charro. Elsewhere, the gang leader engages in a fierce chase-down, toppling the bodyguard’s car and bringing Lupe to death’s door once again. However, Emiliano reaches just in time, redirecting Charro’s attention towards him. Just as both bereaved fathers are poised to shoot each other down, Charro learns that he is out of bullets, and Emiliano seizes the opportunity to shoot his arch-enemy in the chest. However, Charro is not dead just yet, and Emiliano’s reawakened conscience stops him from finishing what he started.

As Emiliano rushes to get help from the police, who are nearby at this point, Lupe is left alone with Charro once again, this time with their roles reversed. Prior to the showdown with Emiliano, Charro declared that Lupe was a toxic influence on the family, and particularly Alex, which seemingly motivated his grim course of action. However, his final moments bring a change in that perspective, as he realizes that this entire time, he has been in a position of control in the family network. As such, his corruption arc has had an equal, if not more harmful, impact on Alex’s psyche, and both husband and wife acknowledge that their roles as perpetuators of a hateful cycle must end with them. With this, she chokes Charro to death, and stands on trial in the double-homicide case, which she framed her husband for. Fittingly, it is Alex who provides the definitive testimony against her, leading to a conviction, as well as a 75-year prison sentence.

Is Lupe Dead? Did Yola Kill Her?

Although Lupe is incarcerated and promises to atone for her crimes, her story doesn’t end there. In the final moments of season 2, Yola is implied to have poisoned Lupe to death, mirroring how Moncho was murdered in the previous season. This contextualizes Yola’s presence in the story thus far, as someone who has secretly and carefully been planning her revenge all this time. Although Yola’s time in the United States is cut short due to an ICE raid, her return ultimately helps bring the truth about Moncho’s death to light. Later, when she pays Lupe a visit in prison, she brings along a chocolate, seemingly to taunt her husband’s killer. While Moncho was killed by a poisoned chocolate, Yola assures Lupe that she is not here to repeat the strategy, only for it to be a lie. Although the identity of Lupe’s murderer is never explicitly confirmed, the narrative juxtaposition of her and Moncho’s deaths strongly points to this being Yola’s grand revenge.

Notably, Lupe’s death also mirrors the other death she orchestrated, that of Eulogio, the hitman. In this case, she used a poisonous apple to finish the job before pinning the entire murder on Charro. Yola is using this modus operandi against her, which churns the cycle of hatred and violence even further, as shown by the aftermath. While she has to escape the city with her children, Alex is likely devastated, having lost both of his parents in a short span of time. The fact that he is possibly in Spain right now makes things worse, as, unlike before, he has nobody to rely on, such as Lucia. Notably, prior to committing murder, Yola also comes very close to figuring out the murder of David, as she realizes that the timeline of the dead body points towards Charro as a possible suspect. Once again, it is Lupe who puts a stop to this amateur investigation, but with her now gone, Yola might unearth even bigger truths about this twisted family saga.

Is Paula Really Talking to Rodrigo’s Ghost?

One of the burning questions from start to finish in ‘An Accident’ season 2 is whether or not Paula is actually talking to Rodrigo’s ghost. While Fabian seems convinced that Paula is hallucinating her dead friend as a trauma response, numerous other factors point to a supernatural twist in the story. The most puzzling detail in this mystery is Paula’s knowledge of Daniela’s tattoo. As the police officer claims that she has told no one about getting inked, it seems likely that Rodrigo is a real ghost who has been observing his mother and communicating with Paula. The fact that she is able to repeat his unique phrases and fact bites also points to this possibility, but the entire scenario can also be chalked up to coincidence. There is a chance that Paula’s hallucinations are driven by her past conversations with Rodrigo, and that her foreknowledge about the tattoo was just a lucky guess, which was confirmed and reinforced by Daniela’s faith.

Much like Daniela, Carla also believes that Paula’s interactions with Rodrigo are not a psychological delusion, but a real spiritual activity. Given the research she is conducting on the subject, it is possible that she and Fabian might uncover a reasonable explanation for the phenomenon. However, its narrative purpose appears to be more in line with how the characters choose to cope with their grief. Inspired by Paula’s claims, Daniela starts to write letters to her son, which is similar to how Emiliano chooses to talk to himself in an affirmative manner. Whether or not these interactions are supernaturally linked to Rodrigo is secondary to the emotional purpose they serve for the characters. In a series built around the families’ lack of honest communication, Daniela and Emiliano’s abstract expressions help bring clarity to their own dynamic, which is healthy regardless of whether Rodrigo is listening in as a ghost.

Who Ends Up Together and Who Doesn’t?

While the sophomore season concludes on a haunting note on one level, it also marks a series of new beginnings on another. Having endured the trauma for over a year, many characters finally gather the courage to take the next step in their lives. The lead characters, Daniela and Emiliano, are the first on this list, as they collectively rekindle their love for each other. While Emiliano moved out of the family house around the halfway point of the season, it is implied that he returns in the end and resumes his career as a lawyer. Daniela, on the other hand, regains her footing as a police officer, having toppled the corrupt chief who engineered Charro’s escape from prison. In the final sequence, we see that both husband and wife have learnt to forgive themselves and grow as a couple, balancing out each other’s shortcomings along the way. For their daughter, Lucia, however, life has other plans.

After an entire season of ups and downs as a couple, Lucia and Alex decide to take a break from the relationship, with the latter moving to Spain. In their final conversation on screen, Alex explains that the loss of his family has left him with a near-uncontrollable psychological turmoil, and the only way he sees of recovering from it is by wiping the slate clean. Although the duo is very much in love with each other, Alex’s decision to temporarily leave Mexico is a step in the right direction, as it gives him the opportunity to heal and figure out his self-identity. Fabian and Carla, on the other hand, conclude the season closer to each other than they have ever been. Having realized the error in his previous misjudgement, Fabian apologizes, inviting Carla to bake a cake with Paula. The couple finding true joy in each other’s company reiterates the story’s larger thematic point, about reconnecting with others in the face of trauma.