A Man on the Inside season 2: Who is the guilty culprit?

The Good Place might be gone, but creator Michael Schur knows that he’s onto a good thing with his follow-up show, A Man on the Inside. Season one was a delight, transforming Ted Danson’s retiree into a bumbling PI on the hunt for a missing necklace in an old folk’s home. 

Season two switches things up with a new case that takes Charles Nieuwendyk to his daughter’s alma mater where a laptop has been stolen. The permanently frazzled provost Holly Bodgemark (Jill Talley) calls him and Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) in because the laptop belongs to Wheeler College president Jack Beringer (Max Greenfield) — and the secrets locked inside could turn out to be disastrous for everyone on campus. 

As the investigation unfolds, Charles strikes up a relationship with wild child Mona Margadoff (played by his real-life wife, Mary Steenburgen) while figuring out who has it in for Beringer and executive Brad Vinick (Gary Cole) whose sizable donation to Wheeler comes at a price. Along the way, Julie reconciles with her pickpocket mother and Charles drunkenly drives a scooter off a bridge. 

But how does everything shake out? Does Charles figure out who’s behind the theft? And while we’re at it, who burned that picture of Vinick at the Wheeler ceremony in episode one? You’ve come to the right place, because I’m your man on the inside of A Man on the Inside and I’ve got all the answers you’re looking for. 

A Man on the Inside season 2: Who is the guilty culprit?

In the penultimate episode, Charles and the gang successfully managed to nab Vinick’s phone on which they discovered plans for Project Aurora. 

With the influence his wealthy donation gives him, Vinick plans to tear down Wheeler as we know it, firing most of the staff while cutting the humanities curriculum completely. In its place would be a new school designed to churn out billionaires in the first of many franchised offshoots. Because lord knows the world needs more billionaires. 

That means pretty much everyone on campus has something to lose if Project Aurora comes to fruition. Well, except the guy who teaches ‘How To Become A Billionaire 101’. Yet even with so many suspects to choose from, Charles thinks he’s cracked the case. 

The final episode of season two opens with him and Julie breaking it all down with one finger pointed squarely at Beringer. Good, because he’s annoying. Holly notes, however, that Beringer is the one who put the whole Vinick donation together in the first place. So why would he sabotage it?

Planning to leave Wheeler for a better paying job at Rycliffe University in Texas, Beringer stole his own laptop and sent the blackmail email to buy some time. If Vinick’s Aurora plan went through too quickly, everyone would know he was involved and revolt, which wouldn’t look too good for his new employers. Hiring Charles and Julie might slow Vinick down long enough for him to make his getaway before shit hit the fan. 

Beringer denies it though, and you know what? Charles is wrong because that’s when English Lit professor Dr. Cole (David Strathairn) bursts in with all the drama of a Bronte novel and declares he was the culprit all along. 

Cole claims to have overheard Vinick discussing the Aurora plan with Beringer. He’s the one who stole the laptop looking for clues, he’s the one who created the “Guardian” account to send threatening emails, and he’s also the one who burnt Vinick’s painting to scare him off from taking over Wheeler. He would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling kids. And by “meddling kids,” I mean Cole because he gave himself up.  

To prove he’s the culprit, Cole hands over the missing laptop and the fountain pen with the chipped nib that was used to write the ransom note. Holly looks sad, suspiciously so. Does she just have the hots for Cole — even obnoxious professors deserve love — or is there something else going on here? Hmmm. If only the episode would run for another 30 minutes or so to reveal the truth behind this so-called “truth”reveal”…

Cole resigns and Holly tells Vinick that the board rejected his donation after he misled them about his future plans for Wheeler. “Why am I the only good person in the world?” he shouts angrily before kicking a bin nearby, an innocent bin that had done nothing wrong.

Holly wonders if either Charles or Julie might have a rich, sickly aunt who can help Wheeler out now that the school’s probably going to go under. Unfortunately, their aunts are either dead or alive and well, so that plan doesn’t pan out. 

Charles is miffed because he didn’t solve the case, not exactly, but a win’s a win, right? And the case is definitely closed with no surprise twists yet to come still… RIGHT!?!

Julie’s mum is breaking up with Apollo (Jason Mantzoukas), which is a godsend because he wanted her to be the mother of his child at the age of 67. He also got arrested for competing in a dog show at one point, but that’s neither here nor there.   

Charles’s friend Calbert (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is doing much better after the hip surgery, and he’s even bagged himself a date in the hospital with a saucy woman named Joy. She did already get him in bed, half-naked, which is essentially “fourth date stuff” at this point. You know what? Good for her.

With the case wrapped up, Charles invites Mona on a weekend trip away somewhere like Carmel or Monterey. “I have a better idea,” she replies. “We’re moving to Croatia for a year.”

The hot ones are always crazy, it’s true. But she’s hot, so Charles gives in and agrees to move to Zagreb with Mona… for all of ten seconds before his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) helps him see a relationship can’t work because of “decisions made out of desperation.” She’s really getting in the practice for that counselling job she wants later down the line. 

Just as fast as Mona sprung the Croatia news on Charles, he in turn reveals that he can’t leave right now, that he loves the life he’s built over the past few years. It’s probably for the best, because we can’t stand Mona doing yet another name drop after that last Santana one. We get it. You were a one-hit wonder in the 70s!

The pair resolve to be friends moving forward, and Charles then finds some comfort with his actual friend Calbert. Julie’s also getting pretty comfortable with her mum these days, which is huge for the pair after that blowout at Thanksgiving. Never mind the dumb joke they make about Kristen Bell and The Good Place while watching her Veronica Mars show. 

After, Julie surprises Charles with a party to celebrate him finally becoming an official private investigator with a license and everything. “Before working here, I spent a lot of time alone,” says Charles. “My life got a whole lot richer when I got out into the world, connecting with people I care about. So thank you.”

No, I’m pretty sure you’re crying. Not me. 

While Charles practices flipping open his license like a spy — so adorable — Didi (Stephanie Beatriz) asks Julie why she invited her to the party. It’s not like the Pacific View Retirement boss got to do an awful lot this season. Well, it turns out that Didi hired Julie to do those background checks before because she’s into Julie and felt that “maybe there was a vibe there.”

Didi wasn’t wrong, it turns out, because Julie is keen. And so begins a new love story that we absolutely need to see more of if and when season three is confirmed. 

Everything’s wrapped up by now, surely? Yet with only a few minutes left to go in this episode, Charles visits his daughter Emily at Wheeler where she now works. Talk of the wonderful community that’s been built there sparks something inside of Charles. And just like that, he’s figured out who the real real culprit is behind everything that’s happened this season.

Yep, Cole took the fall for Holly, which might have been a more shocking reveal had the camera not lingered on her sad face at the start when he gave his speech. 

Charles surmises, quite accurately, that Holly overheard Vinick explain the ramifications of Project Aurora to Beringer. What started out as a one-woman crusade to stop him destroying Wheeler became a far larger endeavour with Holly at the centre of it all as the ringleader.

The proof is in the NDA Holly signed the first day she walked into the office. Yep, the pen she used had the same distinctive chipped nib that was used to write the warning note. Charles doesn’t plan to expose Holly though. “Wheeler lost 400 million dollars and one of its best professors. There’s no reason to lose you too.” 

It was Holly who stole the laptop and sent that email. It was Holly who convinced Beringer to hire private investigators they could keep tabs on instead of the police. And it was Holly who recruited Betsy when she was getting ready to burn Vinick’s painting after he teased destroying the art department. That’s why Betsy pretended that she was a fan of Vinick earlier, to throw Charles off the scent.

“The resistance” started with them two but quickly expanded into an entire team trying to take down Vinick, all while keeping an eye on Charles. Mona was never involved though “because you bonded so quickly.” That was probably for the best, to be fair.

Cole eventually caught on when he realised Holly was having ten secret meetings a week and didn’t invite him to any of them. All he did was ask where the evidence had been kept so he could then turn himself in and save Holly, an obvious suspect after Beringer. 

Holly feels bad because the prickly ol’ bastard lived alone with no family. Wheeler was all he had… Shocker. 

Charles urges Holly to keep the truth secret though, pointing out that the ensuing scandal would undo everything they had worked towards. “The best way for you to say thank you is to stay here and keep Wheeler safe.”

Charles then visits Cole at his house. The pair exchange (un)pleasantries and then Charles asks the Professor to hand-deliver a note to someone in person. Cole shows up at Pacific View with a note for Didi that reads: “Didi please take care of Ben. He’s a very stubborn professor and he needs your help. Charles.”

Didi asks Cole if he could help refurbish their library and stay for happy hour, because she’s a kind person and doesn’t know what an ass Cole can be. 

A mid-credits scene reveals Cole has joined the book club at Pacific Heights where he complains about this week’s choice, The Hunt for Red October, before admitting that it’s actually quite “a ripping yarn.” Charles is there too and Cole questions why. Plus there’s some thirst for Jack Ryan.

And there you have it. The case is closed for another season. The only question that remains is when will Netflix announce that Charles and the gang are coming back for a third season? It’s taking so long that I might end up in a retirement home myself by the time new episodes are confirmed. And lord knows you can never have too much of Ted Danson in yourself.