Murder in a Small Town Season 2 Finale Explained After Karl’s Proposal

Season 2 of Murder in a Small Town ended on a surprise cliffhanger — so where does the show go from here after that marriage proposal?

In the Tuesday, December 2, episode of the hit Fox series, Karl (Rossif Sutherland) was preparing to ask Cassandra (Kristin Kreuk) an important question — or two. Karl broached the topic of moving in together, while Cassandra questioned whether their relationship required more work.

Karl then took it one step further by asking Cassandra if she would marry him, but the episode ended before anyone got an answer. During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Sutherland, 47, broke down the ending — specifically whether Karl and Cassandra are ready for the next step in their romance.

“I most definitely think they’re ready,” Sutherland explained. “I don’t know exactly what the writers have in store but ultimately with this proposal, obviously Carl wants to marry her. “But there was also a bit of fear and desperation. As in, ‘Please don’t go.’”

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The actor teased Karl’s state of mind at the moment.

“He did just experience the possibility of losing her. She was in harm’s way after having solved this mystery — this crime that Karl had asked Cassandra to stay away from because he thought that she could be in harm’s way,” he noted. “And to be confronted with losing her was so devastating that went that way beyond their disagreements. We may bicker but ultimately he wants to tell the story of his life with her.”

Based on novels written by L.R. Wright, Murder in a Small Town follows a police chief named Karl who — along with the help of others, including his girlfriend, Cassandra — investigates mysterious killings.

“At the end of season 1, they were really, really in love. They were willing to try and I think Carl had already made up his mind. But it was Cassandra and she came around,” Sutherland recalled. “At the end of season 2, there’s been a lot of bickering, a lot of disagreeing but all the while they’re talking. So that’s healthy.”

He continued: “It’s very much the conclusion that this is not going to be some fantasy love story. But this is very real and this is a reality that Karl wants and they’re going to live together. As they’ve been tiptoeing around each other, now they’ll forego all the politeness of you know your space or my space. Now the family really, truly begins.”

Looking ahead at season 3, Sutherland teased which obstacle Karl and Cassandra will face in the future.

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“The obstacle is the truth about their past. Then in order to be truly intimate, the secrets need to be out. Secrets exist sometimes to protect others but I think that Cassandra is going to teach Karl — and she has been teaching him — what it means to be truly in love,” he shared with Us. “They’re discovering this together. But it’s about the opportunity to be there for the other person and for that to happen, then everything needs to be out. So there’s Karl, he has a past he’s never really talked about — and certainly not in depth. There’s the figure of his father — who’s been looming — but we have yet to meet him. We’ve yet to understand what’s gone on.”

Sutherland was excited to see where the story could go from here.

“They’re the themes of the people that we love, growing older and loss. Ultimately, it’s the stuff of life. The whole goal of this show is — and hopefully we do more of this — it represents the extremes of life,” he added. “Karl and Cassandra and the people in their lives, they’re faced with choices. They obviously don’t go to the extremes of somebody committing a crime but those crimes have themes. Those themes are explored within their own lives. So it’s all intertwined. That’s the goal. But it’s funny to play a character where I actually miss him. I root for him.”

Murder in a Small Town is currently streaming on Hulu.