Is [SPOILER] Leaving ‘Wild Cards’? And Who Was Kidnapped!

On Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 9, titled “Fast Crimes at Ridgemont High,” also the season’s penultimate episode, it was revealed that a major character is leaving the series. 

After a fake stakeout, where Det. Yates dropped plenty of hints about the feeling of abandonment and knowing that someone you’re close to is leaving, she finally confronted Simmons about his departure, stating, “You were just going to slip out like a raccoon at a buffet.”

“When you move, I move,” she told him, expressing that she knows all his passwords. 

Simmon then confirmed the news, explaining, “All right, I’m leaving the precinct. I put in for an undercover task force. Li vouched and I just got clearance. Different city, and I’m gonna need to lay low for a little while.”

Yates took it personally, naturally, especially that he wasn’t going to tell her but “write” her a letter instead, asking, “What is this 1895?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you face-to-face, I’ve always been bad with goodbyes,” Simmons continued, as Yates revealed that she’s happy for him, but work won’t be the same.

Is Michael Xavier Leaving Wild Cards?

That seems to be the case after Yates and Simmons’ heartfelt scene together. 

While there’s no word on why Xavier is exiting the series, US Weekly reported in Nov. 2025 that the actor and his wife, Bria Murphy, daughter of Hollywood star Eddie Murphy, are expecting their first child together. 

Admittedly, Xavier’s exit is a loss for Wild Cards, though it’s not entirely surprising he’d want to move on. The series never fully developed his character, nor did it give him and Yates much to do. More often than not, they were sidelined from the central cases, reduced to a background presence with only brief moments to stand out, usually to insert a joke at Yates’ expense. Does Simmons even have a first name? Exactly.

It’s not clear if this was his final scene or if he’ll finish out the season. 

Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 9 Sets the Scene for the Season Finale

 There were a few things that happened throughout Wild Cards Season 3 Episode 9 that set the groundwork for the season finale, including the big planned heist that’s on the horizon.

The ‘Mole’ Mentions

The episode found Cole Ellis returning to his roots for his high school reunion. It’s immediately clear that he wasn’t the popular guy. He seemingly had no friends, and everyone he went to school with was cruel to him, so why he even attended the reunion is beyond me. But he did, and he brought Jessica with him, which Max’s mother assures is a personal declaration. She tells Max that Ellis is opening up the vault for Jessica, and pushing her out—and it gets in her head. It’s becoming harder for Max to downplay her feelings for Ellis as she sees him kissing and hugging Jessica, which should have been her if her mom hadn’t messed up her plans. 

Anyway, the case of the week isn’t as important in my opinion as the fact that the bullies keep calling Cole Ellis the “mole,” for reasons unknown. Jessica takes a lot of interest in the nickname, which honestly seems like a bit of a tell to me, considering many fans think she’s the mole that can’t be trusted. Only time will tell, but there’s just something off about her. She’s been kind of an empty plot point, not even stirring up any friction between the two leads, which has to be for a reason, right? The payoff isn’t there otherwise. 

George’s Parole Officer/Trapped in the Prison

I’ve mentioned that I think George’s parole officer is connected to or working for Varga, and while they shared a heartfelt moment with their final session, suggesting that they’d like to keep in touch, the officer knew that it was George’s final day mentoring the inmates when they went into lockdown. Before the episode ended, it was said that the whole block was getting moved, but it didn’t show George leaving the prison, so it got me thinking that either Varga wants George away from the heist or Varga’s guy is protecting him from it. Either way, the timing of it was incredibly strange. 

Vivienne Wants to Make a Run for It

Then there’s Vivienne’s decision to run away instead of going through with the plan because there are “too many variables.” It leads to a very emotionally honest conversation between Max and her mother, which, honestly, should’ve happened way sooner in the series for us to even care about Vivienne or take her seriously, but it’s also strange because not once does Vivienne mention running away and bringing Ricky or George. It’s almost as if she didn’t think about them. She mentioned leaving as a family, but it seems to have referred to her and Max mostly.

Many theories suggest she’s Varga, so having George locked away means he wouldn’t arrive on time for them to leave. 

And then, there’s Max’s kidnapping, which could be at the hands of Varga or it could be at the hands of her mother, who may or may not be Varga. 

Vivienne’s “death” and her big fight with Max from years ago parallels their big fight now and Max’s kidnapping. It’s possible that Vivianne also thought Max wouldn’t go for her plan to run away, so she staged a kidnapping. 

Or this is Varga giving them an extra incentive and motivation to successfully pull off the heist. 

It’s also possible that Vivienne is getting attached to her family again, while all she wanted was to con them and have them take the fault, and wants to run away so they don’t realize she’s working with Varga. The possibilities are endless, but one thing’s for sure–that woman is not to be trusted.

We didn’t dig into her character at all this season—heck, even Max’s “I hate you” admission barely scratches the surface, which, again, has to be intentional. Vivienne’s return should’ve been explored in several storylines this season, giving Max so much to work with and through, and deepening audiences’ understanding of who she is and how she got her, but the mother-returns-from-the-dead dynamic was just sidelined.

If it’s not intentional, it’s just sloppy and bad storytelling.

Keeping her character vague and surface may allow them to manipulate her in any way that is needed for the finale, though overwhelmingly, it’s been a wasted opportunity to provide any emotional depth or character building for everyone affected by her return.

The heist 

Either way, there are a lot of variables at play when it comes to this heist, and Vivienne has continued to put them in danger and cause them heartache.

She doesn’t even care that Max doesn’t want to run away because she’s created a life for herself that she likes with people that she considers friends and family.

It’s only natural that Ellis is going to be looped in to locate Max, seemingly pulling him into the dangerous plot. 

But no matter what happens, it seems that fans want the finale to end with Ellis coming to Max’s rescue and the two finally admitting their feelings for one another. 

Fans seem to agree that this was the strongest episode this season—one that felt like the first two seasons of Wild Cards, which is a shame since it’s also the last one. Maybe it’ll give writers something to tinker on before getting started with season 4! 

Read next: ‘Wild Cards’ Season 3 Made One Big Misstep With Ellis and Max