Here’s what matters. Laurel Gates isn’t a background character. She’s the key that ties the old wounds of the town to the chaos breaking loose at Nevermore. And the deeper you look, the easier it is to see why her reveal hit so hard.
How Laurel Gates Fits Into the Heart of the Story
For most of the season, the story hints at a ghost from Jericho’s past. The Gates family especially Garrett Gates is treated like a closed chapter, something buried decades earlier. But the truth is never that tidy.
Laurel Gates was believed dead. Her drowning was accepted without question, and the town moved on. That lie became the perfect cover. While everyone mourned the memory of a lost daughter, the real Laurel slipped back into Jericho with a new name, a new face, and a new purpose.
She didn’t return to grieve. She returned to finish what her family started.
Behind the polite smile of “Ms. Marilyn Thornhill,” she hides a controlled patience that never cracks. Watching her scenes again with this in mind, you can almost see the truth flicker in her eyes.
Why Laurel Gates Wanted Revenge
This part sits heavy. Laurel wasn’t chasing chaos for fun. She was chasing what she saw as justice.
Her family died because of their hatred of outcasts. That hatred shaped her childhood. Losing them didn’t soften her views it hardened them. Instead of letting grief fade, she turned it into fuel.
Her plan was simple but chilling:
- revive an old war between Jericho and Nevermore
- use an ancient ritual and the Hyde to wipe out the school
- avenge Garrett, Ansel, and the entire Gates legacy
She didn’t want peace. She wanted payback.
And she spent years playing the long game to make it happen.
Who Controlled the Hyde?
This question drove most of Wednesday’s investigations, and Laurel was always right there smiling, offering tea, asking innocent questions.
The answer never changed. It just hid under a different name.
Laurel Gates was the one controlling the Hyde.
She unlocked Tyler’s transformation through manipulation, trauma triggers, and emotional pressure. The Hyde isn’t born; it’s activated. Laurel knew exactly how to do that, and she used Tyler as a weapon.
While Tyler struggled with identity and pain he didn’t understand, she guided him quietly into becoming something he could never fully control.
That’s the power Laurel held. She didn’t need to force him physically. She broke his emotional defenses until the monster answered to her.
What Laurel Did to Tyler
Here’s where the truth gets uncomfortable. Tyler wasn’t a villain in his own right not entirely. Laurel shaped him.
She:
- recognized his Hyde potential before he did
- exploited his grief over his mother’s death
- manipulated his trust
- triggered the Hyde through conditioning
- praised the monster but never the boy
Tyler thought he was gaining control. Laurel was the one pulling the strings.
Every attack, every body discovered in the woods, every chaotic moment those events didn’t come from Tyler alone. They came from the partnership she forced him into.
That dynamic predator and prey wrapped in one alliance turns their storyline into one of the darkest threads in the series.
Was Dr. Kinbott Laurel Gates?
This rumor circled fast after the show aired. And it’s easy to see why.
Dr. Valerie Kinbott seemed kind. She cared about Wednesday’s mental health. She tried to help Tyler work through his trauma. But her sudden death jolted everything.
To be clear:
Dr. Kinbott was not Laurel Gates.
Laurel used the confusion around Kinbott’s profession and sudden death to her advantage, slipping deeper into her Thornhill disguise without suspicion. The confusion helped her. The shock protected her.
The real Laurel was never the therapist.
She was the teacher.
She was the mentor figure.
She was the person Wednesday tried to trust.
The Reveal That Changed Everything
When the truth breaks open, it hits with the weight of everything she’s been quietly orchestrating:
- the resurrection ritual
- the murders
- the framing
- the manipulation
- the emotional damage
- the twist around the Gates family history
It all leads back to her.
Laurel Gates is the kind of villain who hides her fire under soft speech and warm color palettes. She doesn’t roar. She whispers. And somehow, that’s more frightening.
The moment Wednesday confronts her, you see the two sides of Laurel merge the masked teacher and the woman burning with vengeance. That’s the transformation that makes her one of the most memorable villains of the season.
Why Laurel Gates Stays With You After the Season Ends
What lingers is the way she blends grief, legacy, and obsession into one controlled storm. She’s not a monster from mythology. She’s a person who let hate remake her.
And that’s why she stands out.
She embodies the show’s deeper message: the real danger doesn’t come from creatures born different. It comes from the people who refuse to let go of old wounds.
Laurel Gates is the past refusing to stay buried and the future forced to deal with the fallout.
Jessica Savitch, with a deep passion for journalism, brings her expertise to istruestory.com as a dedicated author. MA in Arts & Journalism.