Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning includes many returning characters from the franchise, but one received an arc that I never expected. Final Reckoning tells its own story but is also a love letter to the entire eight-movie series. It includes several connections to past films, including a link between the villainous AI The Enтιтy and The Rabbit’s Foot, which Ethan Hunt steals in Mission: Impossible 3. Another scene features several government officials discussing Hunt’s history with the IMF, recounting many of his most scandalous moments.

It also links back to the original 1996 Mission: Impossible, bringing the whole series together. In one scene, it’s revealed that U.S. intelligence agent Jasper Briggs is the son of Jon Voight’s Jim Phelps, the former IMF member who betrayed Ethan in the first film. Another surprise is the return of William Donloe, the CIA analyst who oversaw the vault that Ethan stole from during the iconic hanging wire heist. Donloe has a surprisingly prominent role in The Final Reckoning, and I wasn’t expecting the film to give him a well-handled redemption arc.

William Donloe Is One Of The Final Reckoning’s Best Characters

Donloe Is Connected To The Film’s Most Famous Sequence

Donloe is not somebody most people will remember from the original film. He has a small role as the CIA analyst who acts as the gatekeeper for the Non-Official Cover list, which contains all the idenтιтies of the CIA’s undercover agents in Europe. Ethan steals this list in arguably the film’s most memorable and suspenseful sequence, where he hangs from a wire, managing to steal the list without anything hitting the ground. When Donloe returned, the only thing remaining was a knife, stabbed onto the table.

Final Reckoning reveals the fallout of Ethan’s actions. Donloe’s reputation at the CIA was destroyed, and the agency shipped him off to an Alaskan substation, where the crew met him to find the Russian submarine Sevastopol, which contains the Enтιтy’s source code. Donloe isn’t just a cheap cameo, as he joins the team on their next journey to the doomsday bunker, where he becomes an integral part of the team by safely detonating a bomb. He may have had a forgettable role in the first film, but he became one of the team’s MVPs.

Mission: Impossible Easily Could’ve Wasted William Donloe’s Franchise Return

Final Reckoning Avoided Using Dunloe As A Cheap Cameo

Many legacy sequels struggle to use returning characters correctly. They’re often used as cheap cameos or are brought back into vastly different life situations from where they were last seen. For example, in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Han Solo and Leia are split up, and Luke Skywalker abandons the Jedi Order. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is another victim of this trope, as Indy is alone after Marion left him and his son, Mutt, died. Final Reckoning delivers a nice twist on this trend by making the audience think Donloe is miserable, but it’s actually not the case.

While Ethan thinks he ruined Donloe’s life, he tells the protagonist that stealing the NOC list was the best thing that could have happened to him. He found a permanent home in Alaska and met his wife, who is another surprisingly helpful team member. He isn’t used sparingly like other returning characters are, and he’s at a good place in his life. It’s nice to see a legacy character who had a great life, rather than one who’s left miserable from everything going wrong.

I Never Imagined William Donloe Would Be So Important To Ethan Hunt’s Final Story

Donloe Isn’t Collateral Damage From Ethan’s Past Missions

Final Reckoning is the finale of the Mission: Impossible series, but it also serves as a reflection of Ethan’s deeds and how he’s impacted the world. Other characters often hold a figurative mirror to Ethan, showing him the consequences of his mistakes, despite all the good he has done by repeatedly saving the world. Amid his failures coming back to haunt him, Donloe represents how Ethan’s actions have positively impacted others. While incidental, if Ethan hadn’t stolen the NOC, Donloe wouldn’t have met his wife and found happiness.

Donloe becomes an important part of the team in this film, creating a cycle that goes back to the first film. It’s somewhat poetic that one of Ethan’s greatest ᴀssets came in the form of someone he initially exploited. Many people like Briggs and Eugene Kittridge despise Ethan for always causing messes they have to clean up, but he’s still one of the most reliable heroes in the world and Final Reckoning shows why the world needs him.