Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Panic season 1!
Jimmy Cortez (David De La Barcena) was revealed to have died playing the game at the center of Panic, but a surprising figure was the actual cause of his death. At the start of Amazon’s adaptation of Lauren Oliver’s YA novel, Jimmy and his girlfriend, Abby Clark (Avianna Mynhier), were revealed to be players from the previous year’s game who died participating in separate challenges. During graduation, their memorialized photos were used as a warning and cautionary tale for those interested in partaking in the new game. The fact that Jimmy was the son of Sheriff James Cortez (Enrique Murciano) also gave the police more motivation to stop the annual tradition.
Season 1 primarily focused on the current players from the graduating class participating in Panic for the record-breaking $50,000 prize. Among the notable players were central figure Heather Nill (Olivia), her best friend, Natalie Williams (Jessica Sula), and the two toughest male competitors, Dodge Mason (Mike Faist), and Ray Hall (Ray Nicholson). While playing the fear-inducing game full of dangerous challenges, the players and viewers were constantly reminded about Jimmy and Abby’s deaths the previous year. Whereas Abby was killed crossing a highway blindfolded as part of the game, Jimmy died during a Panic challenge featuring Russian roulette.
Though Panic is meant to elicit strong reactions and emotions, the challenges were never meant to kill anyone. The notion brought up the mystery surrounding Jimmy’s death, considering the revolver used in the game was meant to be a fake prop gun. However, the fake gun was switched out with a real gun, leading to Jimmy’s death shortly after losing his girlfriend to the same game. It was later revealed Jimmy died by suicide because he was the one who switched out the guns. His mother confirmed the twist to Sgt. Christine Langley (Lee Eddy), claiming Jimmy was the only other person in the house with a code to the gun safe, allowing him to switch the guns. Interestingly, someone else drove Jimmy to take his own life.
Another major Panic twist centered on the fact Sheriff Cortez was gambling on the current game. He did the same the previous year’s game, betting on his son, Jimmy, and manipulating challenges in the teen’s favor. In order to help Jimmy win, Cortez attempted to get other players out of the game, including Abby. Cortez knew his son’s girlfriend was pregnant and had an abortion, so he used that knowledge to send her notes to blackmail her. Somehow, those notes led to Abby’s death during the Panic blindfold challenge, either by messing her head and convincing her to take her own life.
Jimmy eventually found out about his father’s gambling and meddling in the game, including the notes sent to Abby. Upon losing his girlfriend and trust in his father, Jimmy killed himself. He wore his father’s old football jacket with a picture inside the pocket, so Cortez knew he was the driving force behind the suicide. Even though Jimmy pulled the trigger, Cortez emerged as the one to blame for the deaths of Jimmy and Abby.
These actions led to Cortez’s own demise after his wife, Melanie (Moira Kelly), found out the truth by the end of Panic season 1. If it hadn’t been for Melanie, the rest of the cops in Carp were hot on his trail after uncovering the truth about Jimmy and Abby. Ironically, even if Jimmy completed the Russian roulette challenge unscathed, he wouldn’t have helped Cortez pay off his debts. Jimmy was secretly a judge, meaning he couldn’t win the game, and therefore, Cortez wouldn’t have won from his gambling.
