Maxton Hall Season 2 Finale Review: Did One Misleading Photo Derail Ruby’s Future?

Season 2 of Maxton Hall spent a few episodes laying track: slow burn tension, messier relationships, family business power plays, and the fallout from Cordelia's death hanging over everyone. By the midpoint, it finally started punching harder. James and Ruby kept inching closer despite a thousand tripwires, Sutton made choices that lit fires, Lydia made choices that split the room, and Mortimer hovered like a storm cloud. Episode 6 takes all of that and slams it into one rough finale.

The photo that lights the match

The hour opens with Lexington on a tense call about a single photograph that could wreck Ruby's future. It's the kind of careless, misleading image that spirals out fast and far beyond what anyone planned.

James, Cyril, and the meeting he skips

James bails on his dad's shareholders meeting to play lacrosse with Cyril. They lose at the last second, Cyril goes at Ruby (again), and James finally shuts it down and backs her up. It's overdue, and it matters, but the damage around them is already spreading.

Corporate drama: investors, wills, and one very smug patriarch

On the money side, Harold (Elaine's father) yanks his investment from the family company because of how Mortimer has been running things. It's a rare moment of someone choosing principle over profit in this world, and it lands.

Mortimer, for his part, keeps pinning everything on Ruby. Subtlety is not his thing.

Then comes the big swing: the will reading after Cordelia's death. Lydia and Sutton walk in expecting at least a piece of something. Instead, Mortimer inherits everything. Lydia and the kids are blindsided, furious, and already talking about contesting it. None of that feels even remotely fair to the younger ones caught in the middle.

Ruby's scholarship fight turns brutal

Back home after the match, Ruby finds out her mother's bakery has been sold and her mom is out of a job. Mortimer's fingerprints are everywhere. Even so, Ruby keeps her eyes on the scholarship she's been grinding for.

James goes straight to Alice Campbell about the scholarship mess and lays it out: Ruby deserves the shot. He stands up for her and actually says the quiet part out loud about her courage. It's one of his better moments.

Lydia and Sutton push a boundary (and then some)

Lydia decides to keep the babies, which comes with real legal and ethical alarms given her situation with Sutton. And then Sutton has his 'in love with a student' moment during a council meeting. It's queasy, it reads poorly, and while the show clearly wants to provoke, this thread is going to be a hard sell for a lot of viewers.

The ending: expulsions, arrests, and one hug that can't fix it

Right as Ruby is about to sit her scholarship exam, the hammer drops: she's expelled. Sutton is arrested. Lydia is left feeling abandoned. Ruby and James have a quiet hug, but it can't touch the scale of what just hit her. Mortimer's machinations have turned everything into chaos, and the episode rolls credits with everyone (including us) not sure what the fallout looks like.

Should you watch the finale?

Yes, with caveats. Performances are strong, pacing is tight, and the emotional tension is high. Ruby remains the person you root for, and James' growth actually sticks this time. The Lydia/Sutton storyline is intentionally provocative but also uncomfortable and potentially off-putting, especially for younger viewers.

What I'm still thinking about

• Does Ruby find a way back after that expulsion gut punch?
• Does anyone finally hold Mortimer accountable for the damage he's doing?
• Where do Lydia and Sutton even go from here?

If you've been tracking the season, Episode 6 is the payoff for all that slow setup: photos with consequences, boardroom knives out, family betrayals, and a heroine getting bulldozed at the worst possible moment. It's not subtle, but it is effective.

Maxton Hall Season 2 Episode 6 is streaming on Prime Video.