Did ‘The Undoing’ Have a Satisfying Ending? (POLL)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The recap below contains spoilers for The Undoing Season 1, Episode 6, “The Bloody Truth.”]
The problem with a whodunit is that the answer isn’t always as satisfying as the theories that are spun as the story unfolds. If social media is an indication, this is definitely the case for some viewers of HBO’s glossy thriller The Undoing, which follows the lives of New York couple Grace (Nicole Kidman), her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) as their charmed lives on Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side begin to unravel following a brutal murder.
The six-episode limited series from David E. Kelley and Susanne Bier came to a heart-pounding, head-smashing conclusion as the killer of Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis) was finally revealed as Jonathan, the main murder suspect from the first episode on (well, fleeing the day after the murder was pretty damning, for starters). Throughout the show’s run, everyone was a suspect in the audience’s eyes as theories about Elena’s killer ran rampant with each passing episode.
I just feel like all of social media owes Lily Rabe an apology tonight. #TheUndoing pic.twitter.com/TUv3JBrAfy
— Matt (@Matt_Eitelberg) November 30, 2020
HBO has been laughing at all our wild theories for the last 6 weeks and I can’t blame them, it was an excellent mind game. #TheUndoing pic.twitter.com/QE75597IKg
— Leilani Münter (@LeilaniMunter) November 30, 2020
At the end of the day, it would seem that everyone should have listened to Grace’s longtime bestie Sylvia (Lily Rabe), who said early on, “It’s always the f**king husband.”
After various episodes hinting at Jonathan’s potential guilt, some were still taken off guard by the reveal that he was indeed the murderer. Different theories had named Grace, Sylvia, Grace’s father Franklin (Donald Sutherland) and even Grace and Jonathan’s son Henry (Noah Jupe) as possible suspects in Elena’s death.
Overall, one could say The Undoing‘s ending was fairly predictable, with the biggest twist being that Grace turns on her husband in the courtroom, using her position as a witness to speak honestly and openly about his being a sociopath.
The signs of Jonathan’s guilt were there all along. His credibility as an honest man dissolved with the revelation of his affair; his reputation as a non-violent man went up in smoke after he was sent to prison and got in a fight there; and the myth of his empathy and kindness dissolved as stories came out of his cold and ruthless behavior, even as a teen.
(Credit: HBO)
So, did The Undoing even have a satisfying ending? Was the finale worthy of the great twists and turns upon which the thriller was built? Or were you slightly disappointed by the outcome? Let us know in the poll below.
The Undoing, Streaming now, HBO Max
