What really happened in that confronting The End of the F**king World scene.

*Content warning: This post definitely contains spoilers for The End of the F**king World. 

It’s pretty clear from the outset of the dark teen comedy, The End of the F**king World, that it won’t have a happy ending.

And it definitely doesn’t.

In the final scene, while running from the cops on the beach, James says: “I’ve just turned 18 and I think I understand what people mean to each other.”

We then hear a gunshot and the screen fades to black.

LISTEN: The Binge host Laura Brodnik explains that brutal final scene and how we fell in love with the anti-heroes of The End of the F**king World.

That’s all we get.

While the ending feels dark and absolute, it’s also not entirely clear, leaving fans with a few unanswered questions.

Does James die? If he dies, what happens to Alyssa? Or do both James and Alyssa get captured by the police and charged for their laundry list of crimes? Or is there a possibility that the Bonnie and Clyde-esque lovers actually escape and start a new life together?

While we’ll probably never get answers in the form of a second season, there are a few clues in the series that hint at the outcome.

Firstly, the title.

It’s called the end of the f**king world and while the whole world doesn’t end, the final scene does represent an ending – either the end of James’ life or, at the very least, the end of James and Alyssa’s time together.

Secondly, there’s a subtle change in James’ voice-over.

Throughout the series, James’ inner monologue guides us through the action in past tense, as though he’s telling us about a bunch of stuff that has already happened.

In the final scene, however, he switches to present tense.

“I’ve just turned 18 and I think I understand what people mean to each other.”

This hints at the fact he’s narrating the scene as it’s happening, and then as the gunshot rings out, his narration ends… as his life ends.

If you piece all this together it seems pretty likely that James was shot and killed by the cops on the beach, ending his story line.

LISTEN: The Binge discusses Netflix’s brand new dark teen comedy that’s been called the new 13 Reasons Why. Post continues after audio…

But even if this is true, there’s still a bunch of burning questions we may never get answers to.

Like what happens to Alyssa after James’ death? Surely she would be charged for her role in their crime spree? Will the serial killer (the one James and Alyssa inadvertently kill) finally be exposed? Is Eunice (one half of the all female cop duo) OK? Will she and Teri (the other half) rekindle whatever spark they had going on there? And will Alyssa’s mum ever divorce her dirtbag husband and actually concentrate on being a good mum?

While we may never have definitive answers to these questions, we’ll always have, erm, a four day murderous road trip we can watch over and over again.

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