When it comes to TV events that get absolutely everybody talking, it’s hard to see anything topping Adolescence any time soon.,
The captivating Netflix four-parter – co-written by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne – tells the story of a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller, arrested on suspicion of killing a girl at his school. It is a staggering piece of work. Not only for the acting, particularly the debut performance from 15-year old Owen Cooper, but also for the show’s examination of toxic online spaces and the effect they have on teenagers.
One of the most impressive feats of the series is the fact that each hour-long episode is shot in a single take, making it all feel so much more immediate and urgent. Adolescence has shot to the top of Netflix’s most-watched Top 10 series, has been trending on social media all weekend long, and has enjoyed heaps of critical acclaim as well, resulting in a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time of writing).
As the final episode streams, we see the problems Jamie’s family face as they try to carry on with their lives in a community where they have become outcasts. So what happens at the end and what does it imply will happen in the future? Let’s get into it:
‘Black Bag’: Soderbergh’s Sublime Spy ThrillerThe backstory
Episode four – the final entry into the series – takes place 13 months after the events of the preceding three episodes. It also marks the 50th birthday of Jamie’s dad, Eddie. The family are trying to make it as normal a day as possible. Eddie’s wife, Manda, is cooking a special fry-up breakfast, and their daughter Lisa is helping to celebrate, too.
However, all their best laid plans are dashed when someone spray paints Eddie’s van with the word “nonse”. The weary, matter-of-fact tone Manda and Lisa adopt in telling the police suggests that things like this have obviously become a regular occurrence for the family. Even a trip to the local hardware store trips them up further: a member of staff starts to furtively tell Eddie that a radical online group believe that Jamie is not guilty of murder – we’ve long established he definitely is – and that he’d be able to crowdfund a lawyer to get him off. After they leave Eddie confronts the boys who tagged his van and flies off the handle.
The journey to the store – forced as it may have been – had been jolly, playing music and reminiscing about funny stories about Eddie and Manda at school. The silent trip home in a paint-splattered van speaks volumes about how the family aren’t able to escape the situation they’re in, no matter how hard they try. Then, there’s an incoming phone-call on hands-free: it’s Jamie, calling from prison.
‘1923’ Episode 4 Answers Those Cliff-HangersJamie’s plea change
After wishing his dad a happy birthday, he tells him that he’s decided to change his plea to “guilty”. This means that after more than a year of denying killing Katie, he’s finally come to a place where he’s willing to admit his crime and begin to take responsibility for it. It’s a double-edged sword for his parents, as they know this will likely condemn him to a life sentence, if not more, in jail. But then, this is presumably his first step towards rehabilitation, and is a signal that Jamie is growing and changing for the better.
It’s another sucker-punch to his parents though, on another stressful day in their new reality. Both Manda and Eddie break down, and start to question where they failed as parents. They talk of how they’ve both struggled to accept how their young son became a cold-blooded killer, all under their roof. Eddie is left alone in Jamie’s bedroom, and after apologising to his teddy bear, starts to sob uncontrollably, howling into the pillow. You’re unlikely to watch a more gut-wrenchingly sorrowful scene on TV all year, thanks to the masterful Graham.
In a conversation with Netflix, Graham explained how the final scene reflected the opening scene, which took place in Jamie’s bedroom: “We knew that we wanted to end it in that room. We wanted the journey to finish where it began”.
“I should have done better,” are Eddie’s last, heart-breaking words in the series – but this is also the room where Jamie locked himself away, on the computer until the early hours of each morning, immersing himself in online propaganda. All this, amongst other factors, led him to his heinous act of killing Katie. “This is where the person who Jamie became was created,” Graham added.
Director Philip Barantini revealed to Netflix that initially Eddie was meant to get into Jamie’s bed and pull the duvet over himself, but instead they went with him apologising to the bear. “We rehearsed it, and it was great,” he said. “But I just felt like there’s something about him tucking in Jamie’s teddy. This is the only thing that Eddie’s got that he can touch — that’s malleable, that Jamie’s cuddled, and Jamie’s been with. And then Stephen made it his own.”
Barantini also revealed that to really push Graham over the edge for the final scene, Graham’s wife Hannah Walters – who co-produced Adolescence, and starred in it as a teacher – and their children had stuck photos of themselves them in the wardrobe in Jamie’s bedroom set, along with the message: “We love you. We’re so proud of you.” While the viewer can’t see these on screen, Graham said they “got me to the core”.
Barantini added: “If you watch the scene closely, he looks over to the right-hand side, and he spots the pictures and the notes. It broke him open.”
Inside the Making of ‘Dope Thief’What’s the secret meaning behind the final song in Adolescence?
As the final scene fades, the song Through the Eyes of a Child, originally sung by Aurora, is heard. The singer in the series is actually Emilia Holliday who played Katie, the girl who Jamie stabbed to death. Barantini told Netflix Tudum: “I couldn’t stop thinking about [the song]. It’s just absolutely incredible. The voice in the score is Katie’s voice. Katie is a part of the whole series. Her presence is always there.”
Will there be an Adolescence 2?
Adolescence is currently labelled as a limited series on Netflix, meaning it’s unlikely there will be a second series. It’s also likely the creators have produced it as a standalone series; but while a second season could follow Jamie’s trial or, like an anthology series, switch to a completely different storyline with new issues and themes, nothing has been announced yet.
