Netflix's 'Obsession' Ending, Explained
Obsession on Netflix is the new streamy drama that everyone is talking about, centred around successful surgeon William (played by Richard Armitage), who begins an affair with his son's fiancée Anna (played by Charlie Murphy). What unfolds is an erotic story of lust, desire and BDSM. But how does Obsession end? Here's a detailed explainer of the four-episode series' finale.
* Warning: spoilers ahead *
Netflix's Obsession ending explained
The final episode of Obsession ends with William leaving his son Jay's stag do, after telling him 'you know, none of us really know what's going to happen. Maybe we just all need to love the questions' at the bar - something which Anna had said to him previously.
Jay follows his father, and finds him heading towards Anna's friend Peggy's flat. In the apartment, Anna and William are engaging in bondage play, with her seen in an open silk robe with an eye mask on, while William ties her arms behind her back. Jay calls his mum but struggles to speak.
We then see Jay walk in on William and Anna having sex, before staggering out of the apartment due to the shock, and falling over the bannister to his death. The camera then cuts to his body at the bottom of the flight of stairs, with a naked William running down to cradle his son. Anna then walks past them fully clothed, out of the building.
The scene then cuts to William and Ingrid at home, before Jay's funeral. While Anna doesn't show, her mum does. 'Where's Anna?' William asks her outside the church, to which she replies, 'This is what she does, I'm afraid. Run away.' William then storms Peggy's workplace, asking where Anna is, showing the obsession is very much still alive.
We then join Anna at her mum's home, where the pair discuss what happened. 'Just promise me that was the last time' her mum says. 'You could've had such a beautiful life with Jay. These poor boys that fall for you so intensely. Didn't stand a chance, did he? Neither did your brother. Aston loved you so much. '
Anna then realises that her mum knew about her brother's abuse of her throughout her childhood all along, storming out of her childhood home.
Viewers then see Anna by a swimming pool in Europe. Despite the suggestion that she's about to get to know a man named David, Anna instead goes clubbing, where she begins to kiss a man before running off when he tries to touch her without her consent. When she walks back to the hotel, William is there. 'You don't make it easy, do you,' he says. 'I had to come.'
He then bathes her, and William shares his hopes of making it work with Anna. She tells him she wishes they had never met, sharing her guilt over Jay's death, before leaving the table and asking him not to find her again.
We then join Anna at her desk. 'Are you back in London?' she asks Peggy. 'Ok. I need you. Can you meet me at the flat?' She heads to the flat, where she picks up one of William's ribbons from under the sofa.
The camera then cuts to William walking into the flat. Only he's not there to meet Anna; instead, an estate agent greets him, explaining that it's rare for an apartment like that to be up for sale. William then digs one of Anna's journals out from inside the fireplace (did she leave it there? Did he hide it previously?), and the screen fades to black.
Viewers then join Anna sat in what appears to be therapy. 'It's been a really tough year,' she tells the male therapist. 'Actually, it's been longer than that. Should I just start at the beginning? I've never really done this, so I don't know the rules.'
He replies, 'Would it help to have some rules? Is that something you feel you need?'
'How strange,' she chuckles, before staring intently into the camera.
What does the Obsession ending mean?
Admittedly, the ending is pretty ambiguous, and it's hard to know where things are actually left for Anna and William. The door is left open for all sorts of conclusions, although it feels clear that they are going to live life separately from now on.
Did William buy the flat, meaning he's still completely obsessed with Anna? Has Anna been asked about setting rules before, presumably in a an erotic way? Does the lingering camera shots suggest some tension between her and her male therapist? What was her mum getting at when she said 'the last one' - has Anna done this before?
Obsession is now streaming on Netflix.
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