Red Rose on Netflix ending explained
*Spoilers alert*
Red Rose dropped on BBC iPlayer in August last year and was somewhat of a quiet hit. ICYMI, the show follows a group of Manchester teens whose friendship becomes infiltrated by an app called Red Rose. Once downloaded, it infects their smartphones and threatens them with dangerous consequences if they don't meet its demands.
Upon release, it was dubbed as Black Mirror meets Derry Girls vibes. But most recently, it's found a brand new audience on Netflix. It comes as the streaming platform dropped the first series earlier this month, and for a second time, it's got viewers gripped.
So, if you've binged the eps already but have some unresolved questions, here's Red Rose, ending explained.
For some context...
The first episode, 'Grim Up North' sets the scene that things are about to get slightly paranormal. In Manchester, it follows Alyssa (Robyn Cara) as she's driven to her death via a mysterious app called Red Rose.
Six months later in Bolton, Rochelle (Isis Hainsworth) and her friends are partying on the moors to celebrate completing their GCSEs. During the event, she receives a text from a popular girl at school telling her to download the Red Rose app.
At first, the app begins showing her random acts of kindness, like putting money in her bank account and buying her a dress. However, things soon turn sinister as it starts to blackmail her.
For example, at another party, the app tells her to kiss Noah (Harry Redding), the guy her best friend Wren (Amelia Clarkson) is into. If she doesn't, Red Rose will leak a video of her visiting a food bank.
To freak her out, the app then brings Roch's mother back to life in a video.
What happens to Rochelle?
Episode two, called 'The Garden' features another premature death - this time Rochelle. Her father finds her in the bath in an emotional scene, where viewers are led to believe she took her own life as her mother did.
However, Wren is doubtful, refusing to believe what happened to her best friend. In the final episode, 'The Gardener,' viewers learn her instincts were right, as it's revealed Roch was attacked and murdered.
The ep also focuses on Jacob, a schoolboy who developed the Red Rose app so he could spy on Alyssa because he was obsessed with her.
It's then explained that the app has been taken over by the dark web, and has swiftly spread throughout the online world. Now controlled by sadistic keyboard warriors, the criminals take pleasure in torturing and finally murdering their victims from behind their computer screens.
Who is the Gardener?
During the show, viewers are introduced to a user called 'The Gardener', who turns out to be the main instigator of the app.
The last episode sees Wren convinced that she's worked out who he is - the man holding her father, Rick (Adam Nagaitis) hostage. As the kidnapper stabs her dad, Wren fights back and murders him, leaving the friend group to believe that 'The Gardener' is dead.
Jaya (Ashna Rabheru) then deletes the Red Rose app plus all of its evidence, and the friends think their hurt and torment has finally been put to bed. Or so they think...
As Jaya heads back to be reunited with her friends, she meets the actual 'Gardener' (Harrie Hayes) - a woman, who tells her that she wanted to push Wren to see how far she would go.
Meanwhile, as the group try to get back to normal, Wren's dad ends up being charged with murder - even though he had nothing to do with the app in the first place. However, due to having a criminal record and being found next to the dead body with a weapon in his hand, it doesn't look good for him. As he's taken away by the police, the friends head to Roch's grave to say goodbye.
But just when you think it's all about to end, the shot switches to another group of friends enjoying a night out together, this time, in Tokyo. The show finishes with the sinister sounds of the Red Rose app, leaving scope for a second season of the chilling psychological drama.
Red Rose is now streaming on Netflix.
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