Stay Close ending explained: What did the big double twist actually mean?

Netflix’s latest psychological thriller is another Harlan Coben adaptation, Stay Close. The series follows a number of people who all have secrets in life, which quickly begin to unravel as a huge missing person’s case is launched in the area. There are loads of huge twists and turns in the series, and whilst the ending of Stay Close finally answered everything that had been going on there, you might need it a little further explained – seeing as there was just so much to unpack.

By the end of the show, detective Broome had realised the strange missing person cases of Guy and Carlton were somehow linked to a whole string of other cases over a 17 year period. The secrets all came to light in the final episode and the killer(s) were revealed.

via Netflix

So, here’s the big twist ending of Stay Close on Netflix fully explained

The ending of Stay Close was a big twist, and it finally explained what had been going on with all the missing men over the years. It turned out the person behind all the killings, right from the start, was Lorraine – who worked at Vipers. She chose the Carnival themed night at the venue to choose one man to kill a year – someone she had seen causing trouble, mainly being harmful towards women. She would lure them out to the woods and kill them, and then dispose of their bodies in a pit hidden under the woods. This was all revenge on men after a past abusive relationship, where she was hurt so much by an ex-partner the abuse once resulted in her losing a pregnancy.

In terms of the main missing persons and questions at the end – Stewart Green was one of the first killed by Lorraine. He was obsessed with Cassie, and causing trouble with her. Lorraine got him out to the woods with a fake note to go there which she said was from Cassie. When there, Lorraine killed him and left his body. Lorraine then left a note to Cassie, which she said was from Ray, to go out to the woods. There, Cassie saw Stewart’s body. Lorraine had believed this would let Megan know she was free – but it spooked her, and thinking people would assume she had killed him, Megan ran away. Ray had followed Megan into the woods and when he saw Stewart’s body and Megan running away, he thought she had killed him. He then disposed of Stewart’s body to protect Megan – which is why we kept seeing flashbacks to Ray covered in blood.

via Netflix

Guy was also killed by Lorraine. She had seen him being violent in Vipers and murdered him. However, she was disturbed before she had time to put his body in the pit, so she left his body out in the woods.

But that wasn’t all. We’re still missing one huge part: Carlton’s body was never found. Right at the end we see Megan and Dave getting married. Dave says he needs to come clean about a pact he had with their daughter, Kayleigh, saying that no matter what, he would always come and help her in a time of need. This included that night at Vipers.

via Netflix

After the girls were nearly spiked and escaping Carlton, they put him in the boot of his car and drove somewhere remote. They believed Carlton would come round from the drugs in his own time, and escape the car. But, Dave saw the car when he picked the girls up from the scene, and when he later saw it on the news he knew they’d got themselves into trouble. He returned to the car and pushed it into the lake – not knowing Carlton was inside. Dave had unknowingly drowned Carlton and Lorraine probably just said she killed him too, having seen the girls’ struggle on the night and knowing Carlton was a bad guy and she was going to prison and going to die anyway – so she may as well take the fall and protect the girls. Will Megan ever tell Dave what she’s now worked out he did?

Stay Close is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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