Obsession on Netflix ending explained: What did that final scene actually mean?

That was… intense

1 year ago

If you’ve just finished Obsession on Netflix and are left feeling a bit at a loss at the whole whirlwind drama, same. If someone had explained to me the ending of Obsession as I was sitting down to watch the first episode, I would probably think they were lying.

Episode four was a wild ride. Jay finally found out about William and Anna’s affair, and ended up falling to his death running out of Anna’s flat in shock. He’d phoned his mother just before his death to tell her what he’d seen, so William’s family life is in tatters.

Anna has moved away from her London flat where she had the affair with William, and is seemingly moving away from her family life. Anna’s mother knows she was abused by her brother, and when Anna finds this out, she fleas abroad. She goes to France, to where she and Jay would have had their honeymoon. But, William is there and shares that he wants to make things work between the two of them. Anna says she wishes they’d never met, and wants to leave the whole affair and Jay’s death behind her.

via Netflix

Anna is then back at work in London, and calls Peggy asking her to meet her at the flat. Only yet again, William is there, this time with an estate agent being shown around. Clearly his obsession with Anna is still there.

Anna tells Peggy she “can’t do this anymore” and we then see Anna heading to therapy. It looks as though she’s about to move on with her life, but the final line of the show leaves a slight hint she might not be changing at all.

At the end of the therapist session, he asks Anna if she needs some “rules” for the sessions, as she’s never been to therapy before. She then very intensely stares into the camera and says “how strange”. It’s a lot, but what did it even mean?

Here’s the ending of Obsession on Netflix fully explained

via Netflix

So, the ending is quite ambiguous in that it doesn’t fully conclude whether Anna is still trapped in the cycle, or ready to move forward in her life. Yes, she appears to be going to therapy and wanting to put everything behind her, but the final line says otherwise.

The “how strange” reaction to being asked about wanting rules by the therapist, is a direct hint to Anna’s affair – she was a submissive in the BDSM affair with William, and the suggestion of “rules” raises the question of if she sees the therapist as a new “master” or is actually moving on. There’s also a lot of tension in the air with the therapist. Is history repeating itself?

We also don’t know if William bought the flat, continuing his obsession with Anna, or what Anna’s mother meant when she suggested Anna may have had more than one affair in the past.

Basically, everything is up in the air. But, the ending does prove both Anna and William’s paths are not cut and dry, and the cycle is anything but over for them.

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