Adolescence’s ending was largely about Jamie accepting the fact that he had stabbed Katie to death, and the impact that that action had on his parents, Eddie and Manda, as well as his sister, Lisa. The miniseries played out more like a crime drama than a mystery thriller. Hence, from the very 1st episode, it was evident that Jamie had killed Katie. What followed after was an in-depth analysis of the multitude of reasons that might’ve caused Jamie to take such a drastic step, with the final episode in the miniseries being all about the toll the investigation was taking on Jamie’s family. Manda, Lisa, and Eddie were all set to celebrate the man of the house’s 50th birthday, but things started going off the rails when a bunch of kids spray-painted “nonce” on Eddie’s van. The trio managed to take control of the situation by chalking up a plan to get the paint off, going to the restaurant to have some Chinese food, and watching a movie at the theater. However, as soon as they reached the local mall to get some paint for the van, everything went sideways, thereby leading to much-needed conversation between Eddie and Manda. What’s the lesson that we can learn from it? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Eddie Got the Kind of Support He Didn’t Want
As long as Eddie, Manda, and Lisa were inside the van, things were relatively alright. They were chatting about what Eddie and Manda used to be like when they were 13, which obviously stood in stark contrast to what their son had done at 13. I assumed that as soon as they pulled into the parking lot of the mall, somebody was going to recognize them, since Jamie’s case had been all over the news and social media, and things would start spiraling out for them from there. Well, something like that did happen, but it was much more subtle and way more disturbing. Eddie was taken to the section of the mall where the paint cans were kept by an employee named Quint. Initially, he explained all the ways in which Eddie could get the spray paint off his van and even suggested getting the whole thing repainted. Since Eddie couldn’t afford a repaint, and he needed to have the van ready for the next day at his job, he thought he’d just paint over the expletives himself. As the conversation went on, Quint recognized Eddie and said that he knew all about Jamie’s case. However, instead of mistreating Eddie, Quint said that he was rooting for Jamie. That sounded fine, but the reason behind Quint’s support was spine-chilling. The teenager said that he’d seen Katie’s photos on the internet, and he insinuated that she deserved to die. Before Quint could explain his stance any further, Eddie proceeded to exit the mall with Lisa and Manda.
Jamie Wanted To Plead Guilty
Right when they were about to board the van and head back home, Eddie spotted the two kids who had allegedly painted those slurs onto the van, and he went after one of them and roughed him up. The kid thought it was all a joke, and Eddie just wanted him to realize that nothing about what he and his mate had done was funny. To be honest, Eddie was right. The extent to which teenagers doing offensive and “edgy” stuff in the name of being “honest” or “radical” has been normalized is ridiculous. Everyone keeps saying that that’s what teenagers do because of their hormones and the fact that they haven’t matured enough to understand the gravity of their actions. Yet, when said teenagers get a taste of their own medicine, suddenly it’s not fun and games anymore. If I stay on this topic for any longer, I’ll start sounding like an aging, geriatric man.
So, coming back to the plot of the Adolescence’s finale, after Eddie’s outburst, he splattered the paint he had just bought over the words on his van, ordered Manda and Lisa to get in, and then they began their journey back home in silence. The tension was broken, or maybe exacerbated, by a phone call from Jamie, who wanted to wish his dad a happy birthday. The conversation between Jamie and Eddie was bittersweet until Jamie revealed that he wanted to plead guilty because that was the truth.
Eddie and Manda accepted their flaws
Eddie didn’t know how to react to Jamie’s decision to plead guilty. So, Manda and Lisa began conversing with Jamie, and they essentially changed the topic, probably in the hopes that it’d get Jamie to change his mind. More importantly, though, I guess the girls wanted to ensure that Eddie didn’t have yet another meltdown. After getting home, while Lisa retired to her room, Eddie and Manda had an extensive conversation about Jamie and whether or not they should let him plead guilty. Because, you see, as soon as Jamie would admit that he was the one who had killed Katie, it would prove that Eddie and Manda were guilty of raising a murderer. People were saying that anyway, but once the verdict came out, Eddie and Manda would have to hold themselves accountable at the highest level by asking themselves where they had gone wrong with Jamie. And that wasn’t an easy or simple task at all. Still, Eddie and Manda took the first steps by accepting that there was a generational aspect to it—Eddie’s dad was abusive and Eddie has a temper—and their negligence must’ve played a huge part in Jamie’s deterioration as a kid. While Eddie and Manda dedicated every waking moment of their lives to earning enough to give their children the kind of life that they didn’t get in their childhood, Jamie rotted away in his room as he drowned his mind in the manosphere and all kinds of woman-hating content.
A Call for Introspection
That said, Adolescence’s ending doesn’t state that those are the only reasons why boys nowadays are becoming more and more violent, that too at such a young age. There’s more to it than parenting and the internet. There’s a lack of emphasis on wholesome education. There’s a lack of jobs, which is why kids don’t have a target to chase. Governments are prioritizing capitalist interests over making society a safe place to exist in. People in society are becoming self-centered and uncaring. So, it’s all that and more, on top of the parenting and the internet, that’s making kids so prone to corruption. Now, if you’re rich and you commit an act as heinous as murder, you get to hit the reset button. If you come from a middle-class family, not only is your life over, but you are condemning your loved ones to endless misery as well. Hence, in addition to sparking introspection amongst adults about whether or not the kids are doing alright, I think that the miniseries wants kids to think a little about the path they’ve chosen after being influenced by some self-proclaimed sigma-alpha-gamma-giga-chad dude on the internet.
Reject the Manosphere
In this fictional story, Eddie, Manda, and Lisa decide to stick together and stand their ground. But how many families will be able to do the same? And why should they have to? I don’t know if this show has been cleared by certification boards so that it can be shown to adolescent kids, but it should be. If they think they are mature enough to listen to the likes of Andrew Tate and Elvish Yadav, they can dedicate 4 hours of their life to watching this Netflix miniseries. Most of them might find it boring, but if even 1 out of 10 teens realize the error of their ways and begin working on detoxifying their mind and seeing women as fellow human beings, I’ll see it as a win. Yes, parents, teachers, law enforcement authorities, lawmakers, politicians, and the whole lot of adults in high positions have to work on themselves. I’m sorry to say it, though, things are so bad that kids have to look out for themselves and their friends as well. We’ve gone past the point of no return, but humanity has bounced back from worse situations. So, I want to be optimistic about seeing the day that the manosphere comes to an end. With that said, those are my thoughts on the ending of Adolescence. What did you think about the miniseries? Let me know in the comments section below.
