The Girlfriend’s ending is certainly a shocking one, and it leaves you wondering who is the winner in all of this. The 6-part TV show is a fast-paced thriller about a smothering mother and a supposedly gold-digging girlfriend who go head-to-head, but why? In The Girlfriend, Cherry is a woman who is ambitious and wants something big for herself, and if that comes through love, then so be it. On the other hand, Laura is the mother of Daniel, and they certainly have an interesting relationship, which is tested the moment Cherry steps into the picture. The thing is, neither Cherry nor Laura is wrong in their pursuits; it’s the hows of the whole thing that really make this show go from family drama to psychological thriller real quick. It’s not hard to tell that the big twist at the end of the show will have something to do with what kind of person Cherry really is. But the other big twist at the end definitely left me baffled, because I didn’t think things would go so far, and that too in the way they did. With that said, though, let’s dive into the ending of the show.
Spoiler Alert
What Happens After the Engagement?
In The Girlfriend’s finale, Daniel and Cherry decide to have an engagement ceremony, but of course, Laura’s not invited because Cherry’s pretending to be afraid of her. She went so far as assaulting herself to make it look like Laura had hit her. At this point, everybody believes Cherry, even Laura’s husband and Daniel, of course, so she has to do what she can to set things straight before trying to tell Daniel the truth about Cherry. Throughout the show, we’re left slightly confused about who is the good guy here and who isn’t. Truthfully, I can’t give you a definitive answer because Laura judged Cherry even before she knew anything about her, and Cherry is, of course, a psychopath who will do anything in pursuit of her dream life.
After the engagement, Laura gets some alone time with Daniel and asks him to forgive her so they can start over. She then puts some sleeping pills in his drink so that she can control him and have him listen to Cherry’s mother talking about his new fiancee. I think if Laura had simply played the video to Daniel after talking to him for a bit, he may have listened to her, but instead, she lost the battle as soon as she drugged him. In the hopes of not losing her son, Laura ended up losing everything, Daniel included. But by the time Daniel’s groggy, Cherry shows up at the house, and Laura goes after her.
Cherry asks Laura what she’s playing at and what she told Daniel. The latter tells her that she’s told Daniel everything, so she should just leave, but Cherry’s not so quick to give up. Laura even threatens to call the police, but Cherry whacks the phone out of her hand, and it ends up under a side table. Cherry manages to find Daniel in the house and tries to get him out of there but fails because Laura continues to threaten her, even using a knife at one point. Laura locks Cherry up in a room while trying to escape with Daniel, but Cherry makes her way to her, even if she nearly breaks her ankle doing it.
At every second here, you’re wondering which of the two women is going to come out on top. Will Cherry be able to save herself from getting caught because of Laura’s recording, or will Laura be able to save her son from Cherry? In the middle of all of this, whatever the result, Daniel’s the one who ends up losing. Ultimately, though, Laura and Cherry end up in the swimming pool, where the latter tries to drown her. But Laura ends up on top, and Cherry starts to scream for help when Daniel becomes fully conscious, rushing to save his girlfriend. Daniel stops his mother from trying to kill his girlfriend and holds her down while Cherry escapes her grasp. But, even though Cherry can see that Daniel’s holding on a bit too tightly, she takes her own sweet time to tell him to stop. By this time, Laura’s already dead. The only thing I thought of at the end of this scene was how, just a little while before, Daniel was telling his mom that she was smothering him, and now he’s the one who drowned her. There’s something darkly poetic about that. To make things even darker, Daniel and Laura’s relationship is introduced in the same swimming pool that she ends up dying in, making it seem like the scene was foreshadowing her death.
Why Was Laura Overprotective Of Daniel?
Additionally, Laura never gave Cherry a chance; you can call it a mother’s intuition, but we all know that Laura was obsessed with her son, especially because she had lost a daughter named Rose. However, Cherry came between Daniel and his mom’s relationship. She made Daniel question his mom’s every move, and what used to feel like pure love suddenly made Daniel feel like he was being suffocated. Laura saw Cherry as competition for Daniel’s love. This is not what a regular mother behaves like, and as we hear many times in the show, even from her husband, Laura needed to let her son go at some point. However, when Daniel found a girl who loved him, Laura didn’t appreciate seeing her son happy with a woman. While we can say that Laura was somewhat justified because it looked like Cherry was after Daniel’s money and the lifestyle it would allow her, we can’t deny that her methods were questionable.
Cherry never really gave Laura any reason to doubt her initially, yet Laura hated her because of her own insecurities. So, her turning out to be a psychopathic gold digger worked out for the obsessive mom. Instead of telling Daniel that his girlfriend may have problems and he should be cautious, Laura rushed to get rid of Cherry, which was her biggest mistake. But here’s the thing: if Laura hadn’t been so overprotective, she might never have meddled with the couple, which would’ve left Cherry to behave normally.
What Happened After Laura’s Death?
The show’s ending doesn’t necessarily answer what happens in the aftermath of Laura’s death. Did the police rule her death as an accident or a murder? I believe Cherry convinced Daniel to lie to the authorities, because if Daniel admitted to drowning his mother, it would count as murder. Maybe they told the police that it was an act of self-defense, and they were just trying to stop Laura from hurting Cherry. It’s also a possibility that they told the police that Laura drowned by herself. But it seems like the couple managed to escape police scrutiny, considering they’re happily married and pregnant a year later. Maybe having a rich dad had something to do with it. Well, whatever the case might be, I would love to know your thoughts on this one. What do you think Cherry and Daniel told the police?
What Did Cherry’s Dad Do?
The big recording that’s on Laura’s phone comes from a conversation she had with Cherry’s mom. The whole conversation included a bit about Cherry’s father and how she’s the reason he’s in a wheelchair and can’t function anymore. When Laura confronts Cherry about this, we’re left a bit in the dark because Cherry says he deserved it. This could mean one of two things. Either Cherry had an abusive childhood, and her dad is the reason she’s looking for a way out of her pathetic life, or she was just born that way, and her dad didn’t actually deserve to be thrown off a building. Cherry’s mum is still a butcher, and she’s got a great relationship with her. In fact, it almost feels like Laura and Cherry’s mum are alike in that they will do anything to protect their child, until Cherry’s mum agrees to talk to Laura.
This is the part I don’t understand. Is Cherry’s mum giving Laura a warning by telling her that Cherry has problems and will do everything in her power to ruin the lives of people who cross her? I mean, I guess even if she wants Cherry to be happy, she wants her to be normal as well? But the truth is, Cherry’s mum is afraid of what her daughter is capable of, which is proof enough that she’s definitely not normal. Additionally, despite worrying about Cherry’s behavior, her mom will go as far as to lie to the police for her, out of fear or love, or a bit of both, but this is why Cherry’s so capable of letting a man kill his own mother so that she can live her dreams.
Will Cherry and Daniel stay together?
In The Girlfriend’s ending, Moses the cat tries to dig under the table where Laura’s phone had fallen on the day she died. Daniel immediately puts it on charge while a pregnant Cherry is out chatting with her father-in-law. They look like a very happy family, having the best summer, ready to welcome their newest family member, until Daniel turns the phone on and finds the video that Laura was trying to show him that fateful night. In the final scene of the show, we’re left wondering whether Daniel will stay with Cherry or leave her. In the recording, Cherry’s mum says that if she sets her eyes on something, she’ll do anything to have it, but if you come in her way, she will do everything in her power to win. Ultimately, Laura ended up dead because of Cherry’s ambition, but now that Daniel knows, will he continue to be with her?
While the ending of The Girlfriend itself isn’t necessarily ambiguous because Cherry’s been caught in the act, she’s now pregnant, which changes the whole dynamic. It makes you wonder if this will be a cycle that repeats itself, and despite all that has happened, what if Cherry too becomes a mom like Laura, because she’s got the same kind of tendencies? The ending of the show is creepy and sad, because even though Laura’s gone, Daniel’s still around, and he has to do what’s best for their kid. If Daniel leaves Cherry now, their kid will either have to live a similar life to Cherry’s, if she gets to keep the child, or Daniel will have to raise the kid in fear that Cherry will take it away from him at any time. Whatever he does in this situation will eventually backfire on him. So the real loser in all of this is Daniel, right from the start, and ultimately, it’ll be best if he forgets the recording and continues to live a happy life with an oblivious Cherry, or he might become her next “target.”
