The ending of Paramount+’s The Revenge Club is an unpredictable yet unsurprising surprise. What I mean by that is, if you watch the show closely, there are hints right from the start about who the real problem is, but we don’t see it because of the way the show’s been written and presented, which I quite enjoyed. The 6-part thriller series is a breezy watch and keeps you hooked right from the start. We almost get a false ending in episode 5, where we’re made to believe one of the members of the group is the killer. Additionally, it’s revealed that Rita is Malcolm’s mother, and these aren’t even the most shocking details of the ending. The Revenge Club is mainly told from the point of view of Emily, who’s our protagonist, and it’s her story that propels us to get interested in “The Revenge Club,” a group of divorcees (and one wanting to be divorced) trying to get therapy for the grief they feel over losing their love. After getting together and hearing about each other’s nightmares, the group quickly realizes that what they need isn’t solace from their loss, but revenge, because they all feel wronged because of what’s happened. But suddenly, when husbands and wives start dying, questions are raised. Who killed them and why? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Who Is The Killer?
The Revenge Club’s ending reveals that the killer is none other than innocent Emily. Through the course of the episodes, we’re made to believe that Rachel might’ve killed her own husband, Steve is a psycho who definitely killed Sue, and Dan died by accident, falling down the stairs. But here’s the thing: this is what we’re made to see, because, as I mentioned earlier, it was Emily who was our unreliable narrator. Now, it’s revealed that Emily was ordered by the court to attend therapy after everything that happened. Yes, her best friend got with her husband behind her back, but Emily didn’t take it lying down. She punched Charlotte in the face, and we could’ve taken that as our first sign of violence, to be honest, because Emily always had the fire in her. While in the group, Emily never speaks first; she never makes it seem like she’s eager to get somebody for what they’ve done, and she finds friendship in everyone.
We’re made to suspect Rita first when she’s the only person who gets left behind in conversations, and she’s ignored by everybody and also simply feels unwanted, but then we’re thrown off her scent when Rita’s the one who steps away from the group’s plans of revenge. She doesn’t want to hurt anybody, and neither does she want to get in trouble. She does go to see Jim in between, and we see the love in her eyes, making us realize she’s been misunderstood this whole time. But in the meantime, when Rachel’s husband dies, we’re made to think the killer is either Rachel herself or Steve. The latter because he’s always had a violent streak; he’s a former Marine, and there’s something striking about him, making him very clearly motivated enough to commit murder. But it’s revealed at the end of the show that Steve was dishonorably discharged because he killed a senior officer who was convinced that a 19-year-old boy was a spy. To save the boy’s life, Steve did the unthinkable and lost everything. When he came back, his wife made him realize she was more interested in the uniform than him.
I suppose we can think Emily has it in her to be a murderer because everyone thinks she’s a pushover. I mean, the biggest example is, of course, the way her husband and best friend treat her. Dan calls her names, and as Emily mentions at the beginning of the show, she believes Charlotte stole everything from her. The job, the lifestyle, and the man—so she’s already quite upset in life. But more importantly, she finds actual friends in the therapy group. She believes they all genuinely like her, and she has to set things straight for her friends. It is after Dan calls her up and insults her on the day before his next wedding that she pushes him down the stairs (I guess her phone was back at home, which is why the police believed she was home when Dan died and called it an accident). She had an alibi when she was with the group during the event, and Jack had already taken drugs, so she thought it would fly by.
But on the other hand, when Emily killed Sue, she had a plan to plant the car keys somewhere in the therapy room. To me, the first person there is always Malcolm, which means she probably wanted Malcolm to take the blame for the group, because he wasn’t necessarily her friend, but he was also connected to all of them. It’s sad, because he did try to help her. Anyway, Rita was already there, and this kind of ruined her plan, so though Emily didn’t want to, she ended up hitting Rita on the head with Malcolm’s comfort rock and then left the key there, making it clear that Steve might’ve been responsible. This is why Steve became the prime suspect, but Emily knew he’d be set free soon enough.
What Happens to Calum?
The Revenge Club’s ending reveals that Calum’s in on the plan with Emily, who tells Malcolm she’s leaving town just as Rita opens her eyes in the hospital. I can’t be certain that Emily knew about Rita being Malcolm’s mother, but she didn’t want to hurt her for sure. It’s because Rita realized what the keys implied: that Emily had to leave her to die. But I guess Emily doesn’t fear Rita waking up and telling the truth, because she knows she’s a person with a lot at stake. Her relationship with Jim and her newfound story with Malcolm.
Finally, the detectives are made to believe that it was Calum who was the big villain of this story, because he’s the one who takes Emily away and has been sinister throughout the show. After his relationship with his daughter seems to be on the fence, he’s already on edge all the time, and he’s always eager to get revenge, so it’s clearly Calum, a man whose first girlfriend died in the same lake near the house that he’s taken Emily to, who killed everybody, right? Well, no, but Emily and Calum’s alliance isn’t just romantic; since he has nothing to go back to either, he agrees to bury the truth about Emily and stick with her. I guess it’s okay that everyone thinks he’s the killer because he’s got Emily now, and her final speech proves that they’re happy together and will do anything for each other. So I guess at the end of the day, Emily gets the happily ever after she always wanted, but she has to move away.
On the other hand, Rachel and Tej believe she’s innocent, which means there’s a chance Emily and Rachel will meet a year from now as they planned, because they did become really good friends. However, if Rita reveals the truth, this would not be possible. We don’t find out if Rita’s lost her memories or anything, but hey, like I said, she’s got a family to focus on now. So I think it’s safe to say that at the end of the day, Emily and Calum walked away freely. I think it was the night before Rachel called Emily that she had already told Calum what she’d done, making him part of the plan. I do think they made it look like he was the killer on purpose so that they could escape together without any trouble. But Steve shot him, and it looked like he either died in the lake or ran away, and even the detectives seemed to have given up. “We’ll find him if he shows up.”
