The Beast in Me ending explained: Who dies in the season finale?

**Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Beast in Me season 1.**

Netflix drama The Beast in Me keeps viewers on edge across its tense first season, which sees a bitter feud emerge between two neighbours – which only one of them survives

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys lead the cast as reclusive author Aggie Wiggs and ruthless businessman Niles Jarvis, who happen to meet each other when the latter moves in to a vacant property just a few doors away.

Disconcertingly, Niles has been hit with murder accusations following the unexplained disappearance of his ex-wife, Maddie, and this dangerous mystery lures Aggie closer and closer into his orbit in pursuit of answers.

On their unconventional dynamic, Rhys told The Hollywood Reporter: "They've been isolated for some time because of their respective traumas and tragedies. And as a result, it brings them to a level where their 'bulls**t meter' is gone, so that any kind of falseness isn't put up with."

Interestingly, neither Danes nor Rhys knew how The Beast in Me would end when they agreed to star in the project, with showrunner Howard Gordon opting to show them only the first three (of eight) scripts.

Fortunately, Danes could vouch for Gordon, owing to their long history of collaboration on an earlier hit series.

"I had seen him perform one magic trick after another [as writer and executive producer] for a decade over the course of our filming Homeland, so I wasn't worried – I really wasn't," she recalled. "But I also had no idea what was going to happen."

Of course, now the series is out – and so are all of the secrets! If you want the gory details on how The Beast in Me ends, including who dies in the finale, here's your spoiler-filled guide to the Netflix thriller.

The Beast in Me ending explained: Who dies in the series finale?

Despite fleeting moments where their relationship seemed to be softening, Niles and Aggie ended The Beast in Me as staunch rivals, each racing to destroy the other's life – with Aggie succeeding at the last moment.

At the start of the series, it's unclear whether disturbing accusations that Niles murdered his ex-wife, Maddie, have any basis in reality. Still, his menacing demeanour and aggressive tactics arouse a fair amount of suspicion in Aggie.

This is set alight by disconcertingly frantic FBI agent Brian Abbot (David Lyons), who drunkenly appears on her doorstep one night to warn her of the danger that her new neighbour poses.

Ultimately, Abbot's hounding of Niles costs him his life, as the ruthless businessman murders him in a vicious brawl at the end of the fourth episode – but it isn't until the penultimate chapter that Maddie's fate is revealed.

In a flashback, we learn that Maddie had been cooperating with Abbot in an FBI investigation into Niles's corrupt business practices, hoping to free herself from his tightening grip by landing him behind bars.

Far from a loving romance, life with Niles had pushed Maddie to the brink, as his sinister psychological mind games, overt intimidation and violent history became apparent. She fully believed that he would kill her, unless she took drastic action.

Sadly, Maddie's betrayal was detected by her assistant, Nina (Brittany Snow), who let slip to Niles that his own wife was the source of a catastrophic leak at the company. Little did she know, that admission would get Maddie killed.

In the aftermath of her disappearance, Nina seemed to not allow herself to scrutinise Niles's flimsy story, opting instead to enter into a relationship with him, and live comfortably in a lavish and picturesque suburban home.

But when Niles attempts to frame Aggie for the murder of Teddy Fenig (Bubba Weiler) – the man that she holds responsible for the death of her son – something snaps in Nina, and she can stay silent no longer.

In a tense late-night conversation, Nina gets Niles to open up about his past misdeeds – including the deaths of Maddie and Teddy – and he seems to genuinely yearn for her acceptance as the mother of his soon-to-be-born first child.

However, any gentle sympathy she shows Niles in that moment is utterly false as she is secretly recording the conversation on her phone, and proceeds to pass the admission onto the authorities.

In New York State, where The Beast in Me is set, one-party covert recordings (i.e. where only one speaker is aware) are admissible in court proceedings, so Nina's daring gambit could well provide the smoking gun for long-brewing suspicions.

Reflecting on the "ambiguous" nature of Niles and Nina's marriage, Snow told THR: "I hope it poses questions. Was she morally altruistic in her decision, or was she doing it for her own survival motives?

"I think their marriage is transactional. They're both very f****d up people that meet eye to eye in a way where you can understand why they're together."

Niles is, rather embarrassingly, dragged away by police after giving a celebratory speech at the site of his Jarvis Yards vanity project, and is later imprisoned for murder with no chance of parole.

Aggie intends to continue interviewing him from the safety of his prison, but after only one session he is stabbed to death in the common area by fellow inmates, on the orders of his father's closest confidante, Rick (Tim Guinee).

We also see Rick smother Martin Jarvis (Jonathan Banks), the man he so admired, in his hospital bed, as he was very unlikely to recover after suffering a severe stroke brought about partly by the stress of covering up Niles's crimes.

In a break from the bleakness, we see that Aggie is in a far healthier state of mind than she was at the beginning of the series, as she is able to accept her culpability in the death of her son and draw a line under the intense resentment she endured for years.

Danes told THR: "I'd like to think that she's a little more integrated as a person. I don't know if she will start another relationship. I don't know if she is able to do that. But I don't think she's suffering from writer's block anymore."

Things end on a somewhat more troubling note for Nina, though, who takes the final scene.

We see her caring for the baby that she conceived with Niles, and looking into the infant's eyes, clearly questioning whether the sins of the father will be passed down and the cycle of cruelty will continue.

It's a high-stakes case of nature vs nurture; but as she tearfully kisses the baby's head, Nina seems quietly determined to do what she can to steer this Jarvis child onto the right path.

The Beast in Me is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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