Vladimir ending explained: What happened between Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall’s professors?

*Warning - contains full spoilers for all eight episodes of Vladimir.*

New erotic comedy-drama series Vladimir is currently riding high in the UK Netflix charts, with viewers diving into the story of obsession starring Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall.

The series, which also stars John Slattery and Jessica Henwick, follows and unnamed protagonist played by Weisz, a professor who is in an open marriage to another professor.

Right as her husband, John, finds himself under investigation for sleeping with his students, the protagonist finds herself suffering from writer's block, but also becoming captivated with a new, younger colleague, played by Leo Woodall.

As the protagonist's obsession intensifies, and the married Vladimir starts to show signs of reciprocation, it all culminates at a cabin, where the two go to spend time together.

But how does it come to an end in the final episode? Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of Vladimir.

Vladimir ending explained: What happened between Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall's professor characters?

The final episode of Vladimir saw the title character waking up, having been chained and tied up by the protagonist. As seen in the previous episode, she had drugged him, and while he was unconscious texted Cynythia from his phone, saying that he knew about her affair with John.

When he woke up, the protagonist told Vladimir that he had asked to be dominated and that it has all been one big misunderstanding. She also told him that the previous night she had drunkenly told him about John and Cynthia's affair. Taking this news in, Vladimir decided to stay at the cabin with the protagonist.

Then, finally, the protagonists fantasies came true, but not in the way she was expecting. He tried to initiate a role-play scenario with her in which he was her student, but she wasn't into it at all.

Still, the two do end up having sex, although it's not as fulfilling or exhilarating as she imagined. Instead, she becomes fixated on her writing again, with it helped to clear her writer's block.

Later, unexpectedly, John joins them at the cabin. At his hearing, the charges against him were dismissed and he was allowed to keep his pension, but he was told he would never teach again.

Vladimir confronted John about his affair with Cynthia, but it turned out the protagonist had been mistaken in what she saw. John and Cynthia had actually been meeting together in order to take Adderall and write together, not have an affair.

The three of them - the protagonist, Vladimir and John - all settled down in the cabin for the night, but as the protagonist stayed up writing, she accidentally set fire to the cabin with a spark from a space heater.

Did Vladimir and John make it out of the cabin?

As the protagonist, Vladimir and John all scrambled to get out of the cabin and away from the fire, the protagonist saw her path to escape and, at the same time, save her writing, rather than her two lovers.

She took it, leaving Vladimir and John in the cabin. As she addressed the camera, she told the audience that she would go on to write a novel about her experiences with Vladimir, while he would do the same. Hers would do "much better".

She also said that she called 911 and that everybody got out of the cabin. However, she then added a slight layer of doubt, asking: "Don't you believe me?"

Speaking in an interview with Tudum, Weisz said of this ending for her character: "Her libido awakens her creativity, and she chooses to save her novel in the fire. She doesn’t not save [Vlad and John]. She’s not a firefighter. She just decides that she’ll risk her own life to save her novel."

Meanwhile, the show's creator and the author of the original novel, Julia May Jonas, said of the final scene, in which the protagonist is clutching her book outside of the burning cabin: "Leaving with her holding that book felt like the real meaning of the whole journey. It is what she got out of [this obsession]. That’s where her power is."

Vladimir is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media.

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