The Boroughs Season 1 may have left us mostly satsfied, but there is always a little bit of a cliffhanger to explore… okay, a big-ish cliffhanger.
**Spoilers ahead for The Boroughs Season 1, now streaming on Netflix**
In just eight episodes, the series managed to make us all fall in love with the older (but certainly not elderly or infirm) residents of The Boroughs, a fictional retirement community in New Mexico. After being forced to move to the neighborhood following the death of his wife, Sam (Alfred Molina) is certainly not excited by the idea of having to assimilate, but the burden is eased by his friendly neighbors, Judy (Alfre Woodard), Renee (Geena Davis), Jack (Bill Pullman), Art (Clarke Peters), and Wally (Denis O’Hare).
Unfortunately for the newest resident of The Boroughs, there is a lot more happening behind the scenes — or should we say below the surface — as evil and supernatural forces are seemingly in play. While Season 1 certainly leaves us wanting more, it also gave us a pretty good ending that sets up a second season perfectly. But what all happens and who makes it out alive? That is the question at hand.
No sweat, whether you want to skip ahead and find out how it ends or you just don’t quite understand what you watched, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for a full breakdown of the Season 1 finale of The Boroughs, including who made it out alive and what might come next for the residents…
The Boroughs Season 1 Ending Explained: Who Lives and Who Dies?
In the end, everyone in the core group of cul-de-sac neighbors makes it out of Season 1 alive, sans Jack (Bill Pullman), who dies in the pilot of the series. Sadly, Jack was the show’s sacrificial lamb whose death sparked the chain of events that led the group to discover the alien-like creatures living underneath the development community. Heading into Episode 8, Sam and the others know that they have to figure out a way to stop Blaine (Seth Numrich) and Anneliese (Alice Kremelberg), although the how is more so the issue.
Earlier in the series, Anneliese explained to Art (Clarke Peters) that The Boroughs is home to non-human presences and mystical findings, while discussing the anti-aging peach that Art had discovered in the mines. Later, it’s explained that Blaine and Anneliese have been drinking the blood of a being named “Mother” in order to stay young and healthy since 1949. This also goes for several staff members of The Boroughs, including the shady security guard, Hank (Eric Edelstein), who brushed off Renee’s concerns over her missing quartz at the beginning of the season.
Ultimately, Hank gets his moment at redemption, though as he lets Renee and Paz (Carlos Miranda) help to free Mother from her captivity. Mother — who has been reaching out to residents in The Boroughs for help — is only able to communicate with people whose minds are fractured, which is why he was able to send a message to Ed (Ed Begley Jr.), who had cognitive and neurological decline, rendering him unable to help her. Luckily for Mother, Sam — whose mind has “split” from grief over the untimely death of his wife (Jane Kaczmarek) — is also able to communicate with her, which is how he ends up enlisting Wally and the others to help kidnap her. During their breakout mission, Mother tells Sam that she is ready to die and that her children have been preparing the cave where she hatched for her and that is where she needs to go.
Blaine and Anneliese are all too reluctant to just let Mother walk away — they’ve been draining her of her golden-hued blood since 1949 and drinking it to stay young and healthy, mind you — and a chase through The Boroughs ensues. Things finally end at Sam’s house, where he and Claire (Jena Malone) team up to use the spectrum-ray machine they built to kill Anneliese, however, Blaine manages to get away. Down in the tunnels, as the group prepares to let Mother die surrounded by her children, Blaine shows up once more to try and stop things, only for Mother to complete her mission and die in an explosion that also kills Blaine. So… take that!
While a flash forward showing a party at Sam’s house initially makes everything seem fine and dandy in The Boroughs after the deaths of Blaine and Anneliese, the camera follows Sam into the bathroom and sees his reflection in the mirror glitch in the final seconds, unexpectedly. The glitch happens twice, just in the mirror, and Sam does not even notice, which makes us think that there is still much more darkness and intrigue to uncover in The Boroughs, albeit in a second season.
Here’s hoping that Netflix brings this ragtag group back for more!
The Boroughs Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
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