Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Netflix’s Requiem blends old school creepy-crawly horror with the slick style of prestige entertainment. After her mother commits suicide right before her eyes, famous cellist Matilda “Tilly” Grey (Lydia Wilson) finds herself possessed by a 23-year-old mystery. She and her best friend Hal (Joel Fry) journey to rural Wales to try to figure out why Tilly’s mom was so obsessed with a missing child named Carys Howell. Over the course of six episodes, we see specters floating in mirrors and hear things that go bump in the night. The whole thing is wild, but what might still be driving you nuts is Requiem‘s bonkers ending.
**HUGE SPOILERS FOR REQUIEM AHEAD**
NO, REALLY. WE’RE GOING THERE. READ AHEAD AT YOUR OWN RISK.
You good? Okay.
In the final episode of Requiem, Tilly (who is in fact Carys Howell) is manipulated by Sylvia (Tara Fitzgerald) and Kendrick (Brendan Coyle) into willingly entering a secret chamber in the Dean House. She thinks it’s to save Davey and to discover the truth about herself. Really, it’s a creepy cult thing designed to let an Archangel take possession of her body. The members of the cult — Sylvia, Kendrick, the Satlows, and a sort of unwitting Nick — believe that they will serve at this Archangel’s right hand.
Actually what happens is that after Tilly is possessed, she murders four of them. (Yes, those four graves are for four people. A fifth person survived.)
We don’t get to see much of the murder rampage, but we do see PC Graves discovering Tilly and Davey in the Blue Room. After Tilly is reunited with Sean, Hal, and Rose, all seems well. And then the final shot challenges that. In a clear nod to the original finale of Twin Peaks, we see Tilly looking at her reflection in the mirror — and she’s been possessed by a dark force greater than herself.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Luckily for us, we don’t need to theorize too much about Requiem‘s crazy ending. The British entertainment site Digital Spy interviewed the show’s writer and creator Kris Mrksa and he served up some answers to some burning questions.
Who survived the Archangel’s massacre?
“Someone survived and that’s one of the things that are intentionally hanging. There were five conspirators and there are only four graves,” Mrksa told Digital Spy. He confirmed that Stephen Kendrick is dead, but stayed mum on who survived.
He said,”But beyond that, who it is, I know and there is an answer and there is a good reason why one of them was spared, but that would be a second season thing if we end up doing it.”
Why did Joel get naked and eat the sheep?
It’s obvious that Joel was possessed by one of the “thin ones” after his car crash, but Mrksa said that Joel’s little midnight snack was a sign of something more sinister.
“There’s no doubt that what’s happened to Hal is way more profound and he’s been more subsumed by them, more reduced to some kind of bestial state. He’s more deeply communed with them and there is an answer to why that’s occurred, but that’s another thing we’ll be answering in the second season,” he told Digital Spy. (Again with the second season talk!!!!)
What about Matilda?
The thing about Matilda is that it’s unclear whether or not the Archangel is in full control or if part of old Tilly is still there. Mrksa said this, too, was intentional and a possible seed for Season Two. He also copped to the fact that it’s a direct reference to Twin Peaks.
But as for the Archangel? How does it work? Mrksa said, “It certainly looks like there’s something sitting below the surface that can rear up and take over when it wants to, but can also sit back when it wants to.”
Well, that’s comforting. Sort of.
Season 1 of Requiem is now streaming on Netflix and it certainly sounds like a second season may be on its way.
