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Every moment of Netflix’s new ice skating series Spinning Out is full of drama. The series takes a close look at the nasty side of figure skating, right down to mental breakdowns, shattered dreams, broken hip bones, and, yes, sexual abuse. One of the show’s biggest twists lands in the ending of Spinning Out: a side character we’ve grown to trust, and even like, is revealed to be a sexual predator.
However, that’s not the only bit of drama we get in the Season 1 finale of Spinning Out. January Jones‘s last scene of the season is campy tour de force, up there with her most iconic Betty Draper moments. (Did you like it when she brandished a shotgun in Mad Men? Well, you’ll love what Jones does with a baseball bat in Spinning Out.) And then there’s the fate of Kat Baker (Kaya Scodelario) and Justin Davis’s (Evan Roderick) Olympic dreams. Does the duo ace their long program? WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SEASON 1 FINALE OF SPINNING OUT?
Here’s the ending of Spinning Out Season 1 explained.
WHAT HAPPENED TO SERENA (WILLOW SHIELDS)? WHAT WAS SERENA’S SECRET ON SEASON ONE OF SPINNING OUT?
From the very first episode of Spinning Out, Kat Baker is convinced that something is going on between her sister, Serena, and her handsome, older coach Mitch (Will Kemp). As it happens, an older man is preying on the underage ice princess, but it’s not Mitch. (In fact, Mitch turns out to be a pretty good guy who is seriously in love with the girls’ mother, Carol, for all her faults.)
It’s revealed in Spinning Out Episode 10, “Kiss and Cry” that Serena has been secretly involved with her physician, Dr. Ethan Parker (Charlie Hewson). In earlier episodes, we had only seen Dr. Parker as the kindly specialist responsible for treating all the skaters, but in a later arc, he romances a rehabilitating Jenn (Amanda Zhou). He seems like the perfect guy for the unlucky Jenn until it’s revealed that he has been involved in a clandestine (and illegal) sexual relationship with the underage Serena.
When Serena realizes that Dr. Parker has played her, she breaks down and stumbles in her big regional competition. When Kat learns what has happened she confronts Dr. Parker, who says it’s all in Serena’s head. Jenn turns her back on Kat, angry that her one chance at happiness has been threatened by this revelation.
The twist with Dr. Parker may seem out there, but it’s tragically in line with what occurred in a similar sport recently. While working with US Gymnastics, Dr. Larry Nasser systematically sexually abused more than 265 athletes under his care. So, yeah, this stuff happens.
WHAT DID JANUARY JONES’S KAREN BAKER DO TO DR. PARKER AT THE END OF SPINNING OUT?
After Dr. Parker has been exposed as a sexual predator, Kat wants to immediately go to the police. However, her mother, Carol (January Jones), says that they’re not going to let this distract them from their goals. Kat will skate her final program with Justin, and Carol…well, Carol has a plan to take care of it.
Spinning Out cuts between Carol and Serena watching Kat’s final skate and a moment later where Carol visits Dr. Parker at his home and whacks him on the head with a wooden baseball bat. What’s chilling is how calm Carol is, and how January Jones lets her playfully wave to a witness across the street.
It would seem that Carol knows she’s likely to be arrested for assaulting Dr. Parker, and that she doesn’t care.
Spinning Out Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger: we watch as Kat and Justin start their free skate. So we don’t know if the pair, who have reconciled as lovers, manage to do well enough to push ahead with their Olympic dreams. That seems to be something Spinning Out is saving for Season 2.
WILL THERE BE A SPINNING OUT SEASON 2? WHEN WILL SPINNING OUT SEASON 2 COME OUT?
Netflix has yet to announce whether or not Spinning Out will be renewed for a second season. Usually, the streaming service makes a pre-emptive second season order or waits to track the first month’s streaming figures. However, it seems that showrunner Samantha Stratton is either confident that she’ll get to continue Kat and Justin’s journey with another season or she’s hoping the cliffhanger inspires Netflix to order more episodes.
