‘The Outsider’ Ending Explained: Will There Be a Season 2 and What’s the Deal with Holly’s Scratch?

One of the most chilling shows of 2020 came to an end last night — or did it?

HBO’s The Outsider wrapped up the hunt for El Coco with a spectacular season finale that deviated from its source material and set up a possible Season 2. After ten long episodes, Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) and PI Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), came face-to-face with their suspect: the mysterious supernatural force known as El Coco. Weak, and hiding in a cave system, El Coco was easier to kill than our heroes might have been led to believe — but did they manage to kill El Coco? What was up with The Outsider‘s creepy end credits scene? And could there be a Season 2 of The Outsider? And what’s the deal with the scratch on Holly’s arm?

Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of HBO’s The Outsider.

THE OUTSIDER ENDING EXPLAINED: IS EL COCO REALLY DEAD? HOW IS THE OUTSIDER FINALE DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOK?

HBO’s The Outsider ended with a tense showdown between our coalition of heroes and El Coco. While El Coco hid in the Bear Cave, Jack Hoskins (Marc Menchaca) used his sniper skills to rain fire on Holly Gibney, Ralph Anderson, and their friends. Andy Katcavage (Derek Cecil) and Howard Saloman (Bill Camp) were both killed by Jack. However, at the last minute, Jack seemed to free himself from El Coco’s grasp — at least with enough time to confirm that the monstrous entity was in the caves, and to finally shoot himself.

Holly and Ralph entered the caves to confront El Coco. In Stephen King’s book, they both realize that they can’t shoot a gun because the caves might collapse, so Holly uses a “happy slapper” — a sock full of ball bearings — to crush El Coco’s head. However, HBO’s The Outsider went with more fireworks. The real Claude Bolton (Paddy Considine) appears and shoots El Coco, bringing the cave down on top of everyone.

After the cave collapses, Ralph Anderson and Holly Gibney return to the rubble to save Claude Bolton and finish off El Coco. Intuiting that El Coco is still a threat — despite being speared with a stalactite — Holly stabs him in the heart. Ralph says something to the effect that they need to save some part of the creature to exonerate Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman), and Holly says, “Who’s Terry?” (We’ll get to that.)

After Holly exits the cave with Claude, Ralph stabs El Coco a few more times to weaken it. As the monster loses power, it phases through a number of past entities before its face collapses. Ralph finally crushes El Coco’s skull with a heavy rock.

Why did Ralph kill El Coco instead of Holly? The Hollywood answer is that Ben Mendelsohn is a producer on the project and may have wanted a “hero moment.” The other answer is that The Outsider‘s end credits scene suggest that Holly Gibney might be El Coco’s latest vessel.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH HOLLY’S SCRATCH? WHY DID HOLLY SAY, “WHO’S TERRY?” IN THE CAVE?

In The Outsider‘s end credits scene, we catch up with Holly Gibney. She’s washing her hands — for less than 20 seconds! Holly, there’s a pandemic happening! — and she sees the specter of Jack Hoskins in her mirror. Terrified, Holly grabs a small mirror to check the back of her neck. There’s nothing there.

However, we next see Holly looking up Terry Maitland online. Maybe she’s keeping tabs on Ralph’s big case, maybe she’s refreshing her memory, or maybe she’s plotting something nefarious. We say that last one because there is a noticeable scratch on Holly’s arm. Holly’s scratch looks identical to the one that El Coco used to choose hosts.

What does this mean? Sometime during the final battle with El Coco, Holly was scratched by him or Jack Hoskins. She is not El Coco — we don’t think — but there could be a double of her somewhere out there. Then again, since El Coco is now dead, a trace bit of that monster could have attached itself to her. As she herself put it, “An Outsider knows and Outsider.” Perhaps the same thing that makes Holly incredibly perceptive gives her the energy to carry El Coco out of the grave.

Of course, this isn’t the only suspect thing about Holly in the finale. She also seemed to forget all about why she was hunting El Coco in the first place: Terry Maitland. When Holly said, “Who’s Terry?”, it could have been a sign that she was possessed by El Coco and/or symptomatic of the way her brain can see some details and overlook others. It could just be she’s been so wrapped up in El Coco that she forgot all about Terry Maitland. Or, you know, they are setting up The Outsider Season 2.

WILL THERE BE A SEASON 2 OF THE OUTSIDER? WILL HBO MAKE THE OUTSIDER SEASON 2?

As of November 10, we can report that HBO has canceled The Outsider and passed on making a Season 2. However, Variety reports that MRC, the production company behind the series, is shopping a second season to other premium streamers and cable channels. Which makes sense since after watching The Outsider season finale, it definitely looked like the showrunners were leaving the door open for more El Coco-related adventures.

First, there’s the fact that Ralph very pointedly tells Holly he would like to team up again. That screams, “THE OUTSIDER SEASON 2 IS HAPPENING!!!” Second, in its final moments, El Coco teases there are more creatures like him: ancient, evil forces feeding on society. Finally, the end credits scene definitely suggests that some part of El Coco has attached itself to Holly Gibney. Whether it will turn her or just haunt her remains to be seen.

It’s also worth noting that up until the season finale, HBO was categorizing The Outsider as a limited series, but last night’s episode was called a “Season Finale,” suggesting The Outsider will return for another season.

Where to stream The Outsider