How does Dying for Sex, the FX limited series based on the popular podcast starring Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, and Sissy Spacek, wrap up its darkly comic journey of sex and mortality? It gets pretty intense, and even a little avant-garde in the finale. Here's what you need to know.
Dying for Sex is based not only on a podcast but on the true story of Molly Kochran's sexual awakening post-stage IV breast cancer diagnosis, and how her best friend Nikki Boyer was with her in her last months. In the series and IRL, Molly learned her condition was terminal and left her stagnant, unhappy marriage to explore her sexuality. She worked on healing her childhood sexual trauma as well. She learned about kinks, BDSM and after care. She had her first orgasm with a partner. But the show is not all bumping uglies. Molly is still dying, and the final episode of the series was focused on her death.
Why is Molly suddenly dying ASAP?
The final episode pulls very few punches when it comes to telling us that Molly is going to die sooner rather than later–but not without some comic moments. While Dr. Pankowitz and Sonya prepare to give Molly her latest prognosis. a weirdly enthusiastic hospice care worker named Amy, played by SNL alum Paula Pell, comes in and introduces herself and what she does. So unfortunately, Molly learns that she has even less time to live from this stranger instead of her own doctor. It's the kind of terrible thing that you do, despite it all, have to laugh about.
After that awkward moment, Dr. Pankowitz comes in and tells her that the cancer has spread to her brain. She's looking at months or weeks, now, instead of years. She could continue chemotherapy, but Molly doesn't want that. So they wheel Molly and her things to a room in the hospice wing of the hospital. She dyes her hair pink and starts getting ready to go, like, for real.
Who all visits Molly in hospice?
First Molly's mom, Gail, calls from the lobby. Not only do Molly and Gail heal their relationship in the hospice room, but one night Molly sees her mother bonding with Nikki. They'll have each other when she's gone. Molly's ex-husband Steve visits and tells her that his new partner is pregnant. It's a brief, but amicable visit.
Nikki's ex-boyfriend Noah visits too, after Gail breaks into Nikki's phone and invites him to play percussion for them in the room. Molly insists that it is her dying wish that Nikki and Noah get back together, because she feels responsible for breaking them up. Nikki refuses to hold Noah accountable to that, but when he says that he and his new girlfriend have already broken up, there's a glimmer of possibility there.
Nikki tells Noah that she didn't think she was capable of loving someone as much as Molly and that she's thankful to know that. He compares it to the feeling he had when his daughter was born. His heart filled with more love than he thought it could handle at the start of someone's life, and hers did at the end of someone's life. That's kind of beautiful!
How does Molly die?
Amy walks Molly through what's going to happen to her body in the last month, weeks, hours, minutes, and even seconds of her life as it shuts down–including a sense of timelessness and euphoria. There's also something called "the rally," a "surge of energy and mental clarity" that happens in your last week or so.
This manifests in a couple of cool, artistic, ways. As Molly gets closer to death she imagines that she's telekinetic. She hallucinates her loved ones and her recent sexual partners, starting with the man who wanted her to insult his picture perfect penis. It feels like she's unlinking from time, she says, just like Amy said might happen. And she tells Nikki that she wishes she could see her when she's old–which comes up later. When she rallies, they have a dance party.
After a certain point, Molly feels like she's ready to go and Gail suggests they ask Amy to sedate her. It's not assisted suicide, she's just going to be unconscious in her final moments so she won't feel any more pain. Molly tells Gail and Nikki that she feels like she's finally getting to go on a trip after spending years canceling plans because of her health. She falls asleep, and passes away a day or so later.
Then, most importantly, after she draws her final breath Nikki tries to honor Molly's wish to not die with her mouth hanging open. It is a struggle, however. She basically has to prop it closed with her cardigan. (Not-so-fun fact: once rigor mortis sets in, that's basically impossible to do. Nikki had to act fast! It's not like the movies where you can gracefully close a dead person's eyes with the brush of a hand.)
What does Nikki see at the end?
A little while later, we see Nikki fulfilling her Shakespeare-loving dreams by directing a production of The Tempest. On her way to meet Noah and his daughter after tech rehearsal, she sees two older women talking and laughing at an outdoor table together. It's a look into what she and Molly could have grown into in another life. They're also, we can tell thanks to some hand gestures, talking about sex–which brings all of the themes of the show full circle. That makes Nikki happy and sad and all of the emotions rolled up into one. (Me too, girl!)
