- Agatha Wiggs gets backed into a corner, with no allies, and seemingly no hope.
- Cracks are revealed within the Jarvis family.
- A last-minute turn of events changes the entire outcome of the finale.
Netflix's latest psychological thriller, The Beast in Me, is one of those shows that will definitely have you at the edge of your seat. There's a lot of secrecy, hidden alliances, and heavy gaslighting going on throughout the show. You're forced to question how reliable of a narrator famed author Agatha Wiggs (Claire Danes) actually is. Is billionaire real estate tycoon Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) actually a killer? Or is she projecting her anger and blaming everyone but herself? Could she be the monster?
Well, in the two episodes leading up to the finale, the show unravels the plot. Warning: Major spoilers ahead! It turns out that Nile really is a murderer guilty of everything Aggie has suspected him of. He did, in fact, murder his wife Madison (Leila George). He's also kidnapped and murdered Teddy Fenig (Bubba Weiler). And, among his latest victims is Agent Brian Abbott (David Lyons).
But just when Aggie's figured things out and has gathered enough evidence to guarantee a life sentence for Nile, everything backfires on her. Here's everything that goes down in the finale of The Beast in Me.
Aggie is on the run.
In the penultimate episode of the limited series, Jarvis manages to pin the disappearance and death of Teddy Fenig on Aggie. Because of the substantial mountain of evidence stacked up against her (including a restraining order filed by the Fenigs), plus the fact that Nile managed to plant Teddy's dead body in her late son Cooper's room, she looked convincingly guilty. Though her friend Agent Abbott got killed off by Nile, she found a new ally in Agent Erika Breton (Hettiene Park).
However, things get complicated as Breton becomes preoccupied since the FBI is tipped off about Aggie's alleged crimes. Aggie is unable to reach the agent so she calls her ex-wife, Shelley (Natalie Morales), to ask for help. But it was too late. The police had gotten to her sooner, and she was cooperating with them.
For a glimmer of a second, there is hope that justice might get served to the Jarvises. Agent Breton tries to verify evidence given to her by Aggie, which proves that Nile killed Madison. But Rick Jarvis (Tim Guinee) barges into her home with his henchmen to threaten her and her family. She was, after all, indebted to the Jarvises for bailing her husband out of prison time and a huge settlement.
So, with no one to turn to, our protagonist is forced to go on the run. She manages to find refuge in a greenhouse, and spends the night there.
Martin Jarvis ends up in a coma.
Despite his not-so-great effort to hide his nephew's nefarious deeds, Rick gives everything away to his beloved brother/Jarvis family patriarch Martin (Jonathan Banks). Just as Marty was celebrating his victory over liberal council member Olivia Benitez (Aleyse Shannon), Rick comes in and spills the beans on Marty's son Nile's latest crime. Once Marty realizes that there might be no end to his son's reckless killing spree, he has a stroke that sends him to the hospital.
Rick, of course, blames Nile for his brother's near-demise. Tensions rise within the family ranks. However, Nile's wife Nina (Brittany Snow) still stands by him, especially now that she's carrying his child in her womb. He fed her the story that Aggie kidnapped, tortured, and killed Teddy, and tried to use him as a scapegoat. Though it's clear that Nina isn't 100% convinced by this narrative, she goes along with it.
It seems that things are looking up for Nile Jarvis. He's getting away with his crimes. He's the head honcho of the Jarvis estate given his father's condition. The plans for Jarvis Yards have been secured given the deal with Benitez. Plus, he gets to continue his bloodline with a child on the way.
Aggie surrenders herself to Nina and the police.
Before surrendering herself to the authorities, Aggie decides to make her way to Nina's art gallery. They get some alone time, during which Aggie immediately says that she's tipped off the police that she's there. This helps her gain Nina's trust. She also admits that her son Cooper's death was probably not all Teddy Fenig's fault, and that she was distracted while driving her son to his doctor's appointment. She was taking a call from The New York Times and was frustrated by the way her son was acting in the backseat.
Swearing on her dear son's memory, she tells Nina the real story about Madison and Teddy's disappearances. She tells her about how Nile had torn an old suicide note from Madison's birding journal back from 2017 to make her murder look like a suicide. She also makes it clear that Fenig's death was also Nile's doing.
As Nina processes all this information, the police arrive and take Aggie away in handcuffs.
Nina saves the day.
Following Aggie's arrest, Nina heads home. Her dear husband Nile is waiting for her with open arms ready to comfort his shaken wife. Nile, of course, asks her why she thinks Aggie had surrendered herself and what she had said to Nina before she did. Nina tells him everything Aggie had told her, which brings her to straight-out asking him whether he did murder Madison and Teddy Fenig. She pushes his buttons, which leads him to confess everything he had done. Nile then tells Nina, "I don't want to hide anymore. Not from you." And the couple embrace, with Nina appearing to accept Nile for the monster that he is.
The next day, Nile and Benitez hold a press conference revealing their plans. The Jarvises will be gifting a sizable plot of land for affordable housing, which in turn will mean that construction on Jarvis Yards will go unopposed. After Nile gives his speech, he spots his wife and goes to her. He's happy that she was there to support him, despite him saying there was no need. But as he goes in for an embrace, she stops him and tells him to check his phone. Nile plays the voice note, and hears his own confession from the night before. As it turns out, Nina had recorded the whole thing and sent it to authorities.
Nile is arrested right there in a very public display. And as he gets taken away in handcuffs, he spots Aggie in the crowd. They make eye contact, and he leaves with a smug smile.
Aggie gets a fitting ending for her book.
After Nile's arrest, things hadn't ended. Rick turned over evidence that was more than enough to let Nile rot in prison. Nile pleaded no contest to all the charges, and received three consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole. And to eliminate any chance of Marty waking up from his coma only to see his legacy destroyed, Rick unplugs his brother before he goes to prison himself.
Aggie becomes Nile's first and only visitor. She wanted to interview him to give him the "last word" on the book she'd been writing about him. They speak for three hours, during which Aggie comes to the conclusion that there was an anger in her that fueled the monstrosity in Nile. She reads off her newly published hit of a book that he was like a "dark angel [who] made manifest a wish too horrible to name."
Nile ultimately meets his demise in prison, with Rick paying off some guys to murder him. And Nina cares for their child as a single mother. She looks like the picture of motherly bliss, until she seems to see something (evil?) in her son.
