The Peripheral ending explained: Is Flynne dead?
The Peripheral season one spoilers follow.
That is the big question: is Flynne (Chloë Grace Moretz) dead? What the heck happened after she instructed Conner to kill her in order to save the people in her timeline from the impending doomsday Jackpot? You know the one we're talking about. It's only underpinned the whole of the season. It's why the England-in-2099 timeline looks post-apocalyptic, once you take off the rose-tinted glasses.
It's also what was set to happen to Flynne's timeline way, way in the future until Cherise (T'Nia Miller) pressed fast-forward on its trajectory in order to destroy Flynne.
Why such a drastic move? We know she's heartless but she's also calculating, so behind every sting there are about a thousand steps.
No more speculating, let's dive right into explaining The Peripheral.
The Peripheral ending explained
In the penultimate episode, Ash (Katie Leung) and Ossain (Julian Moore-Cook) make an intriguing discovery.
The Research Institute's data that Aelita stole in episode one was implanted in Flynne in the form of bacterial DNA.
They had intended to hand over the information to a radical group known as the Neoprims, a group that despises the world order following the cataclysmic Jackpot that forced the Klepts and the RI on top. However they were rumbled by Lev (JJ Feild) who threatened to kill them if they didn't cooperate with him in its retrieval.
In the name of perseverance, Ash turns to the head of the RI, Cherise, thinking she would be the lesser of the two evils but Cherise's actions are more blunt than she expected.
Cherise decides to trigger the Jackpot in Flynne's 2032 timeline. This is a bold move considering Cherise has been using the 2032 stub as a testing ground for anti-jackpot measures, but she is willing to destroy valuable research in enacting the Jackpot because of the bacterial nature of the data in Flynne's body.
The detonation of the silo in Flynne's hometown of Clanton County is referenced as a historically key event in the Jackpot in 2099 and while setting it off now wouldn't destroy the whole 2032 stub, it would wipe out all of the Clanton inhabitants.
Ash's guilty conscience has her revealing this news to Flynne, who then takes matters into her own hands.
She teams up with Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer (Alexandra Billings) of the Met Police and the two devise a plan which involves the death of Flynne in the original 2032 stub and the opening of a new 2032 stub in which she continues to live.
Her death would wipe out the bacterial DNA, which would stop Cherise from needing to axe Clanton in the original timeline.
What of the bacterial DNA that exists within her in the new 2032 stub, you ask? Good question. One we're sure season two will address.
Meanwhile in this first season Flynne has Conner be the one to gun her down. Her death is set up in a way that suggests Inspector Ainsley is responsible so that the Met Police can take credit for her death. Flynne does this with the intent of getting Cherise to believe Ainsley is on her side while burying the truth that Flynne and Ainsley are conspiring to take down the RI.
Is Corbel Pickett dead?
Tommy is in a bit of a Pickett pickle, one that started with hitman Bob (Ned Dennehy). Bob escaped the Pickett's clutches in the previous episode but killed Pickett's wife in the process. He then went on to finish the job he'd been tasked with, killing Flynne and Burton, but botched the task and got himself killed.
However his actions before his demise (the killing of Mrs Pickett) have enraged Corbel, who enlists the help of Sheriff Jackman (Ben Dickey).
Corbel plans to murder Bob (not aware that Burton beat him to it) and blame the Fishers for Bob's arrival in Clanton by saying they were involved in illegal drug activities, which led to someone sending a hitman after them.
This quenches Corbel's thirst for revenge whilst also ensuring he is able to reap the rewards Bob couldn't for the capture and presumably eventual killing of the Fishers.
Unfortunately though, when Jackman instructs Tommy to arrest the Fishers, Tommy has a crisis of conscience and instead kills Jackman. He tries to kill Corbel but the tough old goat is left comatose and now Tommy must decide what to do. Does he cover his tracks by killing Corbel or let him live?
In Pickett's fragile state the men who 'work for him' (doing his illegal bidding) begin to jostle for power, including his nephew Jasper Baker (Chris Coy). Jasper is dismissed by the others as useless and in his drunken state rashly plots to kill them. It is insinuated that he drugs them and then proceeds to leave them locked in a car on a railway track.
Not soon after he is persuaded by his conscience not to follow through after a call with his wife reminds him of who he really is. Sadly it's too late for regrets. He has locked the keys in the car, the men are unconscious and the train thundering their way is unable to halt in time.
What happened between Aelita and Wilf?
Wilf is finally reunited with his long lost sister but their reunion is marred by his learning the sad truth that Aelita discovered when she took out the implant suppressing her memory.
Aelita reveals that both she and Wilf lost their family at the hands of the Klept following a massacre to wipe out a contagion that affected them and five million others all over England.
She now means to seek revenge and has gathered a dedicated group intent on taking down the Klept. All they need to do it, is the data in Flynne's DNA.
The Peripheral's post-credits scene explained
Lev believes he is on his way to meet with his father but is instead met with three other elder members of the Klept. They commend his infiltration of the RI but find his actions are too risky and leave the Klept vulnerable to retribution if they are caught.
They instruct Lev to "cauterise the wound" – in other words he must kill off anything that is connected to the 2032 stub, which includes Wilf, Flynne, Burton and Aelita West.
Lev uncharacteristically shows what appears to be hesitation which could only be attributed to his reluctance to kill Wilf who he cares for, the rest are just cannon fodder to him. However as a dutiful Klept we presume he will follow through, which spells trouble for season two.
And, despite all the revelations above, there’s a chance that a second season could provide new perspective on everything we’ve seen so far.
"I think we’ve imagined, from the beginning, that this would be a story that grows, bifurcates, splits and doubles down on itself," producer Jonathan Nolan told Collider.
"There are so many fascinating places to go with a story that contains the idea for the conceit of worlds that are subtly different and slightly changed. As far as adaptations go, this one has such incredible possibilities, in terms of where this story could go, so we very much hope that we’ll have an opportunity to keep telling this story."
All episodes of The Peripheral are available on Prime Video.
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