Clickbait Ending Explained: Who Killed Nick Brewer and Is Nick Was Actually Innocent?

“Clickbait,” Netflix’s latest mystery drama series, is a perplexing show that explores society’s relationships with social media and how our people differ from real life and the internet. While its critics are divided (by Rotten Tomatoes ), fans seem a bit more receptive to the show’s performance and its themes. The series centers on family man Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier), who is suddenly kidnapped and appears in a video on the internet. Nick, clearly physically beaten during this time, is apparently forced to hold up a sign that proclaims that he abuses women and another sign that says he will die once the video reaches 5 million views.

Clickbait Ending Explained

Naturally, this is where “Clickbait” comments on the Internet come into play rightly, as the video attracts massive attention and quickly surpasses 5 million videos. Not long after, Nick’s body is found and it is clear that he has been murdered. This isn’t the end of the show though, as Nick’s wife Sophie Brewer (Betty Gabriel) and her sister Pia Brewer (Zoe Kazan) set out to prove Nick was innocent of abusing women and to find out who murdered him. Through a series of twists and turns, the pair find their answers. However, as with most mysteries, the solutions at the heart of “Clickbait” are not exactly easy.

In A Surprising Twist, Nick Is Actually Innocent

In the end, it turns out that Nick was actually innocent of any crime. He was kidnapped by a man named Simon (Daniel Henshall), who believed that Nick was indirectly responsible for the suicide of his sister Sarah (Taylor Ferguson). Someone using the photos and Nick’s name created a dating app profile and started an internet romance with Sarah, before suddenly ending it coldly. Sarah later died by suicide, which, in turn, led Simon to find Nick and kidnap him. He made Nick hold up the posters and shot the video, along with his friend Daryl (Jamie Timony).

However, in another turn of events, Nick convinced Simon that he had nothing to do with Sarah’s death and that the profile was not his. The couple eventually let Nick go free. This really illustrates the “Clickbait” theme of the internet people and how easily they can be built. This time, one was built that cost someone his life and nearly cost Nick his at the hands of Simon. Of course, Nick tragically dies anyway, leading to the other major twist that “Clickbait” offers.

Nick Faces His Real Killer

After his ordeal with Simon, Nick realizes that the person behind the profile is Dawn (Becca Lish), a co-worker who Nick gave all of his personal information to when he created his work account. He confronts her at her house and she reveals that she caught Sarah simply because she was bored. Sarah was not even the first woman to fall victim to this ploy. However, her husband Ed (Wally Dunn) found out and stopped. Nick threatens to reveal what Dawn has done, but furious, and in defense of his wife, Ed murders Nick. This eventually leads to Ed being killed by the police, ultimately allowing Nick to be totally innocent, albeit posthumously.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly , show creator Tony Ayres revealed that Nick’s fate will always be this. “We wanted to show that things that happen on the Internet can have consequences in the real world. Personally, I love the surprise of his death, ”Ayres revealed. The showrunner also defended the twists, as Ed was a character that only appeared in the last episode. He also noted that he thinks “people are really going to love it, or I think they’re going to throw the remote at the television.”

Again, it’s an ending that fits in with “Clickbait’s” internet themes and reviews, but it’s not necessarily one that all fans are going to love. Given how divisive the critical response has been, Ayres’s prediction of how viewers will react has mostly come true.