The Peripheral Season 1 Ending Explained: Is Flynne Really Dead? Peripheral New Timeline Explained? Post Credit Scene Explained
The first season of The Peripheral ends with the eighth episode entitled “The Creation Of A Thousand Forests”. Scott B. Smith’s series, co-created with Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, has left us with mixed reactions. Prime Video’s sci-fi was an obstacle course, in which she very often found herself in difficulty. At the finish line, we feel that we have missed something along the way and that we have not experienced the race as promised. This is because the story travels smoothly, without major twists, adrenaline-pumping moments, or creative peaks. Everything runs smoothly like oil, so much so that not even the ending can make us worry about the characters. Nor are we attacked by those emotions that the final sequence would like to convey to us. Having said that, what convinced us most about The Peripheral is the intricate plot involving the various factions: the Fishers, the Klept, the MET and the IR (Research Institute); no, they are not new drugs out there.
The latter form the triad that controls and “protects” the world after the Jackpot (a set of catastrophes that left the planet in rubble). In between, we find the family of Flynne and Burton, embroiled against their will in a ring of secret information, parallel universes and wars for power. The series makes us go in circles, between characters, factions, peripherals, past and future. If even after the ending you were unable to figure out what happened, then you are in the right place. Throughout the article, we will try to explain the various events of the season, including the controversial ending. The following contains spoilers on the plot of The Peripheral and is therefore recommended to be read after the season is over. So, let’s start this journey with the television transposition of William Gibson’s famous novel.
The Peripheral Season 1 Ending Explained: Is Flynne Really Dead?
We are going to a small parenthesis on the incipit of the story. In the futuristic London of The Peripheral, Aelita West was hired by Klept to steal the great secret of the Research Institute, namely the technology with which they manipulate behavior (especially in the timelines). The woman enlists the help of Flynne who, for the first time in Burton’s peripheral, succeeds in the task without her knowledge. Aelita has stored the information in the girl’s brain in the form of a bacterial infection. Flynne and their family thus become the targets of Klept and IR. The former tries the easy way out. Lev Zubov, with the help of Wilf Netherton, takes Flynne into the future to discover Aelita’s location and her purpose; the woman disappeared from the radar after the theft.
The research institute’s approach turns out to be less pragmatic. To bury the secret, he first makes use of mercenaries and later of the killer Bob. None of them will succeed, as Burton’s military company makes a clean sweep of their captors. However, the IR is not foolish enough not to use other means for their shady purposes. He also hires Corbell Pickett, the crime boss of Spring Creek. However, he too is temporarily stopped. This time to help the protagonist is Tommy Constantine, the police officer. Here Pickett’s plot armor is so obvious it blinds us. The character, it seems, will be so relevant in the future that Tommy shoots him with the sonic gun instead of the real one. In short, better could have been done, given how the sheriff – in cahoots with Corbell – is killed by a bullet.
The penultimate episode, entitled “The Gimmick” gives us some additional explanation of what is happening. During the interrogation by Detective Ainsley, Flynne learns that the IR is trying to get ahead of the Jackpot in his fragment (parallel universe). We also find out that Ash and Ossian know the location of the stolen data, which is in Flynne’s body. They intend to collaborate with the director of RE, Cherise. The latter, on the other hand, is more convinced that she never kills the Fishers, and she finds an agreement with Ainsley so that the MET puts things right, also making a clean sweep of the Zubovs. Let’s continue now with the season finale of The Peripheral.
The Pawns of The Great Game The Peripheral
In the latest episode of The Peripheral, we witness a meeting between Ainsley and Flynne, in which they try to find an agreement to stop Cherise and Zubrov. The girl asks if it is possible to save her family, and above all her mother (her treatments have had no effect on her illness). The detective’s answer hits Flynne like a boulder: all this is not possible, at least not in the way she would like the young woman to do. Meanwhile the IR, in the drastic enterprise of stopping the Fishers, pushes the accelerator of the Jackpot triggering a series of events that will lead to the bombing of Spring Creek. Meanwhile Will and Flynne, on memory lane, discover the whereabouts of Aelita. The woman, in the sole presence of her brother, reveals her secret plan: revenge.
Aelita, after removing the implant, recalls how Klept is guilty of the genocide of thousands of people. The organization, moved by fear, killed all those displaced people who could have led to an epidemic. Aelita has called on many others to have their implants removed to open his eyes to the truth and take revenge on Klept. We also have a small parenthesis on Atticus, but the dynamics of which are quite clear and do not undermine the understanding of the story. In the snippet, Flynne learns from Tommy that the National Guard has learned that a far-right militia is planning to blow up a missile silo. The protagonist feels Cherise’s hand and is thus preparing to implement her plan.
After a confrontation with Ash, Flynne returned to Ainsley and revealed everything to her. Zubov’s right-hand man wants him dead, like everyone in the fragment to prevent the disclosure of the information contained in Flynne’s brain. The detective and protagonist then set about to find a solution to the problem. Having said that, here is the new fragment in The Peripheral. Indeed, Flynne proposes to raid on IR establishment and use their technology to do so. Ainsley reveals her whereabouts, as she would like to prevail over the other two organizations. The plan is simple, at least on paper, and involves creating a new fragment for Flynne to hide in. However, at the same time, he must die in the original one, to prevent Cherine from harming the inhabitants of Spring Creek. Flynne’s death in the old fragment will thus appear to be the work of Ainsley, as previously agreed with the IR.
An Anticlimactic Ending That Leaves Many Doors Open for Season 2
We now come to the climax of the episode, and the implementation of the plan of Flynne and Ainsley. The girl will ask for Conner’s help, as she is sure that she will do the dirty work when the time comes; unlike her instead of her brother whom she would have rejected. Flynne throws himself headlong into the factory, easily breaks the heads of the watch peripherals and takes possession of the technology for the fragments – a simple pocket watch. On the display, in which the device is placed, the timeline appears as conceived by the IR. The main line marks the years 2028, 2038 and 2052. From 2028 we see a fork extending towards 2032, and from 2038 another towards 2053.
Flynne thus creates her fragment, aiming to “awaken” in 2032. Cherise, connected to a still-standing peripheral, warns the young woman of the consequences that her actions could have. In response, the protagonist of The Peripheral claims that she is the hunter now, and that she will never know where she is until she strikes. Flynne destroys the watch, as well as the coordinates of the new fragment. Exiting the device, we see Flynne walking through the woods, stopping, and counting to ten before Conner shoots her in the distance. The scene is shown to us from above, hidden among the branches of the trees. We hear a shot and birds scamper, but no bodies hit the ground. In short, the number one rule of serial products applies here: if we don’t see the body, the character is most likely not dead.
Having said that, Flynne wakes up in a suburb of the London of the future, in front of a reveler Ainsley for the success of the plan. Does this mean that the protagonist really died in the original fragment, and she woke up in 2032? We cannot say for sure given the critical nature of the whole thing. The resolution chosen for the first season of The Peripheral seems too convoluted on the one hand and simplistic on the other. We don’t know how Flynne “awakens” in the new fragment, but we hope that a second season can remedy this problem and give us a sensible explanation. But that’s not all, because a post-credit scene sees Zubrov confronting Klept’s foremen, who order him to murder all the people involved. The man accepts, also because the lives of his wife and son are at risk. The first season of The Peripheral comes to an end in an anticlimactic way. Throw in new complications and factions within the great soup, but will it be enough to convince the public? In our opinion, there is a basis for a big slip at Westworld, we hope to recover.
