Netflix’s Bodies is the hit show that we have been somewhat obsessed with since it landed on Thursday – and some viewers have already binge-watched the whole thing – us included! The story follows four detectives throughout history who discover the same body in an alleyway – but what was it all about, and how did it end? Find out here and warning, huge spoilers ahead…
Corkboard and string at the ready to keep track of the many different plots! In Bodies, it is revealed that the dead body that the four detectives find throughout is that of Gabriel Defoe, a scientist who ends up going through a wormhole of time in the year 2053 after being shot by Iris, with his body showing up in the different spots. It is the same machine that Elias/Julien also uses to go back in time, beginning his life’s loop in the Victorian era.
After decimating a huge portion of the population as a teenager in the year 2023, he builds the dystopian government KYAL from the aftermath, then goes back in time to the 1800s to begin the chain of horrific events by marrying Alfred’s daughter, Polly – who in turn is the woman on the phone giving Charles orders, and the one who murders Esther to keep Julien's time loop a secret from the police.
Devastated by her actions after shooting Gabriel, Iris realises that Gabriel has worked out that his body will appear in the future as well as the past, and saves his life when he shows up in the lane a few days later. She then enters the machine to go back in time and stop Julien's time loop from ever happening by telling Alfred everything.
Alfred then confronts Julien and tells him that he will “destroy” his daughter before he is murdered on the way to prison. Shaken, and guilt-ridden, Julien makes a secret record to his younger self where he warns him that detonating the bomb won’t bring him any happiness - and that he has only been lied to. He leaves the record with Charles, who hides it for Shahara to find in the future. Shahara then plays it for a young Elias, stopping him from ever detonating the bomb.
As a result, Elias is reunited with his mother briefly before disappearing from reality. Without the explosion, his future, and his past, cease to exist. The story thus concludes with Alfred now alive and well, who comes across his lover Henry on the street and shares a smile with him, while Charles is also alive once more, and comes across the resurrected Esther while walking down the street. Shahara’s son is also still alive as the bomb never went off, and it’s business as usual for the police officer.
However, as the show comes to a close, Shahara is reflecting on her worries that the city will “boil over” with her taxi driver, who turns out to be Iris. The detective from the future is – for some reason – now in 2023, and tells Shahara that she “knows exactly what [she] means”. As the camera pans away, it appears that some semblance of Elias’ company KYAL continues to exist, with the letters lit up against the side of a skyscraper, hinting at a potential season two. Sign us up!