Netflix’s The Beast in Me follows a sinister story of a grieving author who starts to question whether her wealthy neighbor killed his first wife — but how did the psychological thriller end?
The miniseries, which premiered on Thursday, November 13, introduced Aggie (Claire Danes) as she struggled to write her next book following her son’s death. Aggie blamed a local teenager Teddy (Bubba Weiler) who was responsible after drinking and driving. She then met Nile (Matthew Rhys) — a wealthy man who moved next door — and his second wife, Nina (Brittany Snow).
Despite knowing that Nile’s first wife disappeared under surprising circumstances, Aggie found her research into him forming a confusing connection. Aggie’s initial investigation led to her thinking Nile wasn’t at fault but Teddy’s sudden disappearance and more digging around led to a different revelation.
“I never get to play roles like this where I’m generally the mustache twirling bad guy and unashamedly so as he is in this piece,” Rhys, 51, exclusively told Us Weekly about the confusion surrounding Nile. “So I relish the thought and opportunity of that.”
Aggie realized Nile was responsible just as he framed her for Teddy’s murder. He almost got away with it but his wife, Nina, and others looking into Nile were able to get his arrested, which is where he got killed.
“I was sort of glad but I think karmically you need it. The audience needs the redemptive element that bad things happen to bad people and if you do bad things, bad things will happen back,” Rhys noted. “I was sad in a way because I was really hoping that I could come back for season 2.”
He continued: “Aggie and Nile could come into work as a tandem in cracking murders [in season 2]. Clearly I won’t. I did pitch that in the beginning of the second season that I sit up on the gurney in the ambulance.”
Elsewhere in the finale, Nina gave birth to her and Nile’s child — with the last scene showing her questioning whether their baby would inherit Nile’s worst traits.
“I jumped up. I actually audibly let out a scream or a little squeal and I jumped up out of my seat that I was sitting in,” Snow, 39, told Us about the conclusion to Nina’s story. “I was so excited for my character and for Nina for standing up for myself and for herself.”
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Snow was grateful that the show invested in Nina.
“I advocated for myself a lot with this show and needed to make sure that Nina wasn’t just a one dimensional character,” she continued. “I think the creators heard me. And I love that about them and I appreciate that so much that there isn’t just the wife character. She means so much more in this show.”
Hettienne Park, who played Erika, also weighed in on the show’s twists and turns.
“The exploration of our dark side — the beast in all of us — and how it plays out in each character [was so interesting to me],” she said. “There’s so much going on in the show and there’s so much going on in the story. It was definitely a page-turner as I was going through it.”
The Beast in Me is streaming on Netflix.
