The heartbreaking final scene of Netflix's Adolescence, explained.

Adolescence has quickly become one of Netflix's most critically acclaimed new shows of 2025. The four-part limited series, which follows the devastating aftermath of a 13-year-old boy being accused of murder, has stunned viewers with its unflinching portrayal of family trauma and social media's impact on teenagers.

If you've finished watching this gripping one-shot crime drama and found yourself with questions about that devastating finale, you're not alone. Let's break down the conclusion of Adolescence and what it all means, including that open-ended final scene.

Watch the trailer for Adolescence. Article continues after video.

Why did Jamie kill Katie?

Throughout the series, we gradually learn why Jamie committed this horrific act. The show reveals that a combination of factors contributed to his actions, including his lack of self-esteem, perceived bullying at school, and perhaps most significantly, his access to online incel propaganda.

The series explores issues of male rejection and resentment. Image: Netflix.

The series co-creator and co-writer, Stephen Graham, said to Netflix Tudum, "What's revealed is that Jamie has been engaging with incel forums — these online communities that promote misogynistic views and validate feelings of male rejection and resentment."

Jamie had attempted to ask Katie out after a compromising photo of her was circulated. When she rejected him and publicly accused him of being an "incel" on social media, he became embarrassed and enraged, leading to the fatal stabbing.

Jamie's guilty plea.

In the second half of the finale, Jamie calls his father to tell him that he will be changing his plea to guilty and accepting his fate for killing Katie. This is a pivotal moment in the series, as it marks Jamie's first moment of "certainty" since the premiere.

Series co-creator Jack Thorne explained that Jamie's evolution began in the previous episode during his conversation with a clinical psychologist.

"In Episode 4, he's much further along on his journey than before. Jamie now knows what he's done and what his future might be. That allows him to put his feelings in a box and close the lid on himself in some way."

For the Miller family, this admission is devastating. Director Barantini compared it to being told a loved one on life support cannot be saved: "That's what Jamie pleading guilty is for the Millers."

Jamie pleading guilty is devastating for The Millers. Image: Netflix.

The family's unravelling.

The finale powerfully focuses on the Miller family and explores how they have been permanently altered by Jamie's actions.

Eddie and Manda's marriage has deteriorated under the strain, with Eddie struggling to reconcile his love for his son with the horror of his actions. Graham's performance captures the crushing weight of parental guilt, as Eddie questions whether he should have noticed warning signs in his son's behaviour.

The show also examines how Lisa, Jamie's sister, has become collateral damage — ostracised at school and forced to build a new identity in the shadow of her brother's crime.

Listen to The Quicky discuss Netflix's Adolescence here. Post continues below.

The heartbreaking final scene.

The final moments of Adolescence deliver one last emotional gut-punch. Eddie, still processing Jamie's decision to plead guilty, goes into his son's bedroom and kisses Jamie's teddy bear, apologising to the stuffed animal as though it were his boy.

This affecting scene almost didn't happen. According to Barantini, the script originally called for Eddie to simply get into Jamie's bed and pull the covers over himself.

"We rehearsed it, and it was great. But I just felt like there's something about him tucking in Jamie's teddy," Barantini explained. "This is the only thing that Eddie's got that he can touch — that's malleable, that Jamie's cuddled, and Jamie's been with. And then Stephen made it his own."

The moment perfectly encapsulates Eddie's grief – unable to comfort his son, he finds solace in this small connection to the boy Jamie was before the crime.

The emotional final scene almost didn't happen. Image: Netflix.

What does the Adolescence ending mean?

What makes Adolescence particularly powerful is its refusal to offer a neat resolution. The finale doesn't conclude with healing or closure, but with an acknowledgement that some wounds never fully heal. The Miller family remains fractured, and the ripple effects of Jamie's actions continue to impact everyone connected to the case.

The team behind the show always intended to close the series with an in-depth look at the Miller family — to explore the aftermath of the heinous act, and to disprove any negative assumptions viewers might have held about Jamie's parents.

"I wanted to eliminate the possibility of thinking Eddie is a violent man," Graham said. "Eddie is a hardworking father who goes to work early in the morning, comes back late at night, and puts food on the table. Eddie brings in as much love as he can. He does to the best of his ability."

The writers always aimed to show that Jamie's mother and sister are "equally upstanding individuals".

"You're understanding the final part of Jamie," he says. "You're getting a new perspective on Eddie — the complicated vision of Eddie. You need to understand how he allowed his son to become absent, what Eddie taught his son, and what he didn't teach his son. You need to understand that for the whole family."

The show leaves viewers with uncomfortable questions about responsibility — of parents, social media platforms, schools, and society as a whole — in preventing similar tragedies.

The wider message behind Adolescence. Image: Netflix.

The wider message Adolescence uses this fictional case to shine a light on very real issues. The show was inspired by the growing knife-crime epidemic in the UK and the alarming rise of online radicalisation amongst young men.

Graham has noted that the series aims to start conversations about the pressures facing teenage boys today and how parents can better recognise warning signs of harmful online influence.

The series doesn't vilify Jamie but instead portrays him as both perpetrator and victim — of toxic online communities, of societal pressures around masculinity, and of his own inability to process rejection in healthy ways.

Feature Image: Netflix.