What Only Fans Of The Book Know About Behind Her Eyes's Ending
If you thought the ending of Netflix's Behind Her Eyes was bleak, then just wait until you hear how the book ends. The hit miniseries is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Pinborough, and while it is incredibly faithful to the source material, the show's ending makes one small change that ever-so-slightly softens the final scene.
The series ends shortly after Rob tricks Louise into leaving her body via astral projection so that he can inhabit it and get his happily ever after with David. In the final shot, David and Rob-Louise are seen riding off with Louise's son, Adam, after a quickie marriage at the courthouse. As the newlyweds plan a potential honeymoon cruise, little Adam pipes up from the backseat that his mom has never liked boats, but Rob-Louise shuts him down with a meaningful look and tells him people can change.
It's ominous, for sure, but it doesn't feel like Rob-Louise is actively plotting the little boy's demise. The book isn't nearly as subtle about Adam's precarious situation now that his mother has been body-swapped. On the last page, Rob-Louise muses about how often children get into accidents, and how he'll wait a month or so before murdering Adam, so he can play the grieving mother and have David all to himself.
Ultimately, Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes novel ensures the reader is left feeling as gross as possible when they close the book, while the Netflix series offers viewers a small measure of hope that David and Adam might escape Rob's clutches alive. And even though it's clear Adam is still in a dangerous situation, the decision not to include Rob's murderous inner monologue was very much intentional on the part of director Erik Richter Strand.
Behind Her Eyes left Adam's situation ambiguous on purpose
In a February interview with Entertainment Weekly, Strand broke down the show's major twists and the thought process behind them, including the small, but important deviation from the book's ending that left Adam's fate up in the air. According to the director, he wanted to maintain the horror of the final scene without leaving viewers with too many questions about what Rob might have in store for Louise's son.
"That's a really bleak, hard, gut-punch of an ending that can really get you angry," Strand said of the book's ending. "I think it did for a lot of people. Even though it's clever, it's also really horrifying. We tried in the show to find the right balance of leaving the audience gut-punched but not like, 'Oh my God, what's going to happen?'"
He went on to explain the decision to show Adam questioning the changes in his mother points to the unsustainable nature of Rob's decision to take over Louise's life. "You know that Rob may have won the battle, but is he going to win this lifelong war of keeping this façade up for a second time?" Strand explained.
The implication is Rob's time as Louise may be limited by his inability to fully inhabit her warm nature in a way that will convince her son or David that nothing is amiss. In that way, Behind Her Eyes the show gives viewers a bit of hope that justice might one day be served, while the book makes it clear no one is going to stop Rob from holding onto David, no matter the cost.