The Ending Of Black Summer Season 2 Explained
Contains spoilers from "Black Summer" Season 2
Netflix's zombie action-survival series "Black Summer" made a distinct mark on the genre when its narratively minimalist and visceral first season premiered in 2019. The second season of the series premiered on June 17 and once again showed that it's one of the most unforgiving post-apocalyptic series around. In "Black Summer" Season 2, no character is safe and no ending is guaranteed to be a happy one.
Similar to Season 1, the show's second outing sees Rose (Jaime King) and her compatriots trying to reach a destination that promises to provide safety. But instead of trying to make it through an overrun city to a sports stadium, they are seeking out a rural airstrip where they hope to make contact with a plane that has been providing occasional supply drops in the area. And they aren't alone.
Early in the season, Rose and her daughter Anna (Zoe Marlett) get separated from their companions Sun (Christine Lee) and Spears (Justin Chu Cary) after a violent run-in with a well-armed militia group. Spears is shot and left for dead, while Sun is taken as a prisoner.
Their stories intersect sporadically throughout the season as the militia, led by a man named Ray (Bobby Naderi), does battle with other groups in the area. Rose and Anna must strike out on their own and try to avoid getting caught in the crossfire as they look for a safe place to rest in the wintery wilderness. But it's not until the very end of the season that our original crew finally find their way back to one another. Unfortunately, it's not exactly a joyous reunion.
Although Rose and Anna's relationship is tested, their bond remains strong
Throughout Season 1, Rose's main motivation was to find her daughter Anna and their tearful reunion proved to be a cathartic cap to the show's inaugural outing. In season 2, that dynamic has changed. In the penultimate episode of the season, titled "The Lodge," the relentless action slows a bit and we get some more insight into the mother and daughter. At one point, Rose explains to Spears, "I can only look out for her, no one else. It is crystal f—ing clear: my life has one meaning. And it's her." Anna, however, is not a passive player in this story.
Once we actually spend some time with Anna in Season 2, it becomes clear that she is every bit Rose's daughter. While Rose works to protect her throughout the season, Anna rarely actually needs it, and when they arrive at the lodge, Anna refuses to take part in the temporary comforts it provides. She stays up all night driven by paranoia, patrolling the halls for intruders she is sure must be hiding somewhere in the massive building.
When Spears stumbles in the next day, she is quick to identify that his wounds are terminal. Although she's emotional when he later asks her to put him out of his misery, Anna doesn't spend much time hesitating — or consulting with her mother — before killing him.
While that decision causes tension for Anna and Rose, in the frantic final episode "The Plane," it becomes clear that their mother-daughter bond is unbreakable. After Rose injures herself, she implores Anna and Sun to get on the arriving plane without her. Anna follows her orders at first but ultimately decides to turn back to try and save her mother, the same way her mother refused to let her be lost back in Season 1.
Sun finds understanding and temporary salvation
Sun's story throughout "Black Summer" has mostly been a captive's narrative. As someone who speaks minimal English in a country where no one speaks any Korean, she has always been at the mercy of others, even when among her allies. Season 2 saw her literally captured by Ray's militia, further emphasizing how precarious her position in an already extremely precarious world really is.
However, Sun has always had a huge advantage, which is that she is resourceful, adaptable, and hopeful. Of all the many people from all the many factions fighting one another to make it onto the plane, she's the only one who does and when she boards, she's greeted by a very pleasant surprise. After saying something to herself in Korean, the pilot responds to her in her language, explaining that he speaks it a little. Sun cries in relief. For the first time, her character is given subtitles as she tells the pilot, "I wake up every day thinking I will meet someone who will understand me."
It may seem that Sun has found a happy ending, but by now it should be clear to all viewers that "Black Summer" is not a sentimental show. Sun has been extracted from the horrors of the airstrip but she doesn't know who this pilot is, who he works on behalf of, and where they are going. In a world gone to hell, there may not be a safe place to fly off to.
Ray has strong words for the rest of the characters
One of the biggest additions to Season 2 of "Black Summer" was Ray, who proved himself to be a brutally effective leader as he successfully led his militia through several skirmishes against rival groups. However, according to the rest of his men, his brutality outweighs his effectiveness.
Ray is betrayed by his men after they've all reached the airstrip. Not only do they mutiny against his leadership, but they take turns beating him up as payback for what they see as him treating them like "dogs." In the midst of this retaliation, one of the zombies breaks into the hangar they're in, causing the group to dissolve into a chaos of bullets and blood. Rose, Anna, Sun, and Ray make it outside and lock the rest of the men in.
Ray then delivers a scathing monologue to Rose and the others, although it could be directed at basically any character this season, including himself. "You're disgusting, you greedy f—s," he says, blood dripping from his mouth. "We could have all made it on that plane if everybody just ... if everybody just did what they were told." Not content that she's sufficiently spoiled his chances, Rose then uses a flare gun to blow up a nearby car, seriously injuring both her and Ray.
Although there were many subplots and diversions during Season 2 of "Black Summer," everything revolved around the struggle of each of the factions to reach the plane. Ultimately, though, everyone but Sun ended up either dead or incapacitated before they had the chance.
What to expect from Black Summer Season 3
Similar to Season 1's open-ended conclusion, Season 2 of "Black Summer" came to a close with several unresolved storylines.
In the midst of the chaos at the airstrip, another survivor, Mance, managed to fend off an entire horde of zombies after the plane's departure. He ended the season by sitting in exhaustion and while he wasn't the most impactful character, considering he's one of the only ones not confirmed to be dead, there's always the chance that he'll go on to play a more significant role in a potential Season 3.
It's worth noting that he's not the only person left living at the airstrip. Anna, Rose, and Ray were all still breathing as the credits rolled (although, both Rose and Ray were in pretty rough shape). Could Season 3 see the formation of a new group made up of Anna, Rose, Ray, and Mance? Although those characters represent three distinct factions that were at odds with one another throughout the season, one of the things "Black Summer" does well is not boxing its characters into traditional protagonist or antagonist roles. With Rose seriously injured, Anna very well may have no choice but to combine forces with Ray and Mance to ensure that any of them have a chance at survival.
But by far the biggest question as Season 2 ends is: "Where is Sun going in that plane?" That is the cliffhanger that will have fans of the series clamoring for Netflix to renew the show for Season 3.
"We can't tell what's ahead. We're in the clouds now," the pilot tells her as they fly. In many ways, that's a good metaphor for "Black Summer" as a whole. Like the characters, the viewers truly have no idea what is coming at them next at any given moment in the chaos of the apocalyptic circumstances. We're all flying into the future blind.