MovieChat Forums > Breathless (2014) Discussion > SPOILERS I hate the ending!

SPOILERS I hate the ending!

posted 10 years ago by kalaheo
17 replies | jump to latest

Don't read if you don't want to know how it ends!

I absolutely hate the ending of this show! I think Elizabeth was a willing victim for Mulligan. Now surprise! she's pregnant and demands that Otto help her raise Mulligan's child. Elizabeth is just as crazy as Mulligan was. I don't think Otto deserves too much sympathy from the viewer, but he doesn't deserve to have to raise the child of these two delusional people. And poor Thomas!

Overall the plot was much more melodramatic than it needed to be, too many coincidences like Mulligan's daughter staying at Angela's house, her husband showing up just when she decided to meet Otto at the cafe.

[–] Lushlindy 10 years ago

I hated the ending too but I read somewhere that there was supposed to be a second series to continue the story but ITV cancelled it. I figure it could still work out. Angela divorces her long lost husband. Otto divorces Elizabeth but takes care of her and Thomas. Angela and Otto marry. Mulligan's body is never found so they get away with it. I thought it was overly melodramatic at times too. And not accurate is some ways. The clothes were exaggerated. I lived through that time and the fashions were not that colorful and woman rarely dyed their hair or wore eye makeup.

[–] emuir-1 10 years ago

Lushlindy. I agree with your comments about the exaggerated clothes and lurid hair dye. I was in my early 20's in that period and the skirts were very full, the waists tight and the hair upswept - the beehive backcombed hairstyle was just coming in, and yes, there was heavy eye make up, but no false eyelashes yet, just lots of mascara, eyeliner and shadow.

Another glaring fault was the atrocious interior decoration: clashing colours and patterns. Floral wallpaper with patterned carpet and patterned curtains, none of which coordinated or matched in any way. The only thing missing was the picture of the Chinese girl with a green face. At least Otto and Elizabeth lived in an elegant tasteful home. Needy Elizabeth had done very well for herself.

What turned me off was that the characters did not ring true - they were all way over the top. Otto, the chief surgeon/womaniser, Elizabeth, the manipulating 'needy' wife who had trapped Otto good and proper. Mulligan the seedy obsessive blackmailer, Jean, who wanted to marry up. The anesthesiologist and his dowdy badly dressed wife. There wasn't a sympathetic character in the bunch. The ending was also rushed and unsatisfactory leaving us to guess what might happen. Would 'fragile' Elizabeth make Otto support her and her son for life, knowing that he now had another death on his hands and that she would not find as good a catch as he? Would Mulligan's body ever be found? Would Angela go back to her husband?

At the risk of incurring the wrath of younger posters viewing events by today's standards and customs, one thing that did not ring true was Angela, the nurse, being married to a non-white sailor. In 1961, that was very, very, rare, not least because there were very few Afro Caribbeans in Britain at that time, and Britain was still very conservative about interracial marriages.

[–] merryapril 10 years ago

emuir-1, you make some good points but there was actually a seminal British play written in the late 1950's called A Taste of Honey that, among other things, featured a main character (a working class white girl) dating and getting pregnant by a black sailor who abandoned her! I have to believe the Breathless writers are aware of the play, as it's fairly famous and was eventually made into a film in 1961.

I found the finale just as contrived, unrealistic an ddisappointing as everyone else has, and I even defended the earlier episodes on this board. There were SO many loose ends that it all added up to a frayed rag ready for the trash heap.

Nice concept, so much promise, such a great ensemble of actors, but what disappointing writing!

Sigh.

[–] sasha99 10 years ago

I also hated the ending. I think it's true Elizabeth didn't tell Powell about Mulligan because she was afraid Powell would kill him, but it was because that would end her cushy life as a doctor's wife. With Mulligan dead, they'd have no reason to stay married.

BUT one clever (and bitter) thing about the ending (and about Elizabeth having sex with Mulligan) is that now that Mulligan IS dead, she has another pregnancy hook to hang on to Powell. Hmmm... Elizabeth is pretty g-d manipulative, isn't she? She's taking advantage of Powell's honorable character.

It does beg for another season to resolve things. It was a cliffhanger ending.

The movie Cleopatra (1963) kicked off the dark 360-degree eyeliner. Jean wears it the most, and presumably wants to wear the latest styles. I loved her outfit at the funeral.

The early 60s were still, stylistically, the 1950s. The 60s style didn't happen until the near the end of the decade. Of course, it might have been different in England. They were ahead of the USA in style at that time.

[–] miranda4 10 years ago

I loved this show ( kind of the way I love Nutella). When Elizabeth sprang the pregnant bit, then I knew I really did hate her.
The whole thing was so super melodramatic. Jean was so wonderfully made up. Otto was so handsome. Mulligan was so creepy. Yes, there were loose ends but I think that was because there was an expectation of another season. I wish that were true but I may be the only person in the world to hope for more Breathless.

[–] davidhull6 10 years ago

I got the impression Elizabeth wanted Otto to get rid of the pregnancy that night, and then they could carry on, as she delusionaly suggests, with Thomas and a seaside picnic.

[–] mme3924-1 10 years ago

I got the impression Elizabeth wanted Otto to get rid of the pregnancy that night, and then they could carry on, as she delusionaly suggests, with Thomas and a seaside picnic.

That was my impression, too. She said "tonight, Otto." What else could she mean? And why would she want to have Mulligan's baby? She wants to stay married to Otto and keep up the pretense of their lives, but that's all that bedroom conversation meant, I thought.

[–] kalaheo 10 years ago

When she told Otto she was pregnant, he started talking about an abortion; I can't remember the exact words he used. She said no to that.

Otto wanted to end the pregnancy ASAP but Elizabeth refused. That's why the last shot of Otto was of him sitting down with a look of disbelief on his face.

[–] miranda4 10 years ago

I definitely understood she would go through the pregnancy. She would have one more claw into Otto. If he ever decided to leave her, she could (and I think would) reveal the "murder" of Thomas' father AND it would appear Otto was leaving HIS son (Mulligan's child). Elizabeth has some sort of mental illness. She's a nervous insecure wreck even though her veneer is one of competence. Darn - I want to see a season 2.

[–] davidhull6 10 years ago

I think you've got it exactly backwards. She wanted the scrape that night, he said no, and she went mad talking about a 'real' future while looked at her aghast and dismayed.

Silverback

[–] teresah233 10 years ago

I was surprised at the postings saying Elizabeth was going to have the baby and further trap Otto. My impression was she was talking about an abortion. In fact Elizabeth says to Otto, "We can do it tonight (Otto could perform a abortion), while Thomas is away...then take off this weekend with Thomas...and eat crab sandwiches by the seaside."
I was very surprised by Otto's reaction. He seemed shocked that she would suggest an abortion but I know I wouldn't want anything having to do with Inspector Mulligan popping up in my life ever again.

[–] smcrawley 9 years ago

I went back and watched the ending it three times before it made sense to me. Elizabeth doesn't say, "We can do it tonight."

When Otto says, "What are we going to do?" she says, (flippantly, I finally realized), "Tonight?" He says something like "No, I meant--" and she replies, "I know what you meant . . . no." Meaning, no, I won't have an abortion. That's when he staggers, aghast, on to the bed. Then she goes on to describe how their life will go on as usual in the immediate future. (And, of course, since she's going to have another baby that will be presumed to be Otto's, the distant future, too.)

[–] ronricho-337-128165 10 years ago

I usually think posters here are far too critical and many seem to hate everything. That having been said I wouldn't say I hated the ending but I can't say I loved it by any means. Much too melodramatic and even possibly far-fetched.

On the positive side the period and the costumes were excellently captured and the acting was great.

[–] Franny25 10 years ago

In all fairness to the writer, I don't think that was the real ending. That was meant to be a cliff hanger for the 2d season. And it would have been a good cliff hanger, too. Now, of course, we are left with that which is too bad because the older I get the more I prefer happy endings. Misery is for the young.

I doubt the writer meant to be sadistic with his audience - just tease out the eventual coupling of Otto and Angela.

[–] joes119-1 7 years ago

I disagree Franny. I think that the ending was meant to be a stake in the heart of this bubbling green slime of a script insuring it would die and stay dead. It was meant to be an abortion! That's the inside joke!

[–] ApricotLimerickDove 10 years ago

How very true about that rotten and hasty and irresponsible ending. This series would have done much better with much better writing than it has and did.

But....

But you'll also notice that this is one of those rare series which actually lives up to its original promise! - because Jack Davenport certainly knows how to leave everybody Breathless!

^0^^0^^0^

[–] movie80 9 years ago

Is Powell a womanizer? If I remember correctly in the movie he had only 1 love interest, Angela, besides his wife. Of course before the point where the truth was told, that he and Elizabeth married because he caused the death of her fiancé, I hated to see him asking Angela out, but I felt a bit relieved that their marriage was not really a normal marriage. It was still not alright for him to follow Angela, though.