Below Series Ending Explained: What is the Monster? Does Calvin Save His Family and the Town?

Below Series Ending Explained: The Netflix series initially starts off as a thrilling and terrifying supernatural miniseries that slowly exposes its true colours and brings forth a terrifying tale whose terrors come from human greed and a declining environment. The ending, thus, despite its lighthearted nature, is far more grounded and tragic, bringing forth a truth that will be relatable and emotionally taxing to viewers.

The series follows Calvin as he deals with terrible yields and a scattered family that he’s desperately trying to keep together. Amidst an already tense community situation, a terrifying creature starts to lurk beneath the surface of the water, hunting the townsfolk down one by one. As Calvin slowly uncovers the truth, the reality of human intervention and how it’s affecting every species out there comes to light.

The cast of the Below Netflix series includes Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, Willow Kean, Ruby Stokes, Kaleb Horn, Rohan Campbell, Natasha Henstridge, and Mary Walsh. Jamie Childs, Helen Shaver, and Stephen Dunn direct the 6-episode series.

-Major Spoilers-

Below Series Ending Explained

What Is the Creature in Below?

While the series starts off with creating an aura of mystery around the creature, with the series even hinting that it might be supernatural, as it turns out, the answers are quite innocent. The creature is none other than a giant squid, unlike anything that anyone has ever seen. Marine researcher Fonda finds herself shocked at the discovery, and even more so that she’s ready to hatch her eggs. This is the reason why she has been acting so aggressively against anyone who goes near the iceberg – as it turns out, that’s just her nest.

With this revelation in mind, it becomes clear how human interference has destroyed the environment, with rising temperatures slowly killing animals. This also changes everything that Calvin and the others have viewed the creature as, as they realise that she’s a very intelligent creature that is just doing what biology has taught her to do. The animal isn’t necessarily attacking humans for fun; she’s only trying to protect her children and give them a fighting shot.

This is especially significant for Calvin, who can relate to the animal’s desperation to keep her children safe. He, too, has been struggling to keep his children together and safe from harm. Their struggles are, thus, similar and are one of the reasons why he eventually helps her.

What are the Crokers’ Hand in Snooks Arm’s Misfortunes?

The Crockers have been pushing people out of the small communities for years and pushing them towards bigger cities with promises of a better life. It’s one of the reasons why Calvin and his family were pushed out of their home, and his father died in the end. After Calvin finds himself on a seemingly evacuated island, in episode 5 he realises that they have been pushing everyone out of islands to cash in on the huge copper and cobalt mines underneath them. The townsfolk never knew about it, as a result of which they came into the Crockers’ words.

Once the town is evacuated, the Crockers cashed in on the huge reserves on those islands. With this in mind, Calvin realises that he can’t let the company take advantage of the people and, at the last moment, makes an escape to save the town and his family.

Are the Townsfolk Evacuated? What Happens in the End?

Realising that the Crockers are using the squid as an excuse to push the people out and make millions on the reserves underneath the town, Calvin rushes out to pull the squid’s nest away from the town, further into the water where she and her eggs will have a fighting chance to survive. This also gives the military an excuse to not conduct an air strike on the creature to save the town. However, this destroys the Crokers’ plans, and they try to force the lieutenant to conduct the airstrike regardless, killing Calvin and Wade in the process.

Thankfully, the lieutenant sees through their greed and decides that the squid is no longer a danger to the town, calls off the airstrike and even the evacuation.

How is the Ending Significant?

At its heart, Netflix series Below showcases how human greed has ruined the planet and yet humans continue to want more. The series explains how understanding the creatures who inhabit the earth with us is significant for all of our survival. The giant squid was once an unknown threat that had to be eliminated. However, once Calvin and the others realised the root issue, they understood how misunderstood this innocent creature was, and a little compromise goes a long way.

The real conflict, thus, is between human expansion, environmental change and the natural world. Human greed has not only destroyed their own living conditions, but that of every creature on the planet. Rising temperatures have been a problem around the world in more ways than one, yet we never seem to do anything about it. Calvin’s choice to coexist helps not only the animal, but also gives humans a path forward that is not soaked with the blood of others.

The ending, however, showcases Calvin and Wade, fishing in the open water, being stunned to see other huge icebergs, possibly signifying that the squid’s eggs did survive. This is in contradiction to what Fonda had initially surmised: that the waters are too warm for the eggs. In the end, thus, nature always finds a way.

Watch Below on Netflix right now. Let us know your thoughts about the series in the comments below!

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