MovieChat Forums > The Fall (2013) Discussion > What Baffles Me About Season 3 Ending

What Baffles Me About Season 3 Ending

posted 8 years ago by jmbwithcats
22 replies | jump to latest

Honestly I found the ending made little sense. Paul attacks the doctor, to open a locker and steal a key and he pulls out a shirt... for no apparent reason... then goes to Bailey's room to kill him for no apparent reason, and then kills himself for no apparent reason...

We're supposed to believe that Paul really did have amnesia and couldn't live with the man he truly was? It's all very... unsatisfying I think.

Such an amazing show and amazing season, until the end when I was just like wait... wtf? Seriously?

But beating up Gillian and breaking the dude's arm, I thought that was a tip off he did remember... or why rage against her, for no apparent reason?

I feel like Paul could have killed himself if he wanted to, without brutalizing the doctor or killing Bailey and all that ridiculous drama.

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[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

to open a locker and steal a key and he pulls out a shirt... for no apparent reason

He grabbed the shirt because he wanted the bag it was in

I don't think we're supposed to believe he had amnesia. He was defeated but had one final play. Stella made it clear she wanted him to live, he had nothing to live for, may as well end on a victory.

I'm not happy that he topped himself because I figured it was going to end that way but it still kinda makes sense

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[–] jmbwithcats 8 years ago

Ah I see... I just can't imagine that someone has driven as he is would EVER give up and commit suicide.

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[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

Guess he got so consumed with anger towards Stella. And he wouldn't have many opportunities to go after his victim type where he was heading. Why am I defending this? I wanted Stella to win

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[–] Arthur_Desmond 8 years ago

"Stella made it clear she wanted him to live"

Are you sure she wasn't using reverse psychology to manipulate him into thinking that?

At the end of Season 5, right after she discovers Rose Stagg, she is seen walking towards him very decidedly, almost as if she's just about to do something very unprofessional. This is only interrupted when the unionist wife beater shoots him.

I think she's as full as rage as he is, she just manifests it in other ways that involve violence by proxy.

[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

But she's immediately worried that he'll die. No reverse psychology when she was cradling him in her arms. Didn't even look at her colleague

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[–] Arthur_Desmond 8 years ago

Because he was going to die by the actions of an external agent, rather than as a consequence of her hounding him into a suicide which she finally does. She wanted to destroy him, not watch him being instantly killed by someone else.

[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

I appreciate how deeply you're considering each character's motivations (not sarcasm or anything), I just don't think the writers considered it that deeply. She told other people she wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison, which, as he was steadily forgotten, would have destroyed him

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[–] Arthur_Desmond 8 years ago

By casting a very inexpressive actress in a very opaque role, I think the point of the series is that it could be either way.

If you think of it, neither actor is particularly expressive and they spend most the series whispering and interchanging brooding looks with the rest of the cast and one another. Their motivations are ultimately undisclosed. But none of the two would make particularly good friends, partners or even elevator company for all I care; both are very unlikable if you think of it. And that is the series' redeeming feature.

[–] willard86 8 years ago

I find her very expressive, but subtly. It's amazing to watch her seemingly unmoving face, only to discover that she is wearing a full-blown expression. I find it impressive.

[–] fernloth-2 8 years ago

He could have had a sort of amnesia. It was mentioned in his "notes" that he saw himself in terms of a conflict between a bad self and a good self. HIs amnesia could have been the manifestation of the "good self" in the wake of the trauma of the shooting. Stella was aiming during the interrogation to provoke him and she knew what buttons to press. She represented everything he eventually looked for in a victim. That attack may have been a realization to himself that there really was no "good self" and the murder/suicide was a final acknowledgement. It also could have been that he never did have amnesia and knew his only possible "victory" over Stella would be to die on his own terms.

I thought it was an interesting ending. I don't know that there could be a very satisfying end to this series...it's just not that kind of story.

[–] SuperCatMonkey 8 years ago

It's not Disney. It's the real story.

He attacked the doctor (with a little extra vigor) for at least a couple of reasons. He didn't want anyone interrupting his plan, so he wanted him to stay down. He also saw the doctor as everything good he wanted for himself. He used to watch the people through the windows and wish he could be part of their lives. Then he realized he just wanted to destroy them for having the audacity to experience the happiness he'd been denied.

He also killed Bailey for at least a couple of reasons. Bailey had to be tucked into bed so if anyone looked in, they wouldn't have a reason to come in and interrupt him. Bailey was also a child rapist, and was definitely incurable.

Whether or not he had amnesia was immaterial. She'd raked him over the coals for being who he was, and he was that person long before his "amnesia" kicked in.

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[–] ClearwaterBeach 8 years ago

Bailey was also a child rapist, and was definitely incurable.

The child abuser/killer angle is important, as is the fact that Bailey didn't tell Spector the whole story about why he was locked up.

1) When the guard tells Spector the rest of the story about Bailey throwing the child in the garbage truck where she was crushed to death, it reinforces to the audience that Bailey is really a low-life for whom we needn't feel sorry.

2) Among the incarcerated class, people who abuse children are immediately singled out as the worst of the worst and are subjected to harsh treatment. Call it a code of honor among thugs. No doubt this is part of the reason that Bailey left out part of the story.

3) Recall Spector's remorse from an earlier season when finding out that he'd not only killed one of his victims, but also her unborn child. Remember also how Spector discusses the sea-change in his life when his own daughter Olivia was born (and she clearly is the favorite of his two children). And I think there was conversation as well about the length of time Bailey had been at the psych center (rather than in real prison) which probably offended Spector's sense of justice. Given Spector's feelings toward children, I think it made it easy for him to kill Bailey.

[–] AureliaBuendia 8 years ago

Imagine if that last interrogation scene had consisted of Stella and Burns going over the Alvarez interview and the horrors of the children's home and the paedophile priest. Then Spector explaining the motivation and roots of his voyerism ie other people's happy, normal lives. Then if he had gone back to the clinic and killed himself, the assaults and murders would be sublimated in the viewers minds and we'd end up feeling desperately sorry for Spector and blaming his hideous childhood for making him what he was.

[–] ScottishKate 8 years ago

I definitely felt sorry for him during the interview as I kept imaging him as poor abused little boy. When he started beating Stella I snapped right of it. It was like a stark reminder of who he is and what he is capable of.

[–] Arthur_Desmond 8 years ago

You felt sorry for him because at the other side of the table was a woman who was basically weaponizing empathy in order to destroy him (and to lead you to snap out of it).

So she coldly manipulated Spector and Allan Cubitt manipulated you.

[–] ScottishKate 8 years ago

Your Stella obsession is very creepy. I'm going to put you on ignore. Good luck

[–] Arthur_Desmond 8 years ago

The speed at which you ascribe obsessions to people based on a few posts that were not even acerbic in nature, is even creepier and smacks of projection. Don't bother putting me on ignore, there won't be any need to. I'd rather interact with healthy people.

[–] drjono13 8 years ago

I do think it's significant the way Spector kills his last victim versus how he kills himself. Bailey had said he attacked his sister after she said his new haircut made him look like a homosexual, which might have already triggered Spector's repressed rage about his childhood homosexual abuse. Moreover, it's the way he intentionally killed all of his female victims (garrote). Spector kills himself, though, in the same way his first victim accidentally dies during the sex game-- and even then the camera focuses on his hand reaching to remove the bag and belt just as he loses consciousness. He had indicated that, with that accidental killing, the victim was supposed to remove the bag in time to experience the tremendous rush of oxygen finally getting back into the brain. Maybe he too wanted a rush there at the end but for once circumstances slipped far beyond his manipulation and control.

I also think it's significant that he chose to attack Gibson and the psychiatrist with his fists-- to damage them but not kill them when he had the chance.

[–] jmbwithcats 8 years ago

Interesting points, thank you.

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[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

I also think it's significant that he chose to attack Gibson and the psychiatrist with his fists-- to damage them but not kill them when he had the chance.

I think he would have carried on and killed Stella if nobody had stopped him. He just didn't have a weapon at the time to get the job done quicker

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[–] drjono13 8 years ago

Good point-- but it just seemed the neck was his favorite target for fatal attack, and he never touched hers.

I think, in a way, he had to hurt her because she had outraged him, but she hadn't hurt him as deeply as his mother (and women who reminded him of her) had. Thus he possibly didn't feel the "need" to destroy Gibson. He punched her twice in the face and kicked/stomped her body twice.

It would be interesting to know if earlier versions of the script had him making a impassioned effort to kill her (for instance, his hands around her neck before he is subdued).

[–] SomeMovieReference 8 years ago

He didn't go for Joe Brawley's neck either. When he was angry, it didn't matter how he hurt someone. Those he strangled were targeted and the attacks were planned. He didn't view Stella in the same way he did his other victims. They looked like his mother and she hung herself

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