Dead Ringers ending explained: What happens to Elliot and Beverly?

If you've watched the 1988 David Cronenberg film of the same name, you'll have been watching the six episodes of Prime Video's Dead Ringers wondering what fate the Mantle twins would meet at the end of the series.

The film, the novel and the true story that the film was originally based on all end in the twins' joint death, but something told us that this gender-flipped iteration wasn't going to go the same way.

In this series, we watched on as Rachel Weisz superbly characterised completely different traits within Elliot and Beverly Mantle, but as the success of their birthing centre continued, their personal lives started to fall apart. With Genevieve (Britne Oldford) and Beverly falling hopelessly in love, their newfound romance threatened the close bond that Elliot and Beverly had spent their entire lives cherishing.

Secrets soon started to be spilled, we got an insight into their childhood and Elliot continued to wave her medical ethics for the sake of pioneering science. A "fluff piece" meant that journalist Silas Jordan (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) followed the twins around (and got a bit too close in the process), also bearing witness to their eventual demise and the mishap that would end one of their careers.

But what happened in that fateful final episode? Read on for the breakdown of the Dead Ringers finale.

Dead Ringers ending explained: what happens to Elliot and Beverly?

The final episode kicks off after the tense events and parting of ways for the sisters in episode 5. Following a fatal c-section where Elliot cut into a woman's bladder, Beverly is leading a new life without her sister and is now at the helm of the Mantle enterprise's success.

She is finally living out of the shadow of Elliot, being bestowed with praise by Rebecca (Jennifer Ehle), Genevieve and those around her. But everything comes with a price and the formerly 'cancelled' journalist Silas is threatening to expose the truth about Elliot, her drug taking, rumoured murder of a homeless woman and much more.

When Rebecca tells Beverly about this at dinner, Beverly is also told that she must sever ties with her sister publicly and, just when she's about to argue back, Rebecca reveals that they all gave Silas further information about Elliot that could take her down further. Beverly is understandably hurt, especially by Genevieve who is going away for a job, and the two argue about Elliot's involvement in their relationship.

Throughout the background of the episode, we hear the vibrations of a mobile phone ringing as well as Elliot's voice calling out for "baby sister", so it's clear that although Elliot isn't physically there with Beverly, Beverly is still thinking about her.

That night at the big awards ceremony, Beverly accepts her award and uses the opportunity to do as Rebecca and Genevieve urged her to and publicly separate from Elliot.

In her speech, she reveals that Elliot is "unwell" and has been for some time, stating that Elliot has behaved in a manner that is abusive and destructive, and has also endangered lives "in the most grave and frightening manner". She cuts Elliot off from the Mantle centre, stating that Elliot has "nothing to do" with it.

Afterwards, Tom (Michael Chernus) confronts Beverly about their newfound fame as leading pioneers in their industry, but underlines that it's at the expense of selling out "the most extraordinary person I've ever known and to steal her work, her lab".

We also see the product of Greta's (Poppy Liu) mysterious collection of the twin's possessions, which has resulted in an art installation about her mother passing away during child birth.

Later on, we see Beverly bid Genevieve goodbye for her job and fall into a deep depression without Elliot in her life. She is overwhelmed by some kind of premonition from Elliot that urges her to return to their old apartment. But Elliot and Greta are nowhere to be found and as she wraps herself in Elliot's bedsheets, she answers a call from her sister.

The pair meet in Elliot's lab, where she has been growing embryos’ out of Beverly and Tom’s DNA, and Beverly admits: "I don't think I'm capable of happiness. I've tried so hard and I've got as close as I think I could get with all this, the babies, you." Elliot then also has to correct Beverly's past recollection as she remembers an entirely false story from their childhood.

Who dies at the end of Dead Ringers?

Beverly says that she "can't live without" her twin but she feels the weight of something else drawing her under, stating: "There was only ever supposed to be one of us, you always were a better me." Together, they devise a plan to make the ultimate “twin swap”.

On the operating table, Beverly lies still as Elliot injects her with anaesthetic and ties up her hair. Elliot then takes a scalpel and cuts herself open as if doing a C-section, sewing herself shut, and then does the same to Beverly.

She delivers the twins, changing into a hospital gown and running out in to the middle of the birthing centre calling for help. The camera then pans to the birthing suite where Beverly lies, bleeding out to death.

Elliot can now live as Beverly and when she regains consciousness, she tells Rebecca and Susan (Emily Meade) that Elliot helped her cut the babies out – but the pair then ask her where Elliot (who is actually Beverly) is, pointing to the possible fact that her body wasn't found. She simply states that her sister is gone.

We see that Silas's piece has been published, that Tom is driving out of state perhaps leaving his life behind and finally, Genevieve returns to the birthing centre, calling out for Beverly when she sees Elliot in the room.

What does the post-credits Dead Ringers scene mean?

Just when you think the drama has ended, the series delivers an eerie post-credits scene that shows Elliot (now living as Beverly), Genevieve and the twins enjoying some downtime in the park.

A stranger approaches Elliot, congratulating her on the birth of the twins and, unable to piece together where this woman could be from, Elliot asks her outright. She tells Elliot that she's from the bereavement group where she would talk about the death of her sister for the past couple of years.

We obviously have seen throughout the series that Beverly would go to the group sessions and talk about her relationship with her sister, but this fact comes as an emotional shock to Elliot. Could Beverly have decided their fate far before that fateful decision in the birthing centre? It looks likely and that the premature counselling was a coping mechanism of sorts.

When Genevieve returns to the bench, Elliot simply tells the stranger to have a nice day and tells Genevieve that she thought she was "my sister". It prompts Genevieve to look uncomfortable but even so, she doesn't realise that she's sitting down next to the other Mantle sister, a fact she had previously been confident in when catching the twins out over their swapping in the past.

We then flash to a boardroom meeting scene where Elliot is greeted by a man as Beverly, who says "it's so good to see you again". He then urges her to talk about her sister, leaving Elliot looking dumbfounded.

Dead Ringers is coming to Prime Video on Friday 21st April. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that.

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