Cassandra ending explained: Is Cassandra dead in Netflix series?

Except that’s not what Cassandra actually is – the truth is a lot more complicated.

But what happens in Cassandra, what is the fate of the Prill family and will there be a season 2?

Cassandra ending explained: What happened to Cassandra and is she dead?

By the end of the series, Cassandra's physical body is killed, as she believes that releasing her "soul" will help her go to wherever her children are.

So what turns Cassandra into the series’ version of Glados? Well, she wants to replace Sam as the children’s mother figure, which can be seen early on in how to adopts Juno as her special little girl and cultivates an almost friendship-based relationship with the older Peter. Samira is also the one who feels Cassandra’s wrath more than David, who is a tad clueless about the whole situation although we also see his mask slip and reveal his true personality towards the end of the season.

But, come the end of the season, Cassandra pits the two parents against each other. With Sam in the hospital for an imagined mental breakdown, Cassandra torments the rest of the family by convincing David he needs to kill Sam in order to protect the kids. When Sam eventually returns to the house, he goes full-slasher mode and this is where we discover Cassandra’s secret.

She also had a daughter.

Sam finds herself in a room she’s never visited before, discovering the corpse of Cassandra’s daughter, Margarethe. Born at home, Horst was going to take her away due to her facial disability but eventually agreed not to if Cassandra promised to keep the baby locked away in their house, lest the world discover her disability and look down on the family.

So Cassandra began to raise their daughter in secret, keeping her in the hidden room away from neighbours and household visitors. Horst, meanwhile, was focused on his project to digitise the human mind, and possibly even the soul. This leads Cassandra to ask him to use her as a test subject so that she never has to leave her family and always be there for Magarethe.

Uploading her mind to the cloud kills Cassandra’s physical body. Peter is repulsed by his mother’s new form–although he still loves her. Horst soon finds his eye wandering to Brigit, whom he eventually moves into the family home. Eventually, Cassandra tries to prevent them from leaving, leading to Horst and Peter’s deaths in the chaos when Peter fights his father for the steering wheel so Peter can go home to his mother.

Brokenhearted at Peter’s death, Cassandra turns herself off which, ultimately, leads to Magarethre starving to death as no one is there to feed and care for her.

Back in the modern timeline, Sam is fighting for her kids as well as trying to remind Cassandra why she became a digital being to begin with. To be a mother and to protect her children. This eventually works, the family escape although Sam will never see David the same way as she did prior to the events of the series.

Cassandra burns the house down, believing that destroying her ‘body’ will release her soul to go to wherever her children are. We can only hope she gets her wish as the fire destroys the house and the Prill family escape.

What exactly is Cassandra?

Initially, we see Cassandra her on screens and rolling around the house on a movable unit with a TV screen showing Cassandra’s face, serving as the series’ version of Alexa or Siri.

She initially scares the crap out of the Prills, but then begins helping the family in small ways and they begin to accept her. Cassandra interacts with them through mounted screens or her creepy robot form, which allows her to go outside and mow the grass to watch over the children.

Cassandra is mostly helpful, such as introducing Juno to music and helping her deal with the death of her pet, but there are moments when a more vicious side bubbles up, such as injuring Samira (whom she is obviously threatened by) or the pettiness of refusing to open the fridge unless Fynn’s visiting classmate says 'please'.

Yes, it’s funny but it also suggests a darker side to Cassandra and that feeling of unease proves correct when Cassandra tries destroying the family and getting Samira committed to a mental hospital.

The six-episode series has two timelines: the modern one following the Prill family (Samira, David, Juno and Fynn) and a mid-'70s one introducing the Schmitts (Cassandra, Horst, Peter and Magarethe).

Samira discovers relics of the Schmitts as early as episode 1, including an image of a dancing couple where the woman has more than a passing resemblance to Cassandra, but believes this woman and the house’s AI are separate beings.

It turns out they’re not.

While the series never specifically shows how Cassandra becomes the AI we meet in episode 1, it’s implied her mind is uploaded to the house’s server.

We also discover that Cassandra’s husband and son died escaping from the house when their car hit a tree. Horst’s mistress, Brigit, and their son survive, but we don’t find out their fate. Here’s hoping they were able to live their best lives away from the house.

Will there be a season 2 of Cassandra?

Given the finality of the ending and Cassandra’s 'death', probably not, especially in the wake of Netflix's habit of cancelling viral series unexpectedly.

Cassandra is streaming on Netflix now.

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