WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Disclaimer’s series finale.
The shocking twist ending of Apple’s thriller seriesDisclaimerleaves several unanswered questions about Jonathan’s motivations and Catherine’s next steps forward. Cate Blanchett leads a talented ensemblecast ofDisclaimeras Catherine Ravenscroft, a hard-working and acclaimed television documentary journalist out of London, England.Catherine’s world unravels once a mysterious novel titledThe Perfect Strangerarrives at her doorstep, bringing up memories of one of her deepest and darkest secrets.Disclaimeris based on the 2015 bookof the same name written by Renée Knight.
The majority ofDisclaimer’sepisodes cast Catherine as a villain responsible for the death of a vacationing American twenty-something named Jonathan.Disclaimeris primarily told through the fictional lens of Catherine and Jonathan’s experience in Italy through the imagination of Jonathan’s grieving mother, Nancy.The Perfect Strangernovel is a culmination of Nancy’s mourning and denial of a painfultruth she has learned about Jonathan through his girlfriend Sasha’s mother. Stephen discoversThe Perfect Strangerand interprets it as truth, which sparks his revenge tour against Catherine. In the end, however,Stephen could not have been more wrong about his son.
As depicted atthe end ofDisclaimer, the shocking twist in the finale is that Jonathan sexually assaulted Catherine against her will. This is essentially the complete opposite of how Nancy had framed the experience inThe Perfect Strangerwith Jonathan as the helpless victim caught in Catherine’s provocative grasp. Catherine reveals to Stephen that Jonathan snuck into her bedroom uninvited and held her at knifepoint. He proceeded to threaten both Catherine and Nicholas and abused her for three and a half hours. The photographs that Jonathan took of Catherine were not consensual whatsoever.He despicably forced Catherine to pose and smile for the cameraor else he would hurt her and Jonathan.
All 8 episodes ofDisclaimerare now streaming on Apple TV+.
8Why Did Jonathan Try To Save Nicholas?
One of the most confusing aspects about Jonathan is why he would attempt to save Nicholas’s life the day after brutally assaulting Catherine. This point made sense in Nancy andThe Perfect Stranger’srecollection of things, which was mostly based on fantasy, considering that Jonathan had told Catherine he was in love with her and wanted to start a life together back in London. Given that Jonathan is revealed to be a predator and rapist,his attempt at heroism doesn’t make much sense after what he did to Catherine.
The most reasonable explanation is guilt. Perhaps Jonathan had creepily followed Catherine and her son back to the same beach where he had first encountered them. This would imply that Jonathan’s stalking of Catherine continued even after the night he despicably abused her. Perhaps in Jonathan’s twisted mind,he had convinced himself that he could be redeemed in Catherine’s eyes by saving Nicholas. It also alludes to the unpredictability of a criminal like Jonathan, one day committing a heinous crime and the next rushing in to save the day in some lame attempt to absolve himself.
7What Exactly Happened Between Jonathan & Sasha?
It’s implied that Jonathan assaulted her but not much is revealed
Disclaimerepisode 6 revealed that something else happened to Sasha in Italy that led her to leave Jonathan. The scene in which Nancy gets a phone call from Sasha’s mother flips the previous Jonathan and Sasha scenes on their head, revealing that Sasha didn’t leave Jonathan because of a family death after all. Sasha’s mother is clearly furious and distraught on the phone. Nancy can’t believe what she’s hearing as ifshe has been told a horrific truth about Jonathan that is too heartbreaking to believe.
The series suggests that Jonathan sexually assaulted Sasha in Italybut never confirms it. After watching the finale and learning aboutthe truth between Jonathan and Catherine, it seems like that’s the most plausible outcome. What’s most unclear is just how far Jonathan went with Sasha, as it was evident that they were dating at least casually and that their parents knew each other. The early scenes between Jonathan and Sasha appeared consensual but whatever actually happened between them was clearly not.
6Will Catherine Stay Married To Robert?
She’s unable to forgive the way he handled everything
Catherine and Robert’s relationship regains its composure in the final scenes of Disclaimer after Stephen’s attempts to ruin Catherine’s life and kill Nicholas have been thwarted. After discovering the truth, Robert becomes entirely receptive towards Catherine again, but for her, it appears to be too little, too late for her to see her husband the same way again. While the photographs seemed to be quite telling,the fact that Robert’s ego was more bruised than his heart speaks volumesabout his character.
Catherine states in one of the closing scenes ofDisclaimerthatshe can’t forgive Robert even though she feels like she should. Catherine could reduce herself to finding empathy for how Robert reacted but ultimately feels betrayed by how he handled everything. Odds are that Catherine will not find it in herself to forgive Robert, at least at any point in the immediate future. She leaves him in the book so that sentiment should likely be echoed in the series as well.
5Will Catherine Return To Her Job?
All of her coworkers turned on her
Despite the series not taking place too often in Catherine’s place of work, she is still an established and renowned documentarian who is surely on many people’s radar. It would be hard to return to the same office with the same co-workers, most of whom are subordinates after they were all so quick to pull out their pitchforks and drive Catherine out of the office. It would be really hard to return to that environment after what went down. However,Catherine’s reputation and accolades should help her establish new relationshipsin the workplace.
4Does Stephen Take His Own Life?
He does in the Disclaimer novel
Things were looking pretty bleak for Stephen during his final scene, who has one of the most tragic arcs in the entire series. Unfortunately for Stephen,his love for his son and his wife prevented him from seeing the truthabout Jonathan until it was nearly too late. Stephen ended his career and made it his life’s purpose to take Catherine down, thinking she was a terrible person responsible for his son’s death. Stephen could not have fathomed of being so misled and dead wrong.
Unfortunately,Stephen does die by suicide in theDisclaimernoveland leaves his estate to Catherine as a token of his guilt. When Stephen burns his wedding ring, it appears to be signaling that he truly has nothing left to live for and has accepted the dark truth that he has wasted his life completely. The final straw may have been whenStephen pulled a photograph out of the fireto reveal that young Nicholas had witnessed Jonathan assault his mother, which could have been far too much for Stephen to live with.
3Will Catherine Go Public About The Perfect Stranger?
She may want to clear her name and reveal the truth about the book
Catherine stayed silent on being sexually abused by Jonathan so that she could prevent it from consuming her life. She could at least hold the power over whether or not she wanted to talk about it, which she evidently never did. If she had reported Jonathan or told Robert when she returned from Italy, she would have had to endure reliving the situation countless times.Catherine’s silence allowed her to bury the horrific memoryand return to her accomplished and joyous life.
Now that Catherine has revealed the truth to Robert, and that Stephen forced her to play a hand and damaged her reputation as a result, Catherine may choose to finally speak out publicly about her abuse. It would primarily be for the reason of clearing her name to invalidate the bad press she received after hitting one of her former coworkers. It would also be to getThe Perfect Strangerbooks off of shelves, particularly at her favorite bookstore. Ultimately,Catherine will likely do what will bring her the most peace.
2Will Catherine Tell Nicholas The Truth About Italy?
It may help Nicholas deal with his unprocessed childhood trauma
The most important thing to Catherine at the end of Disclaimer is her healed relationship with Nicholas. It appears that Nicholas has made a full recovery and won’t need to return to drugs as an escape from his reality anymore. It’s possible thatCatherine may have told Nicholas the truth about what happened in Italy before the start of the final scenein which they speak and embrace by their living room window. Jonathan says “I don’t remember” and “I’m sorry”, implying that he may now see his mom in a different light. The final note of the series is that Catherine and Nicholas have regained some type of normalcy in their dynamic.
1Could Stephen and Catherine Become Friends?
They could both strangely heal from one another
It’s possible that Stephen is still alive at the end of theDisclaimerseries considering that he does not give Catherine his estate as he did after his death in the book. If this is the case, it’s also possible that this could be thebeginning of an unusual and unlikely friendship between Stephen and Catherine. They could heal from their horrific experience through each other, in a strange way.
At his core, Stephen is not a treacherous man but was driven by love and vengeance, which Catherine could surely understand.Stephen was only a danger to Catherine and her family because of what he thought he knew about her, which he discovered to be a total fabrication. Stephen, if alive, would have no person or purpose to live for anymore and would greatly benefit from Catherine’s kindness and forgiveness.Disclaimerends before any type of resolution between Stephen and Catherine comes about but a newfound compassion between the two characters would be a hopeful ending to a bleak and tragic tale.
Disclaimer
Cast
Told in seven chapters, “Disclaimer” is based on the novel of the same name by Renée Knight. Acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett) built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realize she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets. As Catherine races to uncover the writer’s true identity, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys both her own life and her relationships with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
