How the ‘Conversations With Friends’ Cast Feels About the Ambiguity of the Finale

Episode 12 leaves us with just as many questions as answers

(Warning: The post contains spoilers for the final episode of Hulu’s “Conversations With Friends.”)

The end of “Conversations With Friends” isn’t supposed to leave you satisfied. The story ends in true Sally Rooney fashion, with no clear resolution — and a ton of lingering feelings.

“I think the ending is so ambiguous, and I think you can’t help but wonder what that leads to,” Alison Oliver, one of the series’ stars, told TheWrap. “From the get-go, the story is so messy and complex and all of those things, that to finish with that actually feels really right.”

Over 12 episodes, audiences follow Oliver’s Frances, who is a 21-year-old college student, and her budding love affair with Nick Conway (Joe Alwyn). Their relationship is complicated by many factors, including Frances’ lingering feelings for her best friend and ex-girlfriend, Bobbi (Sasha Lane), and Nick’s wife Melissa (Jemima Kirke). 

Toward the latter half of the series, it seems as if Frances and Nick have finally come to terms with their incompatibility. Because, despite their intense feelings for one another, they can’t continue this relationship without hurting the people they care most about.

That is, until the last few moments, when Nick accidentally dials Frances. The last words Frances speaks to Nick are: “Come get me.” It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, but it doesn’t leave us with a ton of answers either. Other than the fact that their affair is likely to continue.

“I like the way that it ends,” Alwyn said. “I did when I read it. I mean, I like the messiness of it and the chaos of it in a kind of nice, accepting way rather than beforehand, perhaps thinking everything must be in black and white, there must be an answer. That seems to be like a joy to the acceptance of this isn’t going to compartmentalize.”

Hulu

However, not all of the cast feels quite the same about the final minutes. Lane told TheWrap she felt like she and her character were left with more questions than answers.

“I guess for Bobbi, I think it just makes me go, ‘Okay, how long are you going to continue that? This new round of getting back with Nick? You know, how long is that going to go for?’” Lane wondered. “It just brings up more questions, because I think the ending is Nick and Frances. So I think with Melissa and Bobbi, it’s kind of like, you’ll never know.”

For Kirke: “I don’t think that is really an ending. I think that the story ends, but I don’t think there’s any kind of bow on it and wrapping on it. I don’t think it’s sewn up at the fray.”

While it’s a frustrating end to the series, it’s also a realistic one, Kirke added.

“I think that’s kind of symbolic of relationships ending,” she said. “There isn’t an ending. There’s never a good ending or a satisfying ending. I would say there’s never a real closure on a relationship when there’s heartbreak involved.”

Comments