'Too Much' Ending Explained & Finale Recap: Is Astrid The Dog Dead?

The ending of Lena Dunham’s Too Much mirrors her real-life marriage to her musician husband, Luis Felber. The show follows Jess, a woman who moves from Brooklyn to London after a sudden breakup, with no actual goals for her life. A 7-year relationship ending can certainly mess you up, especially because you’ve planned your entire life around this one person. But Jess doesn’t give up; instead, she starts making videos addressed to her ex’s present girlfriend to make herself feel better and let out her feelings. Imagine “Dear Diary,” but it’s your ex’s new girl. Whirlwind romances truly look like this one, because as soon as Jess gets to London, she meets an indie musician named Felix. They hit it off, but they both seem to be a bit “too much,” not just for each other, but for themselves. But are they just enough for a happy ending? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

The big moment of catharsis on this show comes when Wendy and Jess actually meet face-to-face (properly; none of those earlier meetings count). Instead of fighting over a man in typical fashion, they come together for closure, to apologize, and to truly be there for each other as sisters in arms who have been mistreated by the same man. While on the surface, Too Much is a comedy, such an interaction is almost unheard of in the genre, but it certainly feels like one that would help a lot of women. Wendy doesn’t simply complain about Zev; she tells Jess that he’s the kind of guy who, on purpose, looks for strong-willed women to put down. Jess and she may look entirely different and do different things, but they could’ve actually been really good friends because they’re both ambitious young women with a lot of self-confidence. In the final episode, Wendy visits Jess in London and talks to her, but she also gives her the t-shirt that Jess spoke about in one of the videos. Jess ends up wearing it at her wedding, which almost feels like “this one’s for the girls” vibes. The t-shirt is important to Jess because it belonged to her mum, also an independent, strong-willed woman, and then Wendy held onto it until Jess could have it back. I think it’s a nicely wrapped-up plotline, showing us that sometimes you need to let out all your hatred to see the real picture. In this case, Wendy is a good person, and it was always Zev who was the problem. 

On a side note, I do hope Zev rots in hell, but I think he’s probably crying in a ditch now that Wendy’s left him, and it must’ve caused him tremendous public humiliation, just as he deserved. But hey, at least he’s going to therapy. 

The final episode is truly an emotional rollercoaster, because Jess’ life seems to be at its lowest point right now. Not only do Felix and she break up after he cheats on her for no apparent reason except self-sabotage, but when he’s meant to leave the house, Astrid is taking her last breaths. By the time they’re at the vet, Astrid’s stopped breathing and ends up dying, and Jess never even got to say goodbye to her. This is truly very sad, because Astrid was a part of Jess’ story. Jess seems to be an impulsive person, and when she saved Astrid, it was certainly a decision that a lot of people would call crazy. The dog had a tumor, and she spent half her savings on her, but Astrid made Jess happy, and Felix truly understood this, unlike Zev, who forced her to give up on an “aggressive” dog, when that dog never did anything deserving of the label. 

But Astrid’s death could symbolize a new beginning for Jess. She’s already successfully shown people at work that she can handle pressure and be a boss, but she’s also setting her life straight despite being the same person she’s always been. Everybody assumes change is always monumental, but what if we said it doesn’t have to be a massive thing? Sometimes you just need to see yourself in a new light. Jess doesn’t change herself just to make Felix reconsider being with her. In fact, after Astrid dies, they have their biggest fight on the show, really, and still it almost doesn’t make sense at all. Felix’s anger seems like an unjustified response in the face of a grieving woman, even when you remember he’s grieving too. Sure, he’s just run through the streets of London carrying a dying dog (who he said “I love you” to well before he did to Jess), but that doesn’t give him the right to call her misogynistic slurs in the middle of the street, when she’s always been around for him.

Additionally, Jess admits to liking her new life in London, and Astrid is the last bit of Brooklyn she had with her. Having to let go of her finally forces Jess to let go of her past demons, i.e., Zev, and hence her old life in Brooklyn. She’s finally moved on. 

In Too Much’s ending, Jess realizes that she’s still in love with Felix, especially after her conversation with Wendy. Felix is everything Jess needs, because he’s just as much of a chaotic “mess” as she is. He definitely made a mistake walking away from her, but she doesn’t shy away from going after him and making the big romantic gesture. In the final scenes of the show, Felix is at a protest on the M25, and Jess gets her neighbor and landlord guy to drive her to Felix. She then tells him that she’s not mad that he cheated on her, but he tells her that he shouldn’t have done it. The thing is, Felix is traumatized by his nanny and his past, so this is how he coped with that, by sleeping with an older woman and jeopardizing the only positive relationship in his life right now. Jess is traumatized by having had to put up with a partner like Zev for 7 years, so she has to work hard on bringing her self-worth up to the point that she doesn’t hate herself again. 

So, when Felix asks her to marry him, they’re both scared, and they’re both taking a risk, which is why it’s the perfect decision. Felix and Jess clearly love each other, but they’ve been letting other people get in the way of that. Finally, they’ve both been through enough to get over all of that and be happy together. The show ends on a happy note with Felix and Jess married, surrounded by their loved ones. Yes, I think they’ll fight a lot, but they’ll also be happy because they’re truly “Too Much.” The final episode is titled “The Idea Of Glue,” which is, of course, wordplay on “The Idea Of You,” mixed with the gluing of hands on the highway for environmental purposes, but I think it also just means that these two need to end up stuck together like with glue.