'Below' Ending Explained: Can We Expect Season 2?

Creature features, especially those based in the ocean, have always been deeply fascinating and terrifying to me. My favorite of the bunch will always remain Water Horse, an emotional film about family over all else. Really, it might just be my nostalgia for it that keeps it in my memory as one of the best creature features, but I feel like Below has a tone very similar to that one, discussing climate change, family, and abandonment. What else can one learn from the vast ocean, eh? Below follows the Penneys, a family that has been living in Snook’s Arm for 40 years after the death of Calvin’s father back when they were relocating from one Canadian island to another. Calvin is convinced that the eye he saw in the water back when he was a child, before watching his dad being “taken” by the ocean, was a figment of imagination. The whole thing feels like a curse on the family to him, but by the end of the 6-part series, he realizes there is no such thing. What brings him to this realization? Is the creature real? What happens to it? And how does all this affect Calvin? Let’s find out in the ending of Below.

Spoiler Alert

What Happens To Mudder?

The thing that makes watching Below feel like watching a nice big budget movie is the idea of the creature, a cephalopod, seemingly eating humans. However, the creature does no such thing. She’s anxious because the ice has come down to warm water where the islands are, and it’s too warm for her nest, which means her eggs won’t hatch, and all her babies will die. Fonda tells us that Cephalopod mums are extremely selfless, because when their eggs are ready to hatch, they stop hunting and eating and give all their nutrition to the babies so that they can survive on their own in the water. How do they develop without dying in the crazy ocean? I’m not sure, but that is the power of nature, as this show continues to remind us.

Mudder is the name that Walton and his family give the giant squid, because she essentially gives them all the food they need in the warmer months. From my understanding, she’s helpful because she believes her nest is being protected, and these guys aren’t harming her family. She helps because she’s just nice. There’s nothing more to it. Selfless, like I said. So, according to Fonda, her eggs hatched but none of the squids would’ve survived because the water is too warm for them down there. She’s certain that they would’ve all perished after swimming out of the eggs. But when Wade and Calvin are on a boat in the water, they notice more ice seems to have travelled from nowhere, kind of like when they first discovered Mudder’s nest. This is a year after the incidents that took place in the main part of the show. This could imply that the ice is just melting and travelling down south because of climate change. But that means more ice for Calvin to sell. Alternatively, it could mean that the animals survived and mated again, so this is a new nest. Apparently, this is totally possible, and it’s not too soon after the last one. But this is what the series is about, I suppose, based on what Walton says to Calvin back when they first meet. He tells him that he’s looking for a husband for Maggie, or rather a “mate” so that she can carry the family legacy forward, and she’s chosen Wade. The point here is survival, and that’s what the creatures are doing too, so the show draws a parallel between the island people and the animals in the sea, making them a reflection of each other. In Calvin’s case, Mary has also already chosen a mate, and the boys will eventually find mates who realize how important it is for them to stay back too. I like that the guy wants to be here and doesn’t insist on dragging her away to the mainland.

Will The Penneys Leave Snook’s Arm?

This leads to my next point. The whole time that Calvin has been on this island and the creature has been terrorizing them, everyone has been trying to convince him to leave. The whole time, it’s he and his sister who have been sticking with the fact that they don’t want to go anywhere because they saw what the first relocation did to their dad. But what’s so wrong with the mainland? Well, it’s not home. Jay and Mary left a long time ago to do their own thing, but despite Wade’s obsession with the island, and more importantly, the water, his father has kept him at a safe distance out of fear of losing him to something dangerous, like the ocean itself. So, it’s really interesting that Wade is the first one who gets hit by the thing, because this forces him to join forces with the other members of society and rebel against his dad. This is why they say not to put restrictions on people; it turns them to the other side. But, by the end of the show, Calvin realizes that Wade is most like him and wants to be close to his dad and do the same stuff as him and take his legacy forward. When, at the last moment, Calvin decides to stay back to save the creature and Wade agrees to stay back with him, he doesn’t protest. However, he does ask his other kids why they chose now as the moment to stay back rather than before, when he was practically begging them to stay on the island.

What Does Fonda Do Next?

The thing that doesn’t work very well is how easily the Crockers give up on trying to relocate the islanders, considering they have a contract. We don’t really find out what happened with them except for that the island no longer respects them and they don’t live there anymore. But the island is now thriving, and everything is going well, while we have no idea what happened to the Crockers who claimed to have been the reason Fonda’s research ever happened in the first place. If that is the case, what is Fonda still doing on the island? How can she still be working there? Who’s funding her? What sets this story apart is that the military doesn’t just listen to a powerful man and blow up an iceberg, they realise the threat is gone thanks to Calvin and Wade and stand down. This leaves the Crockers no choice but to retreat, but surely they’ll want to come back for the cobalt under the island right? Plus, Little Pot Rock is now completely empty, so there’s a chance they’ll go there and set up base?

Can We Expect Season 2?

Below’s ending leaves us with a lot of unsatisfied thoughts and questions. I’ve already addressed the Crockers, who I imagine would definitely return to the island if there’s a second season, this time with a bigger team, and other reasons for relocation. Everyone needs money at some point, and no matter the pushback from the Penneys, people will eventually want to leave, especially after what they saw go down. More importantly, the ending of the show leaves us wondering about the baby squid and their offsprings. If they are surviving in warmer waters, are they settling here? Are they going to continue nesting in shallow waters? What about Fonda’s research now? What is she really doing? We don’t really know except for the fact that she believes the creatures didn’t survive. Did the mother survive? Did she decide to stay back and keep her kids protected like a human being? While Fonda is talking, we see what could’ve happened to her, but nothing is ever confirmed, and the show is clearly written in a way that makes us expect another season, but based on the results of this show, we’ll find out if people really want to watch another season or not. What did you think of Below? Were you satisfied with that ending? Do you think Calvin will get to play hero again? 

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