You think your mother-in-law is bad? You hate the girl your son is dating? Whatever you’re feeling is probably nothing compared to the tension between Laura (Robin Wright) and Cherry (Olivia Cooke) in The Girlfriend.
In Prime Video‘s new series, the two women are in an all-out war over Daniel (Laurie Davidson), Laura’s son and Cherry’s boyfriend. Throughout the course of the six-episode series, these devoted ladies show that they will stop at nothing to get Daniel away from the other person and win his love and affection once and for all.
Of course, the battle for Daniel’s love cannot be won without a fight to the death (a literal and physical one) that results in more than one person walking away with some scars (once again, literal and physical ones). But who ultimately wins and how does Daniel make his decision? These questions and more are all answered in the Season 1 finale, which packs both thrills and surprises.
Here’s everything you need to know about how Prime Video’s The Girlfriend ends, including who Daniel ends up with and how the series shakes things up in the last moment.
**Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Girlfriend**
In the end, Daniel does end up siding with Cherry, marrying her and opting to start a family together as the final scene of the series shows. That happy moment is quickly interrupted, however, as Daniel discovers his mom’s phone and finds her last message to him, complete with a recording of Cherry’s mom listing out some of her concerning actions. Let’s back up.
At the start of Episode 6, Daniel and Cherry have moved on from his mother and her alleged craziness, the pair having reconciled after realizing that Laura lied and told Cherry that Daniel had died as a result of the injuries he sustained during his birthday trip. In Episode 5, Cherry then goes to Laura’s art gallery and the two women talk, each refusing to back down in their quest to free Daniel from the other person. That results in Laura choking Cherry up against a wall and Cherry smashing a glass into her own head and claiming to the gallery full of people that Laura attacked her. These women, I tell ya.
After telling Daniel that her bloody face was caused by his mother, Daniel cleans up Cherry’s wound and suddenly remembers that he had proposed to Cherry while on his birthday trip, only coming to the realization after looking at the balloon animal keychain he had given her in lieu of a ring. In that moment, afraid to lose her again, Daniel re-pops the question and Cherry — still with at least semi-fake tears rolling down her face — accepts, which is where the series finale picks up.
As Daniel and Cherry plan their engagement party and contend with Laura still trying to interfere in their, let’s just call it complicated, love story, Laura makes one final attempt to show Daniel who Cherry really is, going to the nursing home where she claims her father died. Of course, the audience already knows that her dad is alive and unwell at the care facility, although it isn’t until Laura asks a nurse what happened to him that she begins to put the full story together. You see, Cherry’s father suffered a fall from a construction site he was working on that left him paralyzed and unable to speak. Are alarm bells going off for you, or just for Laura?
Concerned over what really happened and how Cherry might be involved, Laura goes to Cherry’s mom and pleads with her to tell the truth about who her daughter is. After a thought-provoking conversation, Laura texts Daniel to say that they need to meet, but the text is, of course, intercepted by Cherry, who promptly deletes her messages. What’s more, Cherry is furious over Laura’s unrelenting nature and decides to completely deface all of Lillith’s (Anna Chancellor) paintings in the gallery, causing what we can only assume is millions in damage.
As payback, Laura shows up at Daniel and Cherry’s engagement party (which she was not invited to) and has Cherry arrested on the spot for suspicion of criminal destruction. After a short stint in the police station and her mother having to come alibi her out, falsely, the final showdown between Cherry and Laura commences and the claws come out.
While Cherry is sitting in a holding cell, Daniel storms over to Laura’s house to confront her for getting Cherry arrested and causing so much strife in his life. After agreeing to seek help and go their separate ways, Laura ultimately drugs her own son in an attempt to get him to listen to an audio recording of Cherry’s mom talking about the crazy things her daughter has been known to do. Before she can accomplish her mission, however, Cherry arrives and tries to rescue Daniel from his mother.
As a fight ensues, Daniel falls down the stairs while trying to save Cherry from a knife-wielding Laura, who already got one good gash in as Cherry tried to take the weapon from her. The two women eventually fall into the pool and bob up and down before Daniel jumps in and intervenes, giving Cherry a chance to get away and holding his mom underwater. Alas, he holds her for too long and Cherry has to tell him to let go, only for it to be too late as Laura has stopped breathing. He immediately understands what he’s done and the scene cuts out with a sobbing Daniel mourning his mother.
Skip ahead to the not-so-distant future after Cherry and Daniel have been happily married (as evidenced by their prominently displayed wedding photo) and they are now preparing to welcome a baby (as evidenced by Cherry’s massive bump). While enjoying a day in the garden with his father (Waleed Zuaiter), Daniel is alerted to his long-gone mother’s missing phone and finds the video in which Laura shares the audio of Cherry’s mom saying that she is responsible for her dad’s accident, as well as a series of other terrible events all throughout her life. The final shot sees him listening intently while looking out into the garden and realizing the horrible mistakes that have led him to this exact moment.
Moral of the story: Cherry may have won the battle (and Daniel), but we think that Laura won the war. Although, is there any way out for Daniel? Perhaps that answer comes in a Season 2.
The Girlfriend is now streaming on Prime Video.