Netflix viewers have been hooked by the streamer’s odd thriller Echoes, in which Michelle Monaghan plays identical twins Leni and Gina McCleary, who swap lives every year on their birthday.
The system goes largely undetected for about a decade but quickly falls apart when Gina (as Leni) goes missing, forcing the real Leni to return to their sleepy hometown and face some harsh truths about their past.
For a show that is billed as a limited series – i.e., only intended for one season – Echoes ends on a rather ambiguous note, with a creepy final scene that might leave some scratching their heads.
If you’re wondering what exactly was going on in that Echoes ending, read on for our full recap and top theories.
Echoes ending explained
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The McCleary twins are left in a dire state by the final episode of the series, as their sociopathic swapping has been exposed, leaving the entire town of Mount Echo disgusted by their behaviour. Additionally, the authorities are closing in on them for their role in the old church fire from years ago and the more recent death of Dylan James.
Even if the police fail to pin murder on the sisters, Sheriff Floss points out that they have committed numerous other crimes through their life sharing, not least fraud and polygamy.
At this stage, all Gina wants is to be free of her controlling sister, who she blames for getting them into this unsalvageable mess, but Leni remains insistent that they can fix everything if only they stick together. The situation comes to a head at the waterfall in Mount Echo, which Gina throws herself off when it becomes apparent she’ll never be able to lead the life she wants as long as Leni is around.
The following day, Leni makes a run for it using one of the fake IDs that had been intended for Gina and Dylan’s own escape, but has a strange encounter while passing through airport security. The guard tells her that a woman who looked just like her flew from the same airport just yesterday, which suggests that Gina – presumed dead by authorities (although her body was not found) – may have survived her fall and enacted her plan to start a new life in Kansas.
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Leni wishes to go farther afield than that, jetting off to Australia. As the twins scatter, Sheriff Floss is left with a hard drive featuring the sisters’ video diaries, giving her plenty to go on for her continuing investigation.
The series ends with a jump to the near future, when Gina (and Leni’s) LA-based husband Charlie – who had become aware of the swapping sometime into their marriage – has written a book about the McCleary sisters. At a book shop reading, someone asks a question from the back of the crowd who looks suspiciously like either Leni or Gina. Later that same day, Charlie returns home to find one of the sisters in his house.
Far from being disturbed by the sudden intrusion, Charlie explains that he never changed the locks after their marriage dissolved in the hope that one or both of the sisters would return to him.
Which twin is in the Echoes final scene?
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While the McCleary he’s talking to speaks with Gina’s LA accent rather than Leni’s southern drawl, Charlie later expresses uncertainty over which sibling he’s talking to.
That is only heightened when the McCleary in his home claims she didn’t attend the book reading, meaning either both sisters have returned to LA or she is lying in an attempt to manipulate him.
“I’ll find out, you know, which one you are,” he tells her.
“Maybe even I don’t know anymore,” she responds.
When asked why she returned, Gina/Leni (delete as appropriate) adds: “So many scores to settle, Charlie. I thought I should start with you.”
The comment suggests that this isn’t a friendly visit – in fact, it could be interpreted as a threat on Charlie’s life – which offers a hint as to which McCleary sister we might be dealing with.
After all, the sibling that seemed most attached to their deceptive ways was Leni, who relished hopping between her two distinct realities as well as the power she wielded over her sister.
Based on that information, orchestrating a series of revenge plots against those who wronged her – i.e., “settling scores” – seems much more like a Leni move than something Gina would do.
Of course, Gina proved she can be quite the schemer, too, having almost succeeded in putting Leni behind bars by planting evidence. But given the enormous trouble she went through to escape her life, it seems unlikely that she would return to it under any circumstance.
Echoes is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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