By Abby Robinson

Published: Tuesday, 08 February 2022 at 12:00 am

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Prior to Chloe’s premiere, writer/director Alice Seabright told RadioTimes.com that there are some questions which are left “unanswered” at the end of the BBC/Amazon psychological thriller.

That was echoed by Pippa Bennett-Warner, who played Livia: “Nothing’s tied with a bow. The ending isn’t neat.”

Becky’s (Erin Doherty) independent investigation into the death of Chloe (Poppy Gilbert) witnessed her explore multiple possibilities, from infidelity to extortion by a mystery figure. But while we weren’t given the absolute clarity that we had hoped for as the final credits rolled, the dark mist did part, at least somewhat.

Contrary to what her social media account indicated, Chloe’s marriage to Elliot (Billy Howle) was far from perfect. Over time, she had grown to fear him following his deployment of several controlling measures. He fed lies about Chloe to Livia, and vice versa, and we know from his altercation with Becky in the finale that he could be intensely domineering and aggressive. Her world appeared glamorous and boundless to those on the outside looking in, but Chloe felt trapped and small.

The couple were about to begin IVF, with Elliot believing that they were unable to conceive without a medical helping hand. But Chloe had no desire to raise a child with him and was secretly using birth control, such was the strength of her desire to untether herself from her husband. Chloe used the local swimming pool as a coverup to ensure that Elliot was none the wiser as she used every spare moment at her disposal to formulate her escape plan. But she never gained the freedom she craved, at least in life, instead meeting a tragic end.

Chloe and her friends were attending one of Elliot’s work events and it was during his speech that she took her opportunity to slip away. In her hurry, she left the key to the static caravan that she had covertly acquired and the box containing the cash she had taken out in Elliot’s name, which would support her, if only temporarily, as she embarked on her new life.

Chloe was expecting Richard (Jack Farthing) to collect her, but he failed to appear. He knew that she was in a precarious place but he felt unable to go toe to toe with Elliot who, over the course of the series, was revealed to be a manipulative figure who held significant power over his friends and those he came into contact with.

Chloe tried to book a taxi to the caravan park, but her funds wouldn’t take her that far. As an alternative, she went to stay with her parents. Chloe asked them not to give away her location but following a call from Elliot, in which he turned on the charm – “he was so upset, so scared” – her mum informed him that Chloe was with them.

He told her mum and dad, and anyone that would listen, that she was on a “downward spiral”, playing up her instability to suit his own agenda. On a previous occasion, Becky had discovered several pills hidden in a plant pot in his house, inferring that Elliot was forcing medication upon Chloe.

In the middle of the night, Chloe’s mum and Elliot headed out to search for her after she had bolted yet again.

“We arrived just as she jumped,” said her mum, initially. But Becky was adamant that Chloe wouldn’t take her own life and claimed that Elliot pushed her.

“I don’t know what I saw,” her mum replied. It’s not clear if she knew the truth about her daughter’s last moments. Did she see Elliot lay his hands on Chloe? Was she obscured by him when she hurtled to the ground? Is the truth of the matter – that her child was murdered – simply too painful to vocalise?

But while the details are murky, we know that Elliot played a key role in her death.

During the final episode, we also learned another crucial piece of information. Becky found a letter that Chloe had written to her shortly after their friendship had fallen apart. It was squirrelled away in a box in Chloe’s old bedroom, which also contained photographs and various other pieces of memorabilia from their time together. In the note, Chloe apologised for ostracising Becky when she moved to a new school and fell in with a new crowd, and she also asked for her forgiveness.

“I love you,” she added.

Becky was the only one that Chloe wanted to speak to before she died.

There are also troubling observations about Elliot’s behaviour that chime with what we now know about him.

“Sometimes he gets angry when I do things he doesn’t like,” she wrote.

Alongside their collective interests and deep affection for one another, there was also a profound level of trust that existed between Becky and Chloe. Chloe was the only person Becky had confided in about her younger sister Sasha, who had had died after drowning in the bath. Becky’s mum never explicitly laid the blame at her eldest daughter’s feet, but the strain in their relationship stemmed from that unspeakable tragedy.

Becky felt vulnerable enough with Chloe to disclose that information to her, which undoubtedly added to the sting she suffered when Chloe withdrew from her. Despite the time that had passed, the breakdown in their relationship had haunted Becky as she struggled to comprehend why her best friend had abandoned her. But Chloe’s written confession, albeit delivered in unhappy circumstances, went some way to helping Becky achieve a level of peace that had long evaded her – and had hindered her from forming deep and meaningful relationships with other people.

“We meet her [Becky] in this place of isolation and loneliness and with a very fractured identity, and through the story of the show, she confronts a lot of herself,” Seabright told RadioTimes.com.

“I hope that there’s a feeling of catharsis at the end. It’s not to condone her actions, but hopefully we can gain some catharsis through her own catharsis.”

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