By Lynn Carratt
“You can’t delete an idea.”
From the makers of Sex Education, eigh-part horror-thriller Red Rose explores the intoxicating relationship between teenagers and their online lives and has drawn comparisons with dystopian drama Black Mirror and Irish sitcom Derry Girls.
Created by Lanchasire-born twins Michael and Paul Clarkson (Creators of The Haunting of Hill House) and directed by Elite’s Ramon Salazar, the TV thriller Red Rose centres around a group of teenagers who live in the Northern town of Bolton.
Having just finished their GCSEs they are looking forward to a summer of endless partying and carefree fun, but sinister social media app Red Rose has other ideas, as it begins to wreak destruction on the friendship clique who call themselves “the dickheads’, and life will never be the same again.
As the group faces their problems head-on with a few unexpected twists and turns along the way, can they finally defeat Red Rose?
Speaking to The Guardian, co-creators Michael and Paul Clarkson said, “They always knew they wanted to tell a story in their home town.”
Sir Ian McKellen had told them, “There’s something in the waters in Bolton. Danny Boyle’s used it, I have used it, and now you two are.”
Michael said. “We wanted something like Scream or The Ring, but set in Bolton.”
Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of Red Rose.
**Be warned: full spoilers to follow.**
Red Rose ending explained
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The opening episode, “Grim up North”, begins in Manchester with the premise of paranormal activity as one snowy night, the toxic Red Rose app drives Alyssa (Robyn Cara) to premature death. Fast-forward to Bolton six months later, and we meet the show’s heroine Rochelle (Isis Hainsworth). During a post-exam party on the moors, she receives a text from a popular girl at school and downloads the Red Rose app, and her psychological torment begins.
At first, the app starts by showering her with random acts of kindness like buying her a dress and putting money in her account. But soon, it begins to blackmail her. One fateful night at a party, Red Rose demands that unless Roch kisses Noah (Harry Redding), her best mate Wren’s (Amelia Clarkson) love interest, it will reveal a video of her visiting a food bank. To perturb her, the app also brings Rochelle’s dead mother back to life in a video.
Why does Rochelle die?
In the second episode, “The Garden”, we witness a distressed Rochelle’s untimely death. In a moving scene, her dad finds her lifeless body in the bath. It is thought to be suicide, like her mum before her.
However, best friend Wren isn’t convinced and believes more sinner forces were at play. And in the final episode, we learn that it was what most viewers suspected all along – Murder.
Wren sees a video of Roch being attacked, followed by a harrowing scream.
How does Red Rose begin?
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In the final episode, “The Gardener”, we discover that schoolboy Jacob is obsessed with Alyssa (whose death we witness in the first episode) and develops the Red Rose app to spy on her.
But he soon loses control after a plethora of sadists overtakes it on the dark web, and it begins spreading like wildfire through online tech. These keyboard warriors enjoy watching people get tortured and murdered from behind their computer screens.
Can Red Rose be stopped?
From the app, we know there is a user called The Gardener who is the main instigator of all the psychological torment and torture.
In the final episode, Wren believes it is the man holding her father Rick (Adam Nagaitis) hostage. But as Wren witnesses him stab her dad, she resorts to murder to protect him. And the teens believe The Gardener is dead.
Then Jaya (Ashna Rabheru) deletes Red Rose and all its evidence, and they are relieved their ordeal is finally over.
Who is The Gardener?
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But the thriller offers one final twist, as Jaya is heading back to be reunited with the rest of the gang, she meets the real Gardener (Harrie Hayes), and it’s a woman.
She explains to Jaya that she saw Wren’s potential and wanted to keep pushing her to see how far she would go.
Would she kill? Jaya tells her she’s deleted Red Rose, but The Gardener chilling says, “You can’t delete an idea.”
The teens believe their ordeal is over, but it’s Wren’s dad, Rick, who takes the fall, despite having nothing to do with Red Rose. He has a criminal record and is found next to a dead body with a murder weapon in his hand; as he is led away by the police, the gang head to Roch’s grave for a poignant goodbye.
But, suddenly, the show switches across the pacific ocean to a group of friends enjoying themselves on a night out in Toyko, Japan, and we hear the chilling beeps of the Red Rose app. And then you take heed of The Gardener’s final words, “You can’t delete an idea.” Leaving the show wide open for a second season.
Red Rose airs on BBC Three and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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