All 8 Roar Endings Explained (2024)

Apple TV+'s Roar TV show saw the episodes end with uplifting messages that reaffirm the importance of the female perspective in modern society. Based on Roar by Cecelia Ahern, the series is a surreal anthology that combines magic realism, social reality, horror, comedy, and drama. Each episode of Roar seeks to unravel the nuances behind the most crucial issues affecting women today. Series creators Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive – the duo behind GLOW – worked directly with Cecelia Ahern in fleshing out the author's stories. Each narrative in the Roar series is true to Ahern's original vision.

As Mensch and Flahive adapted only a handful of Ahern's 30 feminist fables, there is more than enough material for this creative team to develop more seasons. Roar's feminist fables are standalone stories that are independent of one another. Connected only by Roar's thematic soundtrack and its overarching socio-political themes, each episode ends with a conclusion for its respective protagonist. With the Roar episodes explained, however, the true thematic depth of the show is revealed.

Roar Season 1, Episode 1 “The Woman Who Disappeared” Ending

The First Roar Episode Is About Erasure In Hollywood

Wendy (Issa Rae) is a Black female author who has come to Los Angeles to close a deal to turn her autobiographical book into a movie. Things take a weird turn when Wendy realizes she's completely invisible and mute to everyone in the city, except for Blake (Griffin Matthews), who is also Black. As Wendy is about to give up and return to New York, Blake convinces her to try again, prompting Wendy to confront the studio executives about her book.

Although the ending of Roar's pilot episode is possibly too anticlimactic, the message is clear: Wendy will no longer tolerate being invisible. Apart from how Wendy's invisibility echoes the strange events in the beloved supernatural drama Twilight Zone, the conclusion of Roar's first episode is about the ongoing struggle against Black and female erasure in Hollywood.

Roar Season 1, Episode 2 “The Woman Who Ate Photographs” Ending

Roar's Second Episode Is About Intergenerational Trauma

Robin (Nicole Kidman) is a woman struggling with the fact that her sons are growing up and that her own mother is succumbing to the effects of dementia. While helping her mother move into their family home, Robin discovers that eating old photographs of her as a child allows her to vividly experience each of the memories represented in each photo. Despite Robin's husband's misgivings about her mother moving in, Robin's entire family ends up supporting her decision to keep her mother close.

Robin's visceral act of eating photos represents the physical and emotional toll of her experiences as a mother and as a daughter. As Robin arrives at a crossroads in her mid-life, thankfully, she has her family standing right beside her for support. In the end, Robin finally decides to help her mother. At the same time, her son, who she is struggling with the same way her mother struggled with her, accepts the new normal now, too. This is mostly an episode ending about accepting the past.

Roar Season 1, Episode 3 “The Woman Who Was Kept On A Shelf” Ending

The Third Episode Of Roar Is About Overcoming Internalized Misogyny

Amelia (Betty Gilpin) deciding to get back on a shelf in Roar episode 3 is the darkest ending in Roar. After leaving her life as a literal trophy wife for a wealthy man and even destroying the shelf where her husband made her stay, Amelia ends up sitting on a shelf that she built herself. This underscores the reality of internalized misogyny, which is when women subconsciously perpetuate sexist ideals that cater to the male gaze.

After complimenting Amelia for her beauty, a little girl leaves before she can hear a reply that it's not always about being beautiful, like the words that Amelia's mother told her back when she was competing in child beauty pageants: “If I had to choose between you being smart or you being beautiful, I would choose beautiful, every time.” This is an example of how Roar subverts typical feminist messages in modern entertainment.

In the end, Amelia realizes that, even though her new shelf gives her power, she's also sending the wrong message to the next generation of women. Despite its surreal elements, Amelia's tale has a very grounded perspective on how overcoming internalized misogyny and building political awareness don't just happen overnight.

Roar Season 1, Episode 4 “The Woman Who Found Bite Marks On Her Skin” Ending

Roar Episode 4 Is About Maternal Guilt

Ambia (Cynthia Erivo) is a mother and a partner-level career executive in a PR firm who is struggling to balance these two roles. After just giving birth to her second child, Ambia returns to work. Just as she is starting to enjoy herself again at her job, her body starts to become covered in strange bite marks, evocative of the horror and mystery in shows like .

In the end, through the help of a support group for mothers, Ambia realizes that the bite marks on her body are a result of her guilt as a new mom, which is literally eating her alive. Knowing how much guilt can affect a person, Ambia reassures her husband that he has nothing to be guilty about as well. Ambia's tale is about postpartum depression and why it's important for even the strongest new mothers to have even stronger support systems.

Roar Season 1, Episode 5 “The Woman Who Was Fed By A Duck” Ending

The Fifth Roar Episode Is About The Power Needed To Leave Abusive Men

Drawing comparisons to the surreal romantic comedy series Man Seeking Woman, the fifth episode of the Roar series is about Elisa (Merrit Wever), a woman who dates an actual duck named Larry (Justin Kirk), who starts talking to her while she's at the park.

After she realizes that Larry's good-guy act was just a facade and that he's actually physically and emotionally abusive, she calls animal services to pick him up. When the cute animal services guy (Eric Andre) tries to ask her out, Elisa politely refuses as she decides to focus on her goal of becoming a doctor.

Apart from how women get trapped in abusive relationships, Elisa's story is also about how women have the power to leave abusive men. Moreover, by focusing on her own long-term goals instead of biting at the first chance at dating another prospect, Elisa reaffirms that she doesn't need a man in order to be happy or content.

Roar Season 1, Episode 6 “The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder” Ending

Roar Episode 6 Explores The Dangers Of Incels And Online Rhetoric

Alison Brie stars in the Roar episode, which proves how changes to a book can be positive. Rebecca's tale is one of the two stories in the show that aren't directly adapted from Ahern's book. After Rebecca gets killed under mysterious circ*mstances, she manifests back on Earth as a ghost and helps solve her murder. As the male detectives assigned to her case get distracted, Rebecca finds help through Carole (Ego Nwodim), the female police officer who found her body.

In the end, Rebecca stumbles upon the dark world of incels, gives Carole all the evidence about her case, and ascends to the sky. Rebecca's fate is about how online anti-female hate speech has created a dangerous community of self-proclaimed "involuntary celibate" men who blame women for their sexual and romantic problems – a logical fallacy that refuses to see patriarchy for what it is. And the fact that only Carole could help Rebecca reflects the importance of having strong female characters today.

Roar Season 1, Episode 7 “The Woman Who Returned Her Husband” Ending

The Penultimate Roar Episode Is About The Importance Of Sensitivity In Relationship

Anu (Meera Syal) is one of many Indian women trapped by the tradition of arranged marriage in that society. Bored and discontented with her husband, Vikras (Bernard White), she returns and exchanges him at the store like an appliance, only to get jealous when he is picked up by her neighbor. When Anu returns to the store to find Vikras being sold for a discounted price, the couple ends up reconciling and vowing to be more sensitive about each other's needs.

The final fate of Anu and Vikras is open-ended, as it's unclear if their marriage will last. However, as the two are resolved to make things work, Anu's story is grounded on the challenges faced by aging couples. Moreover, it's also about how true love and companionship can blossom anywhere, even within the confines of arranged marriage.

Roar Season 1, Episode 8 “The Girl Who Loved Horses” Ending

The Final Episode Of Roar Plays On Western Revenge Tropes

Roar's Jane (Fivel Stewart) is in the only period piece in the Apple TV+ series. After her father is murdered by Silas McCall (Alfred Molina), Jane embarks on a quest for revenge, accompanied by her childhood friend Millie (Kara Hayward). Jane cuts her hair short and starts wearing her dad's clothes. Through Millie's friendship and desire to save her friend, Jane overcomes her desire to kill Silas and instead finds a way to fool him into giving them back her father's horse.

Jane and Millie's adventure is a subversion of classic Western revenge stories. As Jane and Millie manage to get justice without shooting even one bullet. That is because Jane realizes that McCall is in agony after losing his wife, and he wants nothing more than for someone to kill him. Jane won't be that person, and she takes the high road and says that his suffering is enough of a punishment for him. Roar's final episode illustrates how female creativity can be used against violence.

Which Roar Ending Is Considered The Best?

"The Woman Who Was Fed By A Duck" & "The Woman Who Found Bite Marks on Her Skin" Remain Highlights

Each of the Roar episodes has a different kind of ending, but all of them show the strength of the power of the women at the center of the stories. Of the eight episodes, "The Girl Who Loved Horses" had a sweet ending that showed female empowerment and the ability to move on from tragedy. However, at the same time, it was the least strange of all the episodes and the most traditional, even though it was the only period piece of the entire series.

When looking at reviews of the series, the episode with the worst ending might be "The Woman Who Was Kept On A Shelf." While the theme was important to the episodes, with Amelia understanding that she was sending the wrong message to the women and girls who looked at her, the episode really didn't go out of the way to show a solution to the problem.

However, the best Roar episodes have endings that send a strong message and do so in a way that viewers might not have seen coming. This comes down to "The Woman Who Found Bite Marks on Her Skin," which is about post-partum depression in an almost Twilight Zone-esque episode, and "The Woman Who Was Fed By a Duck," an episode about a woman who learns she doesn't need anyone to complete her. Both remained weird and showed women able to overcome their doubts and fears creatively.

Roar

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Roar is a black comedy anthology series from the creators of GLOW, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. Each episode tells a story about a woman's experiences in everyday life and what it means to be a woman. But certain stories take it a step further by using magical realism and futuristic worlds.

Cast

Hugh Dancy , Fivel Stewart , Betty Gilpin , Merritt Wever , Jake Johnson , Issa Rae , Meera Syal , Nicole Kidman , Alison Brie , Cynthia Erivo

Release Date

April 15, 2022

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Apple TV+

Directors

So Yong Kim