Summary
- In the end of Netflix’s One Day, Emma gets hit by a car while going to meet Dexter and dies in the accident.
- Emma’s death leaves Dexter a broken man and he moves out into a new apartment to restart his life.
Netflix’s ‘One Day’ is a beautifully crafted adaptation of two friends who make a pact to meet once every year and how their uncanny relationship evolves.
Based on David Nicholl’s extremely popular novel of the same name, the Netflix series is the second adaptation of the book. The new version, however, takes place over fourteen episodes instead of one film.
Thus, it gives the protagonists, Dexter and Emma, some much-needed space and the audience plenty of time to fall in love with these characters.
Emma and Dexter get married and start having lofty ambitions for their future. Emma tells Dexter that she wants to have a baby in the future, and everything seems to be going toward a picture-perfect ending.
However, in the penultimate episode, set in 2000, a catastrophe shocks us. Emma gets hit by a car while riding her bike to meet Dexter and dies.
It is a gut-punch moment for anyone who hasn’t read the book or seen the 2011 film, and hits even harder for viewers who fell in love with Emma over the last thirteen episodes.
In fact, showrunner Nicole Taylor wanted to give the show an alternate ending.
Read her comments below:
I didn’t want to do that to her because I love her. Everyone who read the book remembers how they felt when that happened. You just want to throw the book out the window.
However, she confessed that ‘fundamentally, that ending is stitched into the work as a whole.’
On the other hand, the Emma fiasco leaves Dexter completely derailed by his grief. He soon returns to his old and irresponsible self, drinking and neglecting his duties as a father.
The episode ends with Dexter having a meltdown at his ex-wife Sylvie’s doorstep before his father carries him home.
The finale of ‘One Day’ leaps to July 15, 2003, marking two years of Emma’s death. Dex has moved to a new apartment and desperately tries to bring his life back together.
He’s visited by his old friend, Tilly, and even Emma’s former lover, and they all tell him how much Emma loved Dexter.
The episode ends with a beautiful montage in Edinburgh. Dex visits his daughter Jasmine, and as he explores the city with her, Dex remembers his first kiss with Emma.
Thereafter, we see a heartwarming montage of all their kisses play out on screen.
About One Day
One Day is a 2024 British television series based on the 2009 novel of the same name by David Nicholls and the film adaptation. It premiered on 8 February 2024 on Netflix as a limited series.
Netflix ordered a new One Day adaptation in November 2021 from Drama Republic. The writers’ room was led by Nicole Taylor and consists of Anna Jordan, Vinay Patel, and Bijan Sheibani.
Executive producers included Nicholls and Taylor as well as Roanna Benn and Jude Liknaitzky. Molly Manners was attached to direct the series.
Actress Ambika Mod said in November 2022 that the series would cover more of the novel than the 2011 film adaptation.
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