The Essex Serpent spoilers follow.
Gothic period drama The Essex Serpent aired its big finale earlier this month, and now the cast of the Apple TV+ series have broken down that bittersweet ending exclusively with Digital Spy.
Starring Loki's Tom Hiddleston and Homeland's Clare Danes, the thriller follows Danes' character Cora Seaborne as she moves from London to Essex to research the "mythical beast" known as the Essex Serpent.
After the characters' tumultuous journey throughout the six episodes, the cast has opened up about their thoughts on the finale, which saw time skip forward and Will (Hiddleston) and Cora kiss in the final moments, now having healed the wounds of their past, before walking away hand in hand.
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"Well, obviously, the Serpent is serving as a metaphor and a canvas that all the various characters project onto," explained Danes. "But it's a way to make sense of their anxiety and internal conflict – whatever that may be.
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"But I think, you know, Cora's development was seriously arrested when she was married to this abusive man when she was, you know, barely an adult. And she was, yeah, a little frozen in time.
"So when she's released from that really difficult dynamic and has her autonomy again, she's awkward. She's ungainly. She doesn't quite know how to use her limbs, you know, emotionally."
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"You know, in the end, she works through a lot, and becomes integrated. And, yeah, she probably forgives her husband and forgives herself, and, you know, has found true love! [laughs] Yeah, she's gone through that fire," she added.
As for Dr Garrett (Frank Dillane), he sent a letter to Cora telling her that he misses her and has been made head of the medical school, and Dillane believes the ending leaves Luke in "quite a sad place", having not ended up with the woman he loves.
"I guess we leave Luke in quite a sad place, because obviously he ends up in bed with Martha, and that's sort of quite sad, to have slept with [the woman you fancies' friend]," Dillane shared.
"He's lost his hand – the ability of his hand. Cora isn't into him. So although he becomes head of the medical school, I did feel a little bit sad for him. But then I suppose he's quite egotistical. So he'll probably just get over it in the end."
Clémence Poésy, who played Will's wife Stella, went on to say that she thinks Stella is "at peace" with her choices before she dies in the episode's ending scenes.
"She's at peace with the way she's led her life, and what she's allowed the people she loved to feel even once she’s gone," she begins. "I think she knows when she meets Cora that that's someone that might bring joy to her family once she's not there anymore.
"So yeah. I always really liked watching – or reading – the relationship that Jo, her daughter, has with Cora, and how much Jo kind of looks up to this woman. I think she knows that she’s also leaving that possibility for Jo to kind of grow up with that role model."
The Essex Serpent is available to stream on Apple TV+.
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
