‘Ripley’ ending explained

Ripley, Netflix’s 8-part adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, begins a twisty tale of Tom Ripley, hired to lure Dickie Greenleaf, the scion of a wealthy family, back from Italy to New York by Greenleaf’s father. Rather than arrange the homecoming, however, Ripley murders Greenleaf and assumes his identity.

Set in sumptuous mid-century Italy, the machinations of the murderous and charming con man, Ripley, played by Andrew Scott — aka Fleabag‘s “Hot Priest” — are reason enough to watch the show. But near the end of the series, John Malkovich arrives as the character Reeves Minot. If you’ve read Patricia Highsmith’s five-book Ripley series, published first in the mid-1950s with the final four published between 1970 and 1991, you know Minot plays a role in Ripley’s story, suggesting there’s more to come.

But until when and if Ripley season 2 materializes, viewers are left with a bit of a cliffhanger; as it stands, here’s Ripley‘s ending explained.

Did Ripley get away with it?

By the time we’ve reached the final episode, Tom Ripley’s murdered two people: Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), and Freddie Miles, killed for getting too nosy with Ripley after Greenleaf disappears. Meanwhile, Greenleaf’s girlfriend, Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning), also suspects Ripley is not who he seems, but rather than murder, Sherwood thinks Greenleaf dumped her to start a relationship with Ripley — little does she know, her boyfriend is dead. All the while, Ripley deftly moves back and forth between Greenleaf and his real identity to cover his tracks.

By episode 8, “Narcissus,” however, Ripley’s constructed his most ingenious ruse yet to explain Greenleaf’s disappearance, readopt his own identity, and seemingly get away with both crimes. Near the end, we meet Reeves Minot, who has a pointed conversation with Ripley about being an “art dealer.” Is that code for a con man or a gay man? Given the homoerotic subtext of Ripley’s novels and Netflix’s show, either is possible.

Still, as the series concludes, Minot has supplied Ripley with a new identity, a British art dealer named Timothy Fanshaw. As Ripley escapes from Italy, at the very last moment, Inspector Ravini receives a copy of Sherwood’s book, which she worked on in Italy, with an inscription including the real Greenleaf’s picture.

One of the few characters who’ve seen Ripley posing as Greenleaf, Ravini seems to realize what has happened. By then, though, the show is over. For now, Ripley’s escaped, but since there are four more books in The Ripliad, as the series is called, the question remains — for how long? Here’s hoping Ripley‘s producers have more seasons in store.