THE OUTSIDER Ending Explained! 

"I swear it was El Cuco!" Me after Holly uses that UV light in my room.

Another potentially significant thing about the final scene with Holly: earlier in the series she mentions that she doesn't like to listen to music of any kind. If that's the case, then why is she listening to the radio while checking on the status of the case?

I used to like the ambiguous ending. It's over used now and sometimes i just want some closure lol

I like how El Coco had forgotten its original purpose. But could sense others are out there. For example Pennywise who feeds on fear while El Coco feeds on Sadness.

How many else thought they were going for the cliche body mix up/switch when the cave collapsed and the cop and woman walked back it? I would have turned it off if I saw that's what happened.

Overall I liked the show but I wanted more from it, I felt like it had potential to be a lot better.

Ben Mendelsohn is an awesome actor it's always a treat to see him.

Andy Greenwald mentioned on The Watch podcast that he reached out to someone from the show to clarify Holly's line about Terry. Apparently it's only meant to show that they are already starting the cover-up to clear Terry.

The “who’s Terry” by Holly is still puzzling. I don’t know exactly why she said that. It’s very uncharacteristic.

Holly twirling her hair in reverse is actually a reference to a previous scene. When the teenage carjacker recounts seeing El Cuco as the hooded figure taking the van, we see his point of view of the figure staring back at him in the rain. However if you look closely, the rain is actually falling in reverse.

When i was a really young kid in russia my grandma would awlays tell me stories of creatures like Baba yaga and Wolves who walk on hindlegs, who live in deep woods and feed on bad little children, thanks grandma, i am still scared to sleep in the dark

El cuco face shifting to Ralph face at the end of the last episode was kinda scary

I think the reason why Ralph can see the ghosts is that he changes his mind to believe something that seems totally unbelievable, which means, Ralph becomes an outsider as well and thus he can see the outsider.

I gotta say man, I watched a couple of "ending explained" videos for The Outsider yesterday, and they were alright. But yours, today, went much deeper and had many more interesting observations and conclusions others overlooked. Thanks for your attention to detail and focus on beyond the story. Keep it up!

The show seemed to me be the spiritual sequel to Richard Stanley's movie "Dust Devil" which was about a shapeshifting serial killer that actually was a mythological creature that prayed on people without hope. An interesting thing is that both "The Outsider" and "Dust Devil" have a central character who is a cop who has lost a son.

The meaning of the final scene is to be able to have a segway and gauge any potential hype for a 2nd season. That's it.

Remember an outsider is actually like IT, coming from outside our universe.

Honestly haters gonna hate about the encounter with El coco but that's the realistic way your gonna get with an entity for a Stephen Kings book. Love the scenery, love the ending (with the Franky Peterson grave), love the paranoia for other entities, but hate the fact it felt as if another season would come out but yet kill 75% of the characters.

I feel like the show started out SO interesting and by episode 5 started falling off and each episode was less and less intriguing.

So Holly is in another book called “finders Keepers” that has another creature like Cucu. King likes keeping in his own anthology, my guess is that if there is a season two it will be based on that novel or at least draws from it.

The cut on Holly's arm is a _red herring._ Nothing more. She got this cut when the cave collapsed at twenty-three minutes and 37 seconds mark. She's holding her arm as Ralph is assisting her. Holly has special powers just like several main characters in Stephen King books (Carrie, Dinah in The Langoliers, Danny Torrance & Dick Hollarann in The Shining, John Coffey in The Green Mile, Mother Abigail in The Stand, etc.) It's a running theme in his books. You don't need to look too deep into it as it just is.

GREAT breakdown. Didnt notice or recognize the links to few things u explained + ALL of it makes 100% sense. That is, if there actually is "sense" to be made of this CLASSIC HBO series !

6:03 I’m pretty sure that the images shown don’t represent his physical decline, but instead the metamorphosis into a new body. This was at least the explanation I got from the show, and maybe there was some physical decline that I just didn’t notice in the last few episodes but that is exactly it. El Cuco are pretty consistently until the episode where he tries to take the child, and then the confrontation happens only a few days later, so I feel that El Cuco is not so much in some sort of physical decline as much as just changing his form which is why each picture shows him as looking less and less like terry Maitland and more like a malformed person. I do believe in the last few episodes El Cuco was at his weakest as it didn’t actually put up much of a fight, and we see that it needs to be fed rather frequently, so most likely it was starving and not able to be as active as it would normally be with the investigators so close on his tail. Other wise, I agree so far

Why do all videos say “ending explained” then go on to summarize the whole series. I came here for the “ending explained”.

I was waiting patiently for this notification.

THANK UUUUU 4 THIS DOPE RECAP!

Thank you! It seemed like no one else was bringing up the random ep 9 child murder scene...if they wanted to to be a cliffhanger for next season, it would have made sense for Ralph and Holly to hear about it and be horrified since they were on El Cuco’s tail at that point and know (or can at least be pretty sure) he didn’t commit that murder. Instead the show just doesn’t address it at all in ep 10 which feels like a very odd choice.

Kinda had a feeling that TS wouldn’t wait till the next day to post his take on The Outsider. And he didn’t disappoint, nice catch with the very last shot of the episode being in reverse. I’m not going to say I caught that too, I’ll just say that it felt weird watching it. Like if you were to walk into your house and everything was moved over 6inches. I’m probably not making much sense right now, it’s WAY past my bedtime. Great video, TS. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got in the pipe next!

I love how this show always and I mean ALWAYS keeps you on your toes, and I never know what's gonna happen.

We can categorize this Stephen king work as much of his other work in that it starts strong and finishes weak. It's ok if that's the other way around, but when something is so promising at the start and then just flounders around in the middle and has a nonensical ending I just can't say it was good. It makes sense when you find out that King proudly classifies himself as a "pantser", meaning he writes by the seat of his pants with very little or no outline. The Outsider definitely felt that way. I could say the same thing about IT. The best part about this show was how they dealt with the idea of what would happen if normal, common sense people had to grapple with the reality of a supernatural being. That was very interesting.

Waow. Just watching this in 2021,jan. Thanks for bringing that show to my attention. Will watch it this week. Your work is great. Its helping me evolve my powers as a fiction writer. Thank you.

I love the explanation of the final scene.

i loved it, i love the slow pace, i love the supernatural twist, i love the fact that el cuco is not some all powerful transmogrifying being, he is just a supernatural version of a human being, i love the simplicity and closure with which it ended, though this movie still has so much potential, there could be other cucos, maybe he scratched someone before he died, anyway i loved the movie overall, please kind stranger, recommend me more like this

Wow I didn’t even notice the cut on Holly’s arm or that it played in reverse... 🤔 very curious

I really enjoyed this!

just finished reading the book, can't wait to see this series! wooo

Love this insight!

Holly doesn’t listen to music, she hates it.

Girl who played Holly is so damn cute

As much as it would be nice to believe that evil is done by forces outside of ourselves, the reality is the monsters that do evil things are just human.

Love this video. So much i didnt know.

Holly asks El Couco if there are more like him. Maybe another entity scratched her, such as the one from Georgia.

Actually, in the last scene, if you pay attention, right after the angle switches from her notebook screen (with Terry's exoneration) to her messing with her hair, there's no scratch whatsover on her forearm. Then it switches to the back of her hair, and then to her front again - both already with the scratch there. So it's even more curious.

Why do you use the “daddy loves you very much” part lmao always makes me laugh

I'd definitely like t to see a possible anthology series spinoff with holly maybe she was turning into something else or now will be drawn to looking for other el coco's

Yes! The anticipation was killing me.

Excellent observations! I caught the scratch on Hollie’s arm and wondered how she got it. Ew! I assumed it was from the falling rock in the cave! I also did NOT see that hair twisting was backwards because I was to scared sh*tless when dead Zombie Sniper appeared behind her! CRAP!

You're sooooo Canadian... But that's a good thing. Awesome video, man.

Can someone explain why they sent the video of "El Cuco Claude" trying to take the kid at the fair? Wouldn't that make Claude a suspect ... in *something*? That's the part that confuses me the most. Look at what happened to Terry despite there being footage to show he was elsewhere. The footage of "El Cucu Claude" is completely damning for "Real Claude", showing he was *not* elsewhere (even though Ralph et al sat with "Real Claude" all night).

If you are a fan of the show then I suggest reading the novel, there is a pretty significant part of the ending of the novel that they leave out of the show in regards to El Cuco, I am not sure if it's due to special-effects budget issues, but it answered some questions about what El Cuco truly was and what was behind the mask so to speak.

Only thing I didn’t get was the 2 ghosts in the cave that only the cop could see.

It was a freaky show good though-thank you for the explanation - was confused a few times 🔥👍

this is a huge stretch but, maybe think of it this way baba yaga has a counterpart i just googled that LOL, maybe el cucos counterpart was Holly,that will maybe explain some of her eccentric behaviour, this whole show from the beginning was about counterparts, Holly did get scratched by the counterpart of el cuco if there is such a thing I don't know yet. The Holly we saw at the end is the REAL Holly. The "entity Holly" kept on saying "A human being(el cuco entity) cannot exist in two realities at the same time" thats why she (el cucos counterpart) needed to get rid of el cuco, she also said "outsiders knows another outsider" and the weird shrug she gave Ralph after he asked her if there is "other" things out there, could be all a coincidence but she also said “When the facts are filled with coincidences, don’t dismiss those coincidences". Wikipedia (Koschei) The most common feature of tales involving Koschei (baba yaga counterpart) is a spell which prevents him from being killed(scene with jack where Holly condemned him). He hides his soul inside nested objects to protect it(Holly) they also talk about a ring (Turkic amulet to be exact), which Holly kept twisting and turning, if you caught that.. I don't know just my thoughts but at least my mind is put to ease, I'm going to watch Dark tvShow next ( Stay save everyone :)

How about the potential scenario that there is another El Cuco that already cloned into Holly. The post credit Holly is the real Holly who was home and was never even in Cecil. The El Cuco Holly poses as her to take down the other one. She says “an outsider knows an Outsider” and seems to know Jack wouldn’t shoot her. Also the scratch means another El Cuco could have scratched her days before. The Cuco asked how was it so easy for you to believe in me. Just strange the real Holly would say “Who’s Terry?” The El Cuco Holly wouldn’t know if it came along later in the storyline. Just a thought

I watched this series in 3 days ... loved it .. how ever the ending should have been more clear and conclusive .

I just finished the show and I don’t want to read through all the comments To see... But did anyone catch the use of reflections and mirrors throughout the episodes? And the people “el cuco” influences all wear a shade of green just like his hoodie: Jack, Terry, Olie, and then Holly’s wearing a green t shirt and her last shot is how something would look like in a mirror? I even remember one character asking another if “el cuco” can be like a virus. And maybe that plays into how Holly could be “infected” but then we do get to see a scratch, so 🤷🏽‍♂️ ?

I see it as HBO keeping things open for another Season(s), even though is based off of a single book, we all know HBO has no problem trying to continue/end series that they haven't waited for the original source material to either finish themselves or in this case continue that which I believe has already been finished by King, unless of course he writes a sequel sometime soon, who knows but I definitely will not be surprised if there's more Seasons, I also kinda hope so, as long as they do it right, cause I really did like the show

Actually really liked this series a lot! And hope they make a few more seasons!

Holly had a jacket on the whole time while she was in the cave

Took me until this video to realize Ralph is “Nolan sorentto(sp) (also using his character from ready player one because it was just on my random film playlist in the background at work) he’s a great actor and his light lisp should be a dead giveaway but it’s not. Just like him in captain marvel as a skrull. Idk if anybody else had this happen to them as well.

The Father or Grandfather (i forgot) of the Kid wearing a mask together with Elcuco is i think also got scratch when he stop Elcuco right? but when Ralph ask him when their in the police station he said he doesnt have any scratch? And is there gona be a Season 2??

That was an supernatural episode but more "realistic" and stretched to a full season - i liked it. Sam and Dean could`ve helped a lot here^^

As I've read the book before watching the show, I have to point out that some scenes in this are NOT in the book... Certain parts have defos changed but I still enjoy it nonetheless 😁

An X-Files episode that dragged on forever.

Well done

Loved the series, but found the finale pretty poor. I thought the production in the cave scenes looked very amateur.

Excellent show...just got the book

The beginning was so good, really good. The middle was so slow and uneventful and the ending disappointing. This whole thing could have concluded within 3-4 episodes. Unnecessarily stretched out, very poor execution.

6:56 Huh, so far quite a few changes from the book. Interesting.

Ralph probably scratched her. A common theme in Stephen King works is that when someone kills an entity, they take on part of their characteristics. When Ralph bashed El Cuco's head in, he probably got some of it's blood inside of him.

you make it sound better than it is the show is sooooo sloooow thanks for the closure

King's book was better. Also felt the same about "Doctor Sleep" too. Roughly based on the book but very different.

im not a stephen king fan but i do like ben mendelsohn and how hes not a bad guy anymore, binged watched this series as a part of the loong ass quarantine

The post credits scene made me think that the show wanna teased possible sequel season as in some kind of anthology TV series with Holly as the string to connect it all. There was already rumors of the show getting season 2 after episode 8-9. Well, in the post credits scene, I think Holly finally found her new purpose, specifically to battle this supernatural forms of evil. Pretty much just like another day for the "Winchester" bros LOL Also, about Holly' remark on "who's Terry?." Wasn't that supposed to be her "quirk"? Like having a memory lost in recent memories, but able to "conjure" the ultimate encyclopedia in almost every subjects. That's why she was researching for Frankie Peterson murder case in the post credits scene. I mean some people even suggest that Holly is being invaded/taking over by El Cuco in post credit scene (which I am not agree with).

Was a great season. Dragged on a bit though. Luckily i have the new season of Homeland to see me through till Ozark S3. Btw Homeland has been phenomenal this season

I think she said who’s terry as sarcasm

I loved this series. I feel like this creature was like the vampires from the dark tower kinda? Some live on laughter some live in grief. Holly was awesome as was all of the characters. Dug it.

Any recommendation on similary kind of shows ? I have one "Midnight Mass"

So in the book. The outsider copies the people. And frames them for the murder. Then he changes into someone else and started over He does not take the people over But those people wind dying anyway By murder or suicide

9:13 I love episode Dine!

Loved this show they need too bring it back I didn’t know this was a supernatural show so I was really excited when it revived And my baby Cynthia Erivo killed her role!

after reading the novel, seeing the changes they have in the show is so odd.

I'm reading the book now it's a very good show

Just finished this series and heartbroken to know that there isn't a second season.. I'd like to ask, was it Ralph's Cuco in Tamika's house? Because when he came to visit Tamika to inquire about Jack, there was a moment where another him inside the house was standing by the window looking at Ralph 1 and Tamika talking outside..

Can someone explain the scratching thing again???

i loved this show! great actors❤

The show is also testing us before the final episode...remember that Frankie Peterson alibi is that it was visiting his olf father...but the father said that it was never his son who visiting him...so his girl that was remembering his father like El cuco...who killed the first child, who was living with terry's wife Glory ?...it's very ambiguous. That can explain why Holly search terry's case on his computer and suddenly feels insecure...A lot of theories but what a great show !

Why would the entity tease them in the beginning by making sure it was caught on video, then immediately begin trying to make them stop looking for it?

I thought episode 1 and 2 were brilliant! But then I lost interest in the show. A few weeks later I gave it another shot and I’m glad I did. However people commenting that the script could have been better or this would have been better as a miniseries -they are entirely correct.

In the whole series, we see this el cuco having powers like hurting someone while being invisible, accessing someone's thoughts,etc and getting killed by a single gunshot, i mean in the final episode it was too easy to finish in the final scene, (with him still being very weak) having these crazy powers

I just finished the show and it was really good.

loved it...i assume it's a one off? i don't see how a 2nd season is possible...

I know by saying this, I’m the biggest nerd but honestly I am still grieving over GoT’s last season. It tore me apart. So this show kind of lifted my spirit because it was consistent till the end. I enjoyed it.

It seems like nobody is talking about the scratch on Ralphs left cheek, after the El Cuco encounter in the cave...

Love your explanations !! Thank you !!

Such a good show !

I was a little bummed out by the end .

The Hand rail theory was was one of them moments what made me think! She really is above the box even on the smallest of things.

In the end of the book Holly is the one that kills it. I think its super lame that they didn’t use that

This video taught me the difference between Canadian and American accent