The Conversations with Friends ending has made me so mad
When the credits rolled on the finale of Conversations with Friends, I sat there stunned, my mouth wide open, unable to believe that final moment was where the series concludes.
*CONSIDER THIS YOUR SPOILER WARNING*
I swiftly picked up my copy of Sally Rooney’s novel and read the last page, which confirms that the series ends exactly (or almost exactly) as the book. Yet I don’t remember being this annoyed when I read it. I was probably slightly miffed – I sure do hate an ambiguous ending – but the show made me properly pissed off.
In a nutshell, Frances (Alison Oliver) ends her affair with Nick (Joe Alwyn) and rekindles her relationship with her ex-girlfriend and best friend Bobbi (Sasha Lane). After seeing a montage of her and Bobbi being really happy together again, Frances receives an accidental call from Nick. You might think this conversation would offer them closure and they could both move on with their lives, but nope, Frances tells Nick: “Come and get me”. THE END.
What the hell does that even mean? Are they going to restart their affair, even though it wasn’t doing her any good? Is she going to ditch Bobbi? Or she is hoping to date them both at the same time? I’m annoyed that I’ve been left with so many questions.
Another reason I’m so mad is that Bobbi was my favourite character and I want her to be happy (I don’t predict a happy ending now though!) She wasn’t my fave in the book but I think Lane did such a fantastic job portraying her and made me care about her so much more. She expresses her emotions all over her face but also articulates them well (something Frances and Nick suck at), she is always there for Frances and they clearly have a very deep connection that they can’t replicate with anyone else.
Plus, I don’t really get Nick’s appeal. Sure, he’s handsome but he’s quite boring. And most importantly, he’s MARRIED and doesn’t want to leave his wife Melissa (Jemima Kirke)! Frances became a different person as she was so stressed about the situation and was this emotional, isolated wreck. Going back there makes no sense.
Now that I’ve covered the ending, I’ll give a brief review of the series. It hasn’t captured the nation like Normal People but that’s because it’s nowhere near as good (the book wasn’t either). I just didn’t care about the story or the characters in the same deep, visceral way that I did with Normal People.
The strongest elements were Lane and newcomer Oliver’s incredible performances and the weakest were the annoying ending and Alwyn’s extremely inconsistent Irish accent. I’ve seen a lot of criticism about it but I thought it was pretty good (except the ending) and blasted through it in a week.
Airing every Sunday on BBC One, all episodes available now on iPlayer