Homecoming is a 2018 Amazon Original Show from the producers of Mr. Robot. Starring Julia Roberts, season one follows Heidi Bergman who works as a therapist in a facility that deals with the rehabilitation of PTSD suffering military personnel.
Throughout this video, I will be discussing the Ending of Homecoming with points from Show Director Sam Esmail from his interview with Thrillist, as well as giving my thoughts on the show.
There will be heavy spoilers so it may be worth skipping this video for now if you’re yet to watch the season.
With that out the way, I’m Deffinition and I ruin it so you don’t have to.
Ending Explained
Homecoming takes place over two time periods, 2018 and 2022. Most viewers will instantly be hit by the aesthetic presentation choices when watching the future events as the screen is cut down to a 4:3 ratio. This not only symbolises that the characters feel boxed in after the events of Homecoming but also adds weight to the things that have happened to them.
The Homecoming facility cured the PTSD suffering soldiers by medicating them to the point that they lost their memories in order to rid them of the trauma. With massive parts of their lives missing they are unable to fill in all the details and have blank spots. Hence the boxed in future that they now live in. Throughout the show Heidi gains an attachment to one of the soldiers named Walter and this is season one’s main focus. When Heidi discovers that he is being redeployed, she doubles his dosage in order to save him.
When Homecoming is shut down, Heidi is forced to find other work but she is unable to escape her past. The Government come after her and question her on what she remembers, which is very little. She manages to track Walter down and in the final episode of season one, the two meet and exchange a conversation that seems little more than chit-chat on the surface.
However, when Walter leaves, Heidi notices that the fork at her table is askew. This is a call back to an earlier episode in their office where Walter did the same thing with a pen. To me this hammers home the fact that he indeed still carries the memories of Homecoming but is lying low in order to avoid all persecution that could potentially come. It’s a really nice and hopeful moment that lets us know subtly that Walter still remembers Heidi and the rekindling of their relationship is definitely an avenue that I could see Season 2 travelling.
Post Credits Scene
In the post-credits scene we see the character Audrey turn the tables on Colin. However, she also seems traumatised by the events that she has been a part of and there is a real dichotomy to her performance. Nothing more than background dressing throughout the show, she really comes into her own here and teases what could come down the line.
In his interview with Thrillist, Director Sam Esmail discussed her casting and said:
‘Look, I don’t want to spoil anything for Season 2, but we knew that that character was going to play a critical role. I think at the time I had seen Downsizing. I think it had just come out, and I was blown away by her performance. I just thought there was something about her, even though she’s in the background and not foregrounded as much, you are going to pay attention to her. You are going to keep your eye on her. And that’s exactly what we wanted to do with that character. So, we reached out to Hong and luckily for us she was into the character and into the show that she wanted to come on and do it.’
Obviously, the ending isn’t cut and dry and a lot is open to interpretation but we can definitely sumise that Audrey will be playing a huge part down the line and I can’t wait to see how her role comes to fruition.
Your Thoughts
So, what are your thoughts on Season 1 of Homecoming, how did you interpret the final exchange between Walter and Heidi and what did you take from the shows post credit scene?
Comment below and let me know!
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