Gaslit (Series Finale), Episode 8 Recap & Ending Explained: As expected, Episode 8; or more accurately the series finale of Gaslit inclined towards a more ponderous approach over everything that went down after the Watergate break-in. To put it simply, it investigates the age-old question: Why do people get into herd mentality and follow definite evil, in spite of completely disagreeing with said evil?
However, we all know the answer to that question and while personal needs and a stake at power can be pinpointed as the culprits, Gaslit still takes us through that journey again. In hindsight, it is possible one of the more heartbreaking political shows because Martha Mitchell, who is now forgotten in history is just remembered as a medical condition and not a connoisseur of truth.
Gaslit (Series Finale), Episode 8 “Final Days” Recap:
Episode 8, titled “Final Days” feels like a proper wrap-up party. Thus, it is only right to begin the show with the devil himself. We, as an audience, get a sort-of sight of Nixon. The camera slowly pans into the American president’s room, while we see him wake up and look out of his window at the world outside.
However, in traditional Gaslit goofy fashion; the sequence ends with him farting on screen. One can only assume that this fart signified how this single man has put a blot on democracy and how he still did not give two hoots about it.
Consequently, we see FBI agents taking John Mitchell in custody, while Martha is seen visiting a doctor’s office with a broken wrist. The doctor alerts her about the damage her body has undergone and we can see her visibly drowning in loneliness and pain as the dialogues become noise.
Post that, Martha is seen in The Washington Post’s office talking to Winnie. A cheeky homage to Pakula’s All the President’s Men aside, Martha is there to request Winnie to accompany her to her daughter’s birthday.
Reluctantly, she agrees and then goes on to show Martha the first rough draft of the biography the two of them were working on. In spite of the publisher pulling the plug on the book, Winnie went on to complete it. The two share a friendly sigh before Martha leaves with the affirmation that Winnie would come with her because Marty likes Winnie, and that would dilute her hatred towards Martha.
Meanwhile, John Mitchell’s lawyers give him some ‘good news’ and some ‘bad news’ as they hand him the divorce papers. Dean, who is inside prison along with other colleagues. He is frustrated because he has just received some tapes from the FBI agents that have him, on record, supporting the President’s vision. Dean then listens to all the tapes all night long and forms an affirmative opinion about something.
The next day, Martha wakes up in pain in her Washington ‘Taj Mahal’ home; alone, desolated, and in visible pain. She somehow gets herself together and walks down to meet Winnie who has been waiting for her along with the Time Magazine photographer Martha has hired to click pictures of her meeting Marty.
Winnie warns her that this is a bad idea and while they drive on to meet Marty, Martha takes a few too many pills to help with her pain and anxiety and gets tipsy and high. Marty isn’t happy to see her mother and when she sees that she is high, she calls Martha ‘mad.’ Martha slaps her and messes up their meeting as Marty kinda storms out of there without acknowledging the presence of her mother.
Martha, who has been living on pills has a nosebleed and faints and Winnie is forced to take her to a hospital where she finds out that Martha hasn’t been doing well health-wise. She asks her to tell this to Marty and John Mitchell, but Martha changes the topic.
Agents Lano and Magallanes are also seen discussing their future prospects. It is here that we get to know that Lano, is, in fact, a Nixon supporter, and Magallanes is pissed at the racist attitude of those in power. The ponderous question of why Lano supports Nixonis brought up again but some incredibly stupid answer that relies on a ‘Slippery slope’ is brought up. Uff, these right-wingers.
Anyhow, the two of them drive Dean as he agrees to testify against John Mitchell. When the question comes up again as to why he agreed to work for Nixon in spite of knowing that he was doing wrong, Dean replies that he did it because of “Oceania foam.” While in hindsight that feels like a really stupid reason or a plot point used to drive another one of the show’s many vague metaphors, it brings out the one thing that Gaslit has maintained all along, i.e the stupidness of Men.
Liddy is also one of the people who have been called in to testify against John Mitchell. Gordon Liddy, who has been silent in all his testimony so far goes ahead and signs the German Nazi Party Anthem (an anthem that was banned in 1945), before completely freaking the fuck out. Since he gets out of control the officials have to get handsy with him, locking him in the same room as Dean. This leads up to a really tense sequence where Liddy’s demonic (a well-known persona now) side is seen. He narrates another one of his odd stories where he talks about killing men with pencils and eating a rat that we saw a glimpse of in the previous episode.
Dean is released from prison in just four months out of the five years he was sentenced for. When he reunites with Mo, she tells him that he was released before everyone else because ‘he is good-looking.’ Can’t complain about that now, can we?
Gaslit (Series Finale), Episode 8 “Finale Days” Ending Explained:
John Mitchell and Marty go out for a celebratory Birthday dinner where Mitchell is denied his usual table. The father-daughter duo thus sit by the bar and have their respective drinks. There, John tells Marty that people like Martha only destroy relationships even though they are not inherently bad people. But here we see Marty questioning John’s action for the first time. She is slowly coming to realize that the truth that her mother stood for had nothing to do with the behavior she had to face.
In the next sequence, we see Martha in the hospital being taken care of by her son. Winnie comes in to give Martha her dinner as the entire hospital is stuck to the television listening to Nixon resigning from his post. Before the final wrap comes up with Wolf Alice’s song playing, Winnie is seen frantically searching for Martha who is not to be found in her room, only to find her looking at a newborn baby happy as ever.
The show ends with Martha being buried away in Pine Bluff at the age of 57. The scroll also tells us that Mithcell only spent 19th months in prison for what he did while Dean and Mo became sort of like a celebrity couple who are married to this day.
The end sequence tells us the consequences all the characters had to face before stopping at Marty sadly looking at her mother’s grave which has been beautifully decorated with a flower inscription that says “Martha Was Right.”
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You can stream Episodes 1-8 of Gaslit on LIONSGATE PLAY
GASLIT EPISODE 8 LINKS – IMDB, WIKIPEDIA
GASLIT EPISODE 8 CAST – JULIA ROBERTS, SEAN PENN, DAN STEVENS, BETTY GILPIN, SHEA WHIGHAM
