Warning: General spoilers for The Changeling

The creative team behind The Changeling discusses the show's ending, offering clues that help explain the Apple TV+ drama's bizarre conclusion. An adaptation of Victor LaValle's novel of the same name, The Changeling stars Atlanta alum LaKeith Stanfield and Clark Backo (Letterkenny). It tells the story of Stanfield's character, Apollo, as he goes in search of his wife Emma (Backo) after she does a horrific and seemingly inexplicable act following the birth of their first child. But although the series, which consists of eight episodes begins in an intriguing place, it takes increasingly unusual swings as it goes along.

Series creator Kelly Marcel and Slovan 'Slick' Naim, who directed The Changeling's finale, were asked to clarify some of the odd aspects in the adaptation's last episode in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Naim clarified that The Changeling is not a show about monsters and pointed to the mashup of genres. Marcel, for her part, offered clues to help understand the meaning of the series and cautioned: “You can’t be on your phone or you’ll miss all the little things we’ve planted throughout.” Their quotes are below:

Naim: It’s the finale so the series is coming to this crescendo. Making it action-based while dealing with all the emotions and being able to give closure to those and keeping with the thriller-horror part of it — it was a nice blend of genres, and that was exciting to me.

When you think of “Jaws,” there aren’t many times where you see the shark. It’s just about hearing the shark, seeing the fin, seeing subtle pieces where the horror is intensified because you don’t see this huge creature. As a director, this episode was teetering on how we are going to keep that edge-of-your-seat feeling while not showing too much. It’s not a show about monsters. I wanted to make sure that the suspense held.

Marcel: In every episode where we feature water, it’s been interesting to me that nobody’s noticed the creature is there. As we go on the boat to North Brother Island, you’ll see something breach the water. It’s so subtle. We’ve made it a show that you feel as well as watch. But also one that you have to watch. You can’t be on your phone or you’ll miss all the little things we’ve planted throughout.

Why The Changeling Doesn’t Quite Work

In interviews from when The Changeling first debuted, there were suggestions that the series could return for season 2 as it had only adapted part of its source material. If the adaption is not renewed, however, then the story ends in an utterly unsatisfying place that leaves more questions than answers. Coming in at less than 30 minutes, when counting credits, the last episode doesn't offer a resolution to the stories of Apollo and Emma. This is not an issue in itself. Some of the best shows, including Stanfield's stellar work on Atlanta, steadfastly avoided offering up easy answers.

But whereas Atlanta allowed audiences to develop a connection with the main foursome, both through humor and more serious moments, The Changeling mostly seems interested in adding mysteries on top of one another and asking viewers to pay attention like a riddle that's meant to be solved rather than a powerful narrative that's meant to evoke a response. By the midpoint, Apollo and Emma become vessels for a convoluted plot rather than lead characters.

Related: The Changeling: Emma's Third Wish Explained (& How It Connects To Her Dark Fate)

The series still has bright spots with genuinely thrilling episodes in the first half of the season. The chemistry between Stanfield and Backo is palpable in the relatively little time they share together on-screen. The Changeling episode 7 has been cited as a standout, largely separated from the main story. But on the whole, the Apple TV+ adaptation misses the mark by trying to cram too much into a story that already has enough going for it.

Source: Los Angeles Times