Netflix’s Lou Ending Explained- Did Lou And Philip Survive?

If you ever thought to yourself, I would love to see the hilarious mother from NBC’s sitcom, Mom, in a spy thriller doing her best Liam Niessen impersonation; this is the movie for you. She is the action hero you didn’t realize you needed. The surprisingly addictive thriller is full of action and past regrets. Between the body slamming, stabbing, and MacGyver killing with cans of beans, there are plenty of twists and turns. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of Lou.

Lou (Allison Janney) is a grizzled soul who lives a solitary life with only her dog for company. She is taciturn and stand-offish with everyone on her small New England island. She has secrets and is full of self-loathing that we suspect has something to do with the classified documents and pictures she keeps hidden before burning in her fireplace. Hannah, Jurnee Smollett of Spiderhead, is a young single mother living in Lou’s rental house. Her husband was killed in combat several months ago, and she hasn’t been able to tell her daughter yet. Lou is tough on Hannah, but when someone breaks in and kidnaps Vee, Lou immediately takes action.

She is more than she appears and knows more about what has happened than Hannah realizes. Hannah’s husband, Philip, Logan Marshall-Green of Prometheus and How It Ends, is not dead and is not a good guy. He is a monster that has been destroyed by past events that are slowly revealed. Philip has abused Hannah since almost the beginning, and when she threatened to divorce him and take Vee, he faked his death and made plans to take his daughter away from her. Conveniently he was also accused of war crimes for torturing prisoners, so his “death” killed two birds with one stone. With a vicious storm raging and no way to ask for help, Lou and Hannah must work together to track Philip and rescue Vee before it is too late.

It turns out Lou is ex-CIA and Philip’s equal. Despite not telling Hannah anything about their relationship, she has been watching out for them since the beginning. She knew how dangerous Philip could be because she is his mother. Philip was kidnapped as a young boy. Even though Lou ensured he was rescued, she did not return to him herself. Instead, she stayed in the field working as a spy. Her guilt over what he became prompted her to orchestrate Hannah’s move to Orcas Island and keep watch over her. When Lou learned of Philip’s death, she thought Hannah and Vee were safe, which is why she wrote the letter leaving everything to them and preparing to kill herself. Hannah knew none of this, though.

The ending of Lou

All of the notes Philip left were for Lou, not Hannah. He was even angrier with her than Hannah. Philip planned to escape with Vee on a boat, but when the weather prevented that, he set a bomb and tried to lure everyone to a lighthouse and detonate the bomb. Lou is able to defuse the bomb, and Hannah and Vee get to safety. This leaves Lou and Philip to have a final showdown just as the CIA is descending on them in a helicopter. The CIA wants Lou for the evidence she took and Philip for his crimes.

Philip and Lou struggle in the ocean. Lou is stabbed, and when you think it is over, the CIA helicopter opens fire on the two of them, and they fall into the ocean, presumably dead. The CIA questions Hannah about whether she knows anything about the evidence Lou hid. Hannah denies it and prepares to move. We next see Hannah, Vee, and Jax on a ferry back to the mainland and a new life. Jax looks questioningly at the top deck and someone holding a pair of binoculars. He cocks his head in the way that all dog owners know means curiosity.

Are Lou and Philip alive?

He thinks he recognizes his owner, but it is far away, and she is not reacting to him, so he is unsure. The camera then pulls back just beyond the person, and we see it is a woman with brown hair. This is most certainly Lou. She has dyed her hair, but the copper bracelet is a dead giveaway. Or is it? Sheriff Rankin gave Lou a copper bracelet just before her fight with Philip. When the CIA was questioning Hannah, Sheriff Rankin was present, and the camera focused on two copper bracelets on his wrists. At first blush, that seemed to indicate her body was recovered, and he took back the bracelet.

He must be wearing two bracelets now because if one helped, two would work miracles. He could have got a new bracelet or recovered the one from the ocean with or without a body attached. Lou just as easily could have bought her own bracelet believing it did help with her pain. We will never know, but Jax’s reaction is enough for me to definitely say Lou is alive and still watching them. If nothing else, she is a survivor.

Even with her son dead, she has every reason to stay hidden. The CIA would not let her live with all the secrets she knows, and they can’t trust that she hasn’t stashed more evidence. Lou wants a chance to be happy with her family, but she needs to ensure that Philip never returns. The more significant concern is why she is still watching Hannah and Vee. Has Lou decided to make a major life change and reconnect with her family, or is she scared that Philip isn’t really gone? People are capable of change, but it’s more likely she is concerned Philip isn’t actually dead. If Philip survived as well, she will need to stay vigilant to keep them safe.

You can stream Lou on Netflix right now.