Netflix Pieces of Her season 1 recaps: Episodes 1 to 8

Episode 8

Well, we’ve finally made it to the Pieces of Her finale! Let’s get into the final episode, the longest of the bunch.

Okay, first, recall that phone call in episode 3 where someone greeted Jane, but we never heard the rest. That was Nick calling, and we get to hear the full conversation this time. Jane made a deal with Nick to give him that tape with the conversation between him and Jasper in exchange for him leaving her alone. The tape will theoretically allow Nick to “own” the next vice president. They agree to meet in the “last place” Jane saw him, which is that cabin in the woods where Nick and Andy are currently hanging out.

Nick claims he heard the crash and heard Andy calling for help. He says he saw EMS taking a man to the hospital, Charlie. Is Nick telling the truth? Doesn’t sound like it. We know he killed Clara, which he neglects to tell Andy when she asks about her. They get to talking, and Andy shows Nick that picture of Jane, including the scar. Nick is apologetic about it, but it’s hard to believe him.

She asks why Nick didn’t take her with him on that day in the woods. Nick says he didn’t want her to live in hiding, but technically, Andy did live in hiding. She just didn’t know it. Jane arrives shortly after and we get our first (intense) family get-together with Nick, Andy and Jane all sitting around the table together. Nick gets the tape and plays it. Andy is shocked to hear it, especially since her mother has had that tape all along.

Jane and Nick start talking about Oslo. Nick claims he did not give Grace that gun. While they talk, Andy recalls the car accident and seeing Nick arrive, confirming that he crashed into their car and probably left Charlie for dead. Remembering that triggers Andy to act in the present, and she causes a fire by knocking the lantern to the floor and reaching for Nick’s gun. All three of them rush outside, with Jane pausing only to retrieve the gun from the floor. She confronts him in the woods and prepares to shoot, but Andy stops her just as the cops arrive.

At the Department of Justice, Andy sits with Gordon while Jane and Nick are in questioning. They confirm that Charlie died, and Gordon offers to help Andy change her name if she wants since he’s already revising Jane’s will. But Andy doesn’t want anything from the Queller family. “You’re going to have to make your way back to her. It’s different for you. You can’t avoid your mom.”

Nick is in a holding cell, and Jane is prepared to testify or say whatever needs to be said to put him behind bars. Before that, Jane is interrupted by Jasper to check on things. Jane thinks Nick will find a way to avoid going to prison, but Jasper doesn’t think so. He’s responsible for the death of a U.S. Marshall, not to mention their father…right? But Jane is concerned with what Nick is going to tell his lawyer and implores Jasper to look into it. It’s not like Jasper isn’t already corrupt, what’s a little more digging into the justice system going to hurt?

After getting out of the hospital and returning to Belle Isle, Andy is surprised to get a visit from Michael, who has now completely recovered. The doctors found a needle mark on his arm that injected him with a respiratory paralytic. Apparently, if Andy hadn’t started CPR when she did, he wouldn’t have made it. So he thanks her for saving his life. His next stop is D.C. to visit Internal Affairs where he may or may not get fired. But for now, he and Andy have a moment. He asks her to dinner, and Andy says sure, but not now. Later, when things have died down.

Jane is struggling to return to normalcy. She throws out all of her old clothes and visits a local music shop to play piano for the first time in years.

But the twists aren’t over yet for Pieces of Her. Another flashback to Oslo shows what really happened that day. Jane is the one who gave Grace the gun and encouraged her to kill Martin. She found Grace at the bar before the conference and brought an identical bag containing a bag, allowing Grace to switch the bags with ease.

Jane also mentions that when Martin drugged her drink at the beginning of episode 6, Jane was aware, and she suspected Martin was trying to kill her baby. That was the point of no return for Jane, although this episode also appears to imply there was some abuse going on between Martin and Jane beyond the extreme controlling measures he took with his daughter. “I’m afraid of him. He’ll take her from me, he takes everything.” Grace agrees. Yes, Martin does take everything. She tells Jane to take care of her daughter and then switches the bags, obtaining Jane’s gun!

Nick strongly suspected what happen, having noticed the interaction between the two women, especially since Grace looked at Jane in the audience right before pulling the trigger. Andy realizes all this via a dream and by rewatching the video footage of the Oslo conference. “Nick knows. That’s why she’s afraid of him.” And that’s why Jane was kind of pissed at Andy for keeping her from killing Nick.

That night, Jane gets a phone call from Jasper. He did listen to what Nick said to his lawyer and he talked a lot about her, Oslo, what she did. “I’ve never understood you, Jane. But we’re family. I can keep it quiet.” For a price, of course. He tells Jane he’ll be in touch. Ugh! I feel for Jane. She’s had men controlling her for her entire life, and she thought she might finally be free. But no. Now Jasper has something on her, and she no longer has the tape.

You can see Jane’s frustration after that, and the next day, Andy can’t find her. I thought she might have committed suicide. Instead, Andy finds Jane at the beach. They take a walk together, signifying the start of something new, but maybe not something better? There are still quite a few loose ends here, so I wonder if there will be another season.

If you want to learn more about Pieces of Her and how everything ended, you can read our ending explained post for a simplified breakdown.