Anatomy of a Scandal ending explained: Is James Whitehouse found guilty?

Anatomy of a Scandal is a new British courtroom drama series now streaming on Netflix. Written by David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson, many fans have been anticipating this series because it is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Sarah Vaughan. The six-episode first season is set up perfectly for an enjoyable weekend binge-watch.

The psychological thriller follows James and Sophie Whitehouse (Rupert Friend and Sienna Miller). James is a well-respected parliamentary minister with close ties to Prime Minister Tom Southern (Geoffrey Streatfeild).

But when James’ ex-mistress, 28-year-old parliamentary researcher Olivia Lytton (Naomi Scott), comes forward with an accusation of rape, everything in James’ life begins to crumble. Sophie must decide whether she believes her husband is truly innocent and stand by his side, but as dark secrets from the past start to come out, she starts to doubt their marriage.

Spoilers ahead for Anatomy of a Scandal

Whether you’ve watched the series or not, keep reading for all the answers you need if you’re ready to know how the season ends!

Anatomy of a Scandal ending: Is James Whitehouse found guilty?

The jury finds James not guilty of raping Olivia Lytton, but by the end of the episode, he has to return to court for another case entirely. And as to whether or not he did rape Olivia, the show heavily implies that yes, he did, and now he’s gotten away with it. He all but admits it in a conversation with Sophie after the trial.

Anatomy of a Scandal ending: What is the connection between Kate Woodcroft and Holly Berry?

Kate Woodcroft (Michelle Dockery) is Holly Berry. The twist comes at the end of episode 4. After James raped Holly in college, Holly left school and changed her name. She took the case because she wanted to see James punished for raping her, and now Olivia. Seeing as Kate is Holly, her accepting the case was a really unethical decision that could have gotten her fired, disbarred or worse. But no one finds out apart from her friend Ali and Sophie.

Anatomy of a Scandal ending: What happens to Sophie Whitehouse?

By the end of the season, Sophie has had enough of her husband. After the jury finds him not guilty, James admits to using the “pr*ck tease” language and essentially saying whatever he needed to say to convince the jury that he isn’t guilty.

James might even believe that he never raped anyone, which speaks to his inherent privilege and inability to believe a woman would ever say no to him. Either way, he is a rapist and odds are, he has raped other women besides Holly and Olivia.

Having realized what kind of man James is, Sophie goes to the press and tells them what she knows about James covering up for Tom Southern in college—everything regarding the drugs and how they left Alec for dead. Considering Sophie was James’ alibi way back when, her coming forward will hold a lot of weight.

She tells Kate what she did and essentially passes her an olive branch, letting her know she has another opportunity to seek justice against her rapist.

Anatomy of a Scandal ending: Does James go to jail?

At the end of the season, it is implied that James will go to jail, or at least receive punishment in some form, for his involvement in Alec’s death and the subsequent cover-up alongside Tom. The last we see of James, he is being pushed into the back of a police car and it looks like Kate will be prosecuting the new case.

Anatomy of a Scandal ending: What happens to Olivia Lytton?

We don’t see Olivia again in the present after the third episode, it’s unclear what happens to her. I imagine she’ll have a hard time dealing with the jury finding James “not guilty” but maybe she’ll follow along with the new prosecution brought against him in the end.

Does Anatomy of a Scandal have a post-credits scene?

No, there is no post-credits or even mid-credits scene at the end of the Anatomy of a Scandal season finale.

Stream Anatomy of a Scandal on Netflix.