Keep Breathing ending explained: Does Liv make it out alive? What does the ending mean? (spoilers)

Survival drama Keep Breathing is now out on Netflix and main character Liv (Melissa Barrera) is forced to fight tooth and nail to survive after a plane crash leaves her stranded in the Canadian wilderness.

Spoilers ahead for Keep Breathing

Using her natural resourcefulness, Liv does her best to stay alive, but it’s not without its challenges. For starters, food is scarce, she struggles to start a fire and navigating the woods without directions is a potential recipe for disaster.

Throughout the six-episode limited series, we watch as Liv does her best to make it through one day at a time while also flashing back to her life before the crash, and even her childhood, to understand how she ended up in this situation, forcing her to reckon with many personal demons.

Keep Breathing ending explained: Does Liv survive?

The end of Keep Breathing is somewhat left open to interpretation, following the pattern of the show by splitting into two realities, one in the present and one, seemingly, in the future.

After escaping from the underground cavern and then falling off a cliff, Liv is certainly worse for the wear. But she does trek to the edge of a river headed downstream. She slides into the water and lets it take her away. Luckily for Liv, she finally gets rescued by two fishermen nearby. They take her to shore and she wakes up, cough up water a few seconds later.

Throughout the rescue scene, the show cuts away to a hospital where Liv gives birth to her baby with Danny (Jeff Wilbusch) by her side. We can assume that the show is giving us a glimpse of Liv’s future, especially since motherhood is such a prevalent theme. It’s possible that the hospital scene is just Liv’s dream, or hope, but I think Keep Breathing is more optimistic and uplifting than that. I got the sense we’re supposed to see that as Liv’s true ending as she finally makes it out of this horrifying situation.

She did what she was supposed to do, right? She kept breathing until the very end. She kept putting one foot in front of the other even in the face of unimaginable obstacles. The scene where she leaves behind the vision of her mother in the cavern to keep going and not succumb to the darkness and give up on life was particularly powerful.

Keep Breathing: Does Liv reunite with her mother?

Sadly, no. We do not see Liv reunite with her mom. The only “scene” they have together is when Liv hallucinates her in the cavern. But we never find out if Liv would have been able to catch up with her in Inuvik. It seems like that might be for the best.

Keep Breathing is now streaming on Netflix.