UnREAL ending explained: Does UnREAL have a planned series finale?

UnREAL is now on Netflix, but fans may be wondering if the season 4 finale works as a series finale. Just what happens in this wild drama?

Caution: This article contains heavy SPOILERS for UnREAL seasons 1-4

Debuting on Lifetime in 2015, UnREAL is set around a fictional reality TV dating show called Everlasting. The series goes behind the scenes of that show, focusing on executive producer Quinn King (Constance Zimmer), who will go to any lengths to produce a better show for ratings. That includes manipulating people, setting up crazy situations on camera, and even covering up the illegal activities going on around. 

Aiding Quinn is Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby), a producer recovering from a breakdown. While at first not happy with Quinn's actions, Rachel is soon heavily involved in Quinn's scheming and proves to be just as adept at doing anything it takes to get the show going. 

The first three seasons revolved around the pair pushing past the envelope, often not caring about the lives they ruined along the way. The two women had their ups and downs, their friendship seemingly on the verge of breaking, only to end up coming back together, dedicated to the show. Season 4 was a shift as it was announced it would be the final year and moved to Hulu. That was a fitting way to go out with a wild year.

What happens in UnREAL Season 4?

Season 4 opened with Rachel, now producer of Everlasting, with a new attitude of "Blonde hair/don't care." She was producing an "All-Star" edition of the show with past contestants, including a few she and Quinn had hurt in the past. Quinn had also returned as a producer and was loving ideas like an opening featuring would-be suitors deciding whether to drop contestants in a moat. 

Also, Jay (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) produced his own dance show, but it went badly. Meanwhile, Quinn was dealing with an unexpected pregnancy and clashing with frenemy Fiona (Tracie Thoms), a key producer.

As the season went on, Rachel's obsession with making the show a hit not only crossed the line, it obliterated it. She went from sleeping with multiple suitors to fooling along with new producer Tommy. But the topper was when Rachel got season 1 contestant Maya to confront the man who'd once raped her. That ended with Maya stabbing the guy, and even Quinn was horrified at Rachel's insistence to film the whole thing and almost gleeful at the attention it would get. 

That led to the finale, which, as any fan would expect, was one crazy ending. 

How did UnREAL end? 

As the build to the Everlasting finale went on, Quinn discovered her unborn child had a serious health issue, meaning either a painful miscarriage or it would be born to a short life. Rachel was still dedicated to pulling off the finale but came to realize the damage she'd done with her actions. Thus, she and Tommy cooked up a plan to expose the dirty laundry of Everlasting and move on.

Just as the Everlasting winner was about to be announced, Rachel and Tommy prepared to push Quinn out by revealing the father of her child was past contestant August. However, Quinn flipped the script by taking over the stage first to have August deny he and Quinn were ever together. Then Quinn talked of a "rogue producer" shattering the rules, listing all the various crimes committed involving Maya and other actions. Rachel and Tommy were jarred, expecting Quinn to name Rachel…only for Quinn to claim Tommy was the one behind all this.

Tommy refused to believe Rachel didn't know about this, thinking the pair had set him up and stormed off, his career over. Rachel snapped at Quinn, "You were supposed to put the gun to my head," with Quinn sadly replying, "I could never do that to you."

The fallout also caused Fiona to lose her job, but she and Jay set up to team for a new reality program. Rachel came to see Quinn at her home, snuggling up with her in bed as the pair talked about how they needed a fresh start together. As it happened, Rachel had made sure of it as the final scene of the series was the Everlasting mansion on fire. 

It was a crazy finale, to be sure, which totally fits this outrageous series. At the end of the day, it was always about the strange friendship between Rachel and Quinn, how each truly needed each other and a bond greater than any romance. Quinn refused to burn Rachel while Rachel burned down the show that had meant so much to her, recognizing how it had warped her around. 

We don't know the fate of the two women or Quinn's baby. Yet it's easy to imagine the two somehow still working together in their own way and likely soon back to running some other reality show. Burning down the mansion was a clear send-off to the series as well as showing the pair burning the last of their bridges with the network and former allies.

The finale of UnREAL nicely summarized the series in shocking twists, an outrageous satire of reality TV and a strange female bond to cap off one of the darker but more fun Lifetime shows ever.

UnREAL seasons 1-4 streaming on Netflix.