Netflix’s What/If: 11 Questions We Nonetheless Have After Season 1
A number of months in the past, Netflix launched its newest unique collection What/If – an episodic thriller that facilities round how one questionable resolution might change all the course of an individual’s life and the lives of these they care about. The primary story of this anthology facilities on the conflict between biotech firm Emigem Molecular Sequencing CEO Lisa (Jane Levy) and the ruthless capitalist Anne Montgomery (Renée Zellweger), and the collateral harm of their ensuing battles of wits.
Whereas What/If neatly wraps up its main arcs and conflicts by the tip of its 10-episode run, it leaves some lose threads which are both minor inconveniences or main gripes that drills holes into the collection’ core thriller and themes. Listed below are the 10 questions that What/If we nonetheless have after its inaugural season.
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11 What Occurred To The Mendoza Household?
Lisa’s brother Marcos works professional bono as a lawyer who focuses on immigration circumstances. His newest purchasers – the Mendoza household – try to avoid wasting their father and breadwinner from deportation, which ends poorly after the case is stayed for the third time in a row.
Regardless of Marcos’ funding within the case, Hector Mendoza’s precise destiny is just implied and by no means explicitly revealed. Marcos’ listening to might solely be delayed, however this dangers getting the Mendozas evicted from their house. By the collection’ finish, not one of the Mendoza clan are introduced up once more and their destiny stays unknown.
10 What Occurred To Todd’s Dad?
Todd’s abusive father disappoints him for the final time when the son finds out that the one cause why his father or mother talked to him was within the hopes of getting cash. It’s by no means revealed, however it’s hinted that the daddy owes some huge cash to some mortgage sharks.
After a brief confrontation, Todd leaves his father for good and by no means appears again. Neither does the present, for the reason that circumstances surrounding his debt – and his endangered life, for that matter – are by no means talked about once more exterior of Todd’s resolution to develop into the daddy that he by no means had.
9 What Occurred To Hearth Academy?
As a reward for his or her heroic actions, Sean and Todd are given glowing suggestions to the Hearth Academy the place they get a shot to ascend from their present positions as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).
However the second What/If picks up, their purpose of turning into firefighters is rarely introduced up once more. Granted, their non-public lives have been clearly extra essential than promotions however the Hearth Academy is ignored after Sean makes it to the highest of the category. Qualifying for the academy has been one of the best pals’ dream, and it’s a disgrace that it’s all however forgotten by the collection’ finish.
eight Will Dr. Ian’s Physique Be Found?
To make sure her household’s security, Angela shoots an incapacitated Ian within the head. Alongside along with her husband, she buries the deed to maintain her identify and that of her household clear. Whereas the cover-up is convincing on first look, it could solely be a matter of time earlier than it’s unearthed.
Time will inform if Ian’s loss of life will stay a chilly case or if an keen detective would crack it. It’s not as if Ian’s loss of life was undeserved – in any case, he could also be a serial killer – however the circumstances of his loss of life would increase a number of eyebrows.
7 Are Cassidy And Avery An Merchandise?
Regardless of beginning on the incorrect passive-aggressive foot, Lisa’s finest pal Cassidy and Anne’s former worker Avery lastly reconcile after discovering a standard purpose (i.e. saving Lisa’s Emigem) and sleeping collectively.
Avery reveals his emotions for Cassidy and that is finest seen when she’s hospitalized following a failed assassination try, however Cassidy by no means will get to say her piece. The 2 develop into pals after the occasions of the collection, however their relationship standing (if there’s one) is left as much as the viewers to determine.
6 What’s The Backstory Between Liam And Anne?
Anne explains that she solely grew to become the girl she is with the assistance of Liam, a person who engaged in extremely shady enterprise practices which are by no means totally elaborated within the collection. Although bits and items of Anne’s origins are hinted at, how precisely she got here throughout the supposedly omnipotent Liam (a businessman who doesn’t have anybody to do his bidding) and have become his protégé are by no means totally expounded. The backstory isn’t a necessity for the narrative, however it could’ve helped fill in a number of gaps and correctly justify among the present’s greater leaps in logic.
5 How Highly effective Is Anne?
Together with her sources, affect, and connections, Anne can have something she needs. In a single telling scene, the cutthroat enterprise capitalist smugly rubs blackmail materials within the faces of her potential traders for her sheer amusement.
Given how Anne is a comparatively new participant within the enterprise world , her authority appears comically sprawling at occasions, even rivaling the depths of a super-villain. Even when she might have gotten some assist from an impossibly crime lord and realized methods to ruthlessly maneuver via Silicon Valley, simply how far her attain goes stays a thriller.
four Why Didn’t Sean Communicate Up Earlier?
When he was blackmailed by Maddie, Sean refused to inform Lisa or anybody about his downside. It might be comprehensible from his private perspective, however his secrecy doesn’t make a lot sense in a sensible and even a authorized matter.
As Lisa stated, his interactions with Maggie – even when spurred by Anne – aren’t coated by the contract’s doubtful clause, making it completely authorized for Sean to debate it. If he did, he might not have wanted to forge a test for $50,000 whereas inflicting extra complications for his spouse and her workers within the course of.
three Why Was Anne’s Plan So Difficult?
Close to the collection’ finish, Anne reveals that she is Lisa’s mom. To toughen her up, Anne turned Lisa’s life right into a dwelling nightmare. But when this what she had in thoughts all alongside, why didn’t she simply take Lisa below her wing and mentor her about her Machiavellian mindset?
The plan – which concerned a younger for-profit firm, enterprise offers, pressured infidelity, and psychological abuse – might make for a 10-episode collection, however it’s nonetheless needlessly convoluted. Anne can have something she needs, and he or she might have educated Lisa the “proper” means by merely taking her in from the beginning.
2 Was Anne Mendacity About Lisa?
Anne’s duplicitous nature is made obvious the second she steps into body, so it’s not farfetched to infer that she’s mendacity about every thing. This impacts all the connections she has within the present, particularly in connection to her estranged daughter Lisa.
Since Anne acquired every thing she wished and wanted via lies and manipulation, it will not be not possible for her to only make up every thing she stated to Lisa, whether or not it’s about their skilled relationship, her sincerity in grooming Lisa as her successor, or their obvious familial connection.
1 How And Why Did Anne Survive?
What/If is a present constructed on twists and turns, and it ends with one final main reveal. Regardless of setting her previous condo on fireplace and willingly sitting in the midst of a burning room, Anne someway survives and is proven stress-free in a tropical nation, dwelling a brand new life.
Minus the questionable logistics of how she escaped a burning condo that’s a number of flooring above floor stage, Anne’s survival appears like a last-minute contrivance that nullifies what might’ve been her tragic redemption-through-death. Since What/If is billed as an anthology, this query might stay unsolved for a very long time.
