'Landscapers' Ending Explained: Chris and Susan ride off into their own fantasy world
'Landscapers' traces the true crime story of the murders of the British couple William and Patricia Wycherley in 1988. The crime was committed by their only daughter Susan Edwards and her husband Christopher who kept it under wraps for 15 years.
'Landscapers' takes us through the confession, arrest, questioning, and trial through 4 episodes. Ed Sinclair and Will Sharpe have taken this story and put a theatrical twist to it which has been the highlight of the series in addition to the brilliant acting by Olivia Coleman who plays Susan and David Thewlis as Chris. With the last episode out now, read on to know how the show ended.
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The fourth episode saw Chris and Susan in a western movie setting as the episode switched between the court trial in black and white. While the court proceedings show the details of the couple's story and discrepancies appearing the western sitting shows the two trying to make their escape as they set off with the dead bodies. In both instances, the law is close on their heels and on the verge of convicting them. The court digs into the couple's love for Gary Cooper movies and even their correspondence via letters with the actor Gerard Depardieu. Slowly but surely their statements are broken down with the couple's motives, acts, and plan being examined thoroughly by a judge. We then cut to a scene depicting Chris and Susan in a cell, as Susan reads the reply to the letters she had been writing Chris.
What happened at the end of 'Landscapers'?
Susan reads out the letter Christophers wrote to her where he says that he didn't feel like he had to leave the real world behind to be with her but in fact, she was the person who made the world feel real to him. The scene changes and we see Chris in his western persona take off his wig and costume and sport his current look. His letter also read that for most of the world they're the bad guys but they love each other and that no one can take that away from them, signing off with the name Gerard Depardieu indicating that he knew all along that it was Susan who wrote him those letters to make him feel better. We then see the cells open and they walk into an open ground where a shoot is taking place. As the orchestral music plays the duo are shown to be the main characters. Chris and Susan get on a horse together and ride off free just like the protagonists do in a dramatic romance movie in a scene that contradicts the actual court proceedings.
The episode ends as we read that Susan and Chris were convicted of murder in 2014 and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison and that they maintain their innocence to this day.
'Landscapers' is available to stream on HBO Max.