Netflix’s six-episode limited series Below concludes with “The Unfathering Deep,” a finale that shifts from creature-feature tension to a pointed critique of corporate displacement and environmental strain in a remote Newfoundland fishing village. Created by Jesse McKeown and starring Josh Hartnett as fisherman Calvin Penney, the episode delivers a scrappy, character-driven resolution that prioritizes family and community over pure monster spectacle.
Warning: Major spoilers follow.
The episode opens with Calvin and his son Wade (Charlie Heaton) adrift after escaping Walton’s isolated island. Calvin apologizes for sidelining Wade from the boats, a rare moment of acknowledgment that sets a tone of hard-won reconciliation. They return to Snook’s Arm to find the town under military evacuation. The squid—nicknamed Mudder by some locals—has attacked vessels, giving Jim Crocker the pretext he needs to clear residents.
Jan (Natasha Henstridge) is confirmed as Crocker’s daughter, having worked behind the scenes to advance resettlement. The family’s real goal is the cobalt and copper beneath the land. Dr. Fonda Howander (Mackenzie Davis) briefs the military: the creature is a previously undocumented deep-water cephalopod whose egg sac is frozen in the harbor iceberg. Warming waters have driven her aggression as she tries to protect offspring that cannot thrive in the local temperatures. Officials plan an airstrike; Fonda objects, but Crocker offers her the remains for research.
The Penneys reunite. Calvin reveals the mining motive. When soldiers order an immediate evacuation, the family refuses. Calvin and Wade slip the helicopter; the others—including Mary (Ruby Stokes), Noah, Jay (Rohan Campbell), Ruth (Willow Kean), and Mo—follow. Hiding out, they devise a plan: break the iceberg into a manageable piece, net it, and tow the nest into deeper, colder water so the airstrike loses its justification. Wade returns Noah’s missing engagement ring to Mary. After Wade’s shots fail, Mary makes the precise shot that fractures the ice. Calvin nets the remaining chunk and tows it out while Ruth sabotages coast-guard boats. Fonda refuses Crocker’s demands to stop Calvin; when Jan reaches for her radio, Fonda knocks her down.
A helicopter arrives as Calvin cuts the net free. Crocker demands the strike proceed even with a civilian in the zone. The commanding officer (Estus) refuses: the squid is no longer a harbor threat. Residents can return. Mudder surfaces and meets Calvin’s gaze—an echo of the bright blue eye he saw as a child when the creature dragged his family’s house (and his father) under. This time he sails away safely. She later releases her eggs and dies on the seafloor, a natural sacrifice that supplies nutrients. Fonda studies the eggs; none survive the still-too-warm water.
A year later, Snook’s Arm has stabilized. Calvin has opened the Big Squid Distillery and Brewery. Wade now works the boat with him. Mary and Noah are engaged. Jay and Mo tend bar. Fonda visits; the shared ordeal hints at a closer connection between her and Calvin. The Crockers still agitate for resettlement, but the community is more resistant. The final image shows Calvin and Wade approaching another large iceberg, leaving open the possibility of further encounters.
“The Unfathering Deep” is a thematically coherent close that reframes the series’ monster as a displaced mother rather than pure antagonist. The real threat is Crocker’s land grab, which exploits both the squid’s crisis and Newfoundland’s history of resettlement. Hartnett’s restrained, weathered performance anchors the episode; his quiet recognition of kinship with Mudder gives the climax emotional weight. Davis provides sharp moral clarity as Fonda, and the family ensemble delivers a credible sense of stubborn loyalty. The practical, low-tech plan—rifle, net, boat—fits the series’ grounded aesthetic better than a conventional monster-hunt climax.
The resolution is not without friction. Towing a massive iceberg chunk succeeds with relative ease, and the one-year time jump compresses lingering consequences (Jay’s debts, the Crockers’ next move, the long-term climate pressure). Audience scores for the episode have been more mixed than the series’ overall critical reception, reflecting the shift from early dread to eco-family drama. Still, the finale honors the show’s strengths: atmospheric Newfoundland locations, a creature that is awe-inspiring rather than cartoonish, and a willingness to ask who is truly “below” when profit and habitat collide.
For viewers who prefer pure horror carnage, the ending may feel soft. For those who value character, place, and a story that treats both human and non-human displacement seriously, “The Unfathering Deep” lands as a satisfying, if imperfect, close to a limited series that knew when to surface.
