Summary
The finale had way too much madness for its own good.
This recap of Netflix’s Aranyak season 1, episode 8 — the finale and ending explained — contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
We expected a crazy ending, but this is mad, and not in the best way. After playing around with the plot for seven episodes, the writers try and tie it up in the finale, and it feels a little weak.
Aranyak season 1, episode 8 recap – the finale and ending explained
Episode 8 opens with a truck moving through a checkout. Meanwhile, Kasturi takes Govind to the police station after his wife told her to arrest him. They interrogate him about the night Aimee was murdered. Govind talks about a woman named Kamli, their servant’s daughter who was poor. He was scared to tell his father, but he loved her greatly. She was carrying his child, but then Leopard-Man preyed on her. Kamli was the first victim — she was raped, murdered, and hung from a tree. Govind wants revenge, hence the dodgy behavior.
Drug dealer Konchar (Omi) visits Manhas at his house. Manhas’s men are ordered to pick up Kasturi’s daughter Nutan. And then, Nutan is captured, but Hari takes it into his own hands and attacks the men to stop the kidnapping. Hari is nearly stabbed and killed, but Bunty arrives and helps out. Manhas is frustrated that they failed to get Nutan.
At the police station, Gagan’s semen sample matches the one found on Aimee’s body. Gagan says he will tell the truth; flashbacks show Aimee collapsing on the floor in a room in Hotel Bom. When Kanti leaves, Gagan returns to the hotel room and locks the door. He rapes her, then leaves the room swiftly. He tells Kasturi that he’s not sure what happened to Aimee after that. Gagan’s father asked Minister Jagdamba for help regarding his son, but she told him his allegiance is with Manhas.
Kasturi interrogates and beats one of Manhas’s men, Chotu; he breaks and tells her that Mr. Manhas had made a plan with Mr. Mishra when they found Aimee in the hotel room; they believed Kanti was behind the rape. Flashbacks show Manhas telling his men to kill Aimee; he’s worried about the development resort falling apart. Aimee was strangled to death by Chotu and then hung in the forest.
They then find out that Gagan also left the hotel room scared, so when they found out that Bunty was also with Aimee that night, they kidnapped him and took his semen sample, and copied Nutan’s video from Bunty’s phone; they then told Bunty to take the blame for the crime. Mr. Manhas planned to blackmail the DC with information on Gagan, so his project went ahead.
Angad and Kasturi realize now that Aimee was raped by one person but killed by another, but they still don’t know how Aimee’s body got into the jungle from Kanti’s jeep or who killed Sundar, or who Leopard-Man. But then, out of nowhere, Mahadev returns with a file, claiming that Ms. Jagdamba’s servant, Nandan, is the Leopard-Man. Kasturi raises how Nandan must have killed Sundar.
Angad gets a call — they have a lead on Omi, while Kasturi goes to Jagdamba’s house to get Nandan. Kasturi rings Jagdamba and states her life is in danger. When she puts the phone down, Nandan tells her that the police know everything, and they will find out he hung Aimee in the jungle to make it look like the rape and murder were done by Leopard-Man. He wanted to help the family. Jagdamba is alarmed that she’s potentially facing Leopard-Man, but he states he created a concocted tale, and he had Kanti’s life in his hands and wanted to help.
Jagdamba is scared and backs away from Nandan and locks him in a room. Nandan is animated, claiming he did all this for the family. Nandan escapes the room and starts killing house staff as he makes his way through the estate.
Kasturi, Mahadev, and her colleagues arrive to help Jagdamba, but they see blood and many deaths when they arrive. As they look outside, Nandan is carrying Jagdamba through the jungle. It becomes a manhunt. Kasturi finds herself briefly confronted by Nandan, but Mahadev turns up, and he runs away. Kasturi finds Jagdamba, who is badly injured. When Madahev faces Nandan, he’s hurt by him but stays in the fight. Govind shows up and knocks him out. They tie and hang him up.
The ending
As for Angad, he corners Omi and Manhas. Kasturi manages to join the efforts after stopping Nandan. Kasturi arrests Manhas, while Angad chases after Omi. He struggles to reload his gun, so Omi shoots Angad. To help her colleague, Kasturi shoots Omi. Luckily for Angad, the bullet only hit his shoulder. Angad confronts Omi and asks about his son Maroot, but the criminal laughs at him. Omi shoots Angad, and he falls to the ground. Is Angad dead?
And then, a scene shows a young man with the nickname Rabbit assaulting a man and taking his money off him — is this the older version Maroot? As the episode ends, a large creature walks through the forest that could easily be a walking leopard. Maybe Nandan isn’t the Leopard-Man after all. Perhaps it is a half-man/half-leopard hybrid.
The finale had way too much madness for its own good.
What do you think of Aranyak season 1, episode 8 (finale), and ending? Comment below.
