It’s fitting that the ending of Fiasco is, as the title implies, a fiasco. Episode 7 features a meta flourish in the reveal of the on-set saboteur, a slapstick death, even more chaos, and a litany of embarrassing failures and indignities that Raphael must endure.
You know, the good stuff.
With the plot having revolved around Raphael’s efforts to make Woman of Resistance, a film about his heroic grandmother, the finale revolves around the screening of the behind-the-scenes documentary Slice put together chronicling the production’s failures. It’s a memorial of Raphael’s ineptitude.
Paying Back Loans Making Plans
All throughout the series, money has been a big issue for Raph, and more and more of it has gone down the drain in trying to make his vision a reality. In the finale, the bill finally comes due, and he’s forced to pay back Jean-Marc, who is now living in his car, with the proceeds of selling his grandmother’s Nazi memorabilia.
That was an ironic earlier reveal, wasn’t it? Raph’s grandmother wasn’t really a heroic Resistance fighter but a Nazi collaborator. The whole thing was destined to fail.
With his debts squared away, Raph has a plan to expose the saboteur by having everyone attending the premiere sign a visitor’s book. He’s looking for the letter “I” written in a specific way that’ll match the graffiti on the destroyed set and expose who has been messing with the production.
It’s as good a plan as any.
Raphael Burns Out With Ingrid – Literally
Raphael has had a crush on Ingrid forever. But this isn’t the kind of show where romance flourishes.
Ingrid arrives at the premiere with Diego from the wardrobe department, upsetting Magalie, who had tried to seduce him earlier, and gives another go at it here in the finale, despite Ingrid’s presence.
Raph takes an opportunity to try and speak to Ingrid, but he flames out quite literally. A flaming shot is knocked over and sets fire to both his pants leg and the visitor’s book. Raph extinguishes himself, but the book and the handwritten smoking gun it might have contained aren’t salvageable.
Fiasco (via Netflix)
Who Was the Saboteur?
The saboteur in Fiasco turns out to be Slice, who gets a standing ovation for the documentary work. Since he was partially responsible for steering the production in increasingly calamitous directions, it all makes sense.
Raph is able to figure this out by matching Slice’s autograph and the tell-tale “I”. He’s able to chase and corner Slice, who admits what he did, but also quite rightly points out that most of the mistakes on the set were Raphael’s own. In all likelihood, the film wouldn’t have been a success without any interference at all.
Raph takes this personally, but also realizes it’s correct. So, he thinks he owes everyone an apology.
Fiasco Ends In Fittingly Ridiculous Fashion
Raph grabs a microphone from the band and apologizes to everyone for messing things up. He’s so sincere that he breaks into song, and even gets a smooch from Ingrid, who admires his honesty.
But what seems like it might be a happy ending quickly reveals itself to be a farcical one. Slice, ever the filmmaker, grabs a camera to try and get just the right shot of Raph and Ingrid. In so doing he falls off the roof of the terrace to his death.
Art always requires some sacrifices.
You can also check out my spoiler-free review of Fiasco for more of my thoughts on the series overall. What did you think of Fiasco’s ending? Let it be known in the comments below.
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