Since Netflix’s Uglies is based on Scott Westerfeld’s 2005 series-launching book of the same name, it should come as no surprise that the movie’s ending is a setup for a sequel. There are several books in the franchise, so for our sins, there’s obviously a plan to replicate this with the movies, bringing us ever closer to the kind of dystopian future imagined by the story itself.
Speaking of which, here are the general particulars of that story, since there are a few silly worldbuilding concepts that we’re going to have to constantly refer back to in order to properly explain the climax and its implications. So, here it goes:
The Basics
In The Future™, humanity’s overuse of fossil fuels has led to a dystopian culture where every teenager gets mandatory plastic surgery when they hit 16. The idea is that this is supposed to eradicate the natural formation of hierarchies by making everyone uniformly “perfect” and beautiful, but it’s a front for something else we’ll discuss later.
Once they’ve had the surgery, the “Uglies” – the name of pre-16s who’re sequestered away – are moved to a bland city with all of the other beautiful people. Everyone is quite happy with this arrangement for reasons that’ll become clear, all except the Smoke, a wilderness resistance movement comprising people who’ve fled the city before their surgeries to age naturally.
Our protagonist is Tally Youngblood, who in the summer before she’s turned pretty meets Shay, who introduces her to the Smoke and their leader, David. Through the sinister Dr. Cable, Tally is forced to infiltrate the community and set them up for capture using a beacon in her necklace, since Cable convinces Tally that David and the Smoke have access to a weapon that they intend to use to destroy the city.
The Smoke’s “Weapon” Isn’t Really A Weapon
The “weapon” that Cable is worried about is actually a cure, developed by David’s parents, Maddy and Az, scientists who used to work in the city on the cosmetic procedures that the teenagers undergo.
However, during that process, Maddy and Az discovered that alongside the occasional deaths that were covered up, even the successful surgeries produced lesions on the brains of the patients.
The cosmetic adjustments are a cover for the brain surgeries which are essentially stripping the teenagers of their personalities, causing them to be totally compliant. The cure is a “weapon” insofar as it will heal the lesions and give the citizens their minds back, allowing them to rise up against their overlords. However, Maddy and Az only have half a cure. It requires another half that is kept inside the city, and even after that, it needs to be tested on a Pretty who has to submit to the procedure willingly.
“I’m Tally Youngblood. Make Me Pretty.”
Uglies | Image via Netflix
At the end of Uglies, Tally surrenders herself to Cable and asks to be made Pretty, which is part of the Smoke’s plan to test the potential cure.
During the daring plan to steal the other half of the cure and liberate the captured Smokies, Shay is turned “Pretty”. However, because the procedure messes with her mind, she isn’t a viable candidate to test the cure on. Maddy remains ethical and will only experiment on a willing participant, which is why Tally volunteers herself for the process.
The idea is that she will be turned Pretty, and then David will track her down. Tally will give him a sign that she still retains some of her personality despite the surgery, which will give the Smokies the go-ahead to test the cure on her.
This sign is the scar on her hand that she still visibly has at the end of the movie. Her retaining this “imperfection” proves that she hasn’t totally succumbed to the surgery.
How Can Tally Resist Being Pretty?
The precedent for Tally retaining her own mind despite the surgery is the arc of her friend Peris, who was made Pretty before her. When he still exhibited some signs of his old personality, Cable turned him into a Special, a more capable but also more mindless form of Pretty.
It’s Peris who murders David’s father, Az, on Cable’s instruction, seemingly incapable of independent thought.
However, during one of the climactic sequences, Peris gets a cut on his hand, where he once had a scar like Tally’s. Before Peris was turned Pretty, he and Tally agreed he would keep the scar, but he didn’t, highlighting the fact he had given himself over to the transformation. Seeing the wound on his hand allows Tally to get through to him briefly, and he calls her “Squint”, his old nickname for her, right before he falls to what is presumably his death.
It is likely that in a potential sequel, Peris will be revealed to be alive, but he serves his purpose here. Because we see him retain some of his identity, that’s our clue that Tally having kept her scar indicates she still knows who she is.
Uglies 2?
It is very likely – though unfortunate – that Netflix will be angling for a sequel to Uglies. The original book had two more direct sequels titled Pretties and Specials, and several spin-offs, so there is no shortage of material to adapt.
If Uglies is unsuccessful with audiences, the implication of the final scene could function as an ending. But there’s clearly a lot more of Tally’s story still to tell, and since the YA genre is endlessly popular, it’s best to err on the side of a sequel.
