On the edge of your seat to see the season finale of The Undoing? The drama – starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant – has become a must-watch in recent weeks, and we can’t wait to see how it ends. But some of us are more clued up than others, thanks to the original book from which The Undoing is adapted. Then again, there have already been some major diversions from the text, which have kept even diehard readers guessing. So, what have the differences been? And is the killer the same in both? Take a look through the action, but beware: there are definite spoilers ahead…
What’s the same?
The book presents Grace – a New York therapist – her husband Jonathan – a doctor – and their son, Henry, a young student. Grace has friends including Sylvie and a dad, who pays for Henry’s schooling.
The overall plot - a therapist's life is cast into turmoil when her husband is accused for murder - is essentially retained.
Henry is known for hating dogs, for a mysterious reason that is unearthed later: he is responsible for the death of a sibling via neglect, that has manifested itself into not wanting a dog (presumably because he fears being responsible for another life again).
What’s different?
Well, the title, for one. The show, The Undoing, is based on the book, You Should Have Known. In the book, Grace has herself written a non-fiction book with this name, but this is nowhere to be seen in the show.
In the show, Jonathan is arrested for allegedly killing a woman named Elena, who is a mother of two. In the book, the children remain, but the woman was called Malaga Alves, and we see less of her than we do in the show. Additionally, her husband is a much larger character in the show.
In the book, Malaga is stabbed, but in the show Elena is killed by a blow to the head.
The characterisation of friends like Sylvia and Grace’s dad – played in the show by Donald Sutherland – is also inconsistent with the book. And Haley Fitzgerald – Jonathan’s attorney – doesn’t even exist in the book.
In The Undoing, Grace flees to her beach house but soon returns to New York City. In You Should Have Known, she stays at the beach house and begins to start a new life there.
In The Undoing, Jonathan is English. He is not in You Should Have Known. No prizes for guessing why: Hugh Grant is not known for his American accent.
Is the killer in the show the same as in the book?
A final warning: this is a major spoiler if you have not finished the book or the series.
In the book, it was established that Jonathan was the culprit pretty early, and it was never in doubt. The show never seemed so certain, and several suspects seemed in contention for the title of murderer. But, now that the episode has aired in the US, it’s clear that…
Jonathan did, indeed, kill Elena. We suppose it would be a pretty big shift to change the identity of the killer. But they really did a good job of keeping us guessing!
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