Bodies ending explained: Why did Iris Maplewood show up in the taxi in the final moments of the show?

We loved Bodies on Netflix, but there are just a few questions we have after watching the almost-perfect ending of the show.

Bodies was undoubtedly a slam dunk from Netflix who managed to hook viewers into this Sci-Fi crime thriller series that was slightly mind-boggling but ultimately a fantastic eight-episode limited series. In the final moments of the show, fans were delighted to see that the detectives on the case from four different times were able to successfully work together to close the time loop. 

After watching the show, some wondered whether Netflix's Bodies is based on a book. Some also wondered who Si Spencer was from the show's tribute. And some simply wondered what on earth was going on as they were left baffled by the confusing ending that saw Iris return to 2023.

How did the detectives close the time loop?

After Iris made the decision to return to 1890 she was able to talk to Hillinghead who in turn sewed a seed of doubt into the mind of Sir Julian Harker (aka Elias Mannix) about his future happiness. This then changed the course of Elias's life in the 20th century as he ended up married to a miserable Polly Hillinghead who blamed him for her father's murder, meaning Elias never felt loved and regretted his decision to go back in time and create the loop.

This led Elias to leave a message for his younger self on a record so he could change history. He handed this record to Whiteman (Weissman) who in turn left it in The Silk, the copper's pub, for the older Shahara Hasan from 2053 who found the record behind an old photo on the wall when she returned to the pub in 2023. 

Shahara was able to play this record to young Elias just in time to stop him from detonating the bomb as he realised that he would only be killing hundreds of thousands of people for nothing. This effectively closed the time loop as Elias never killed all those people and, therefore never returned to the past to become his own great-great-grandfather, so therefore he never existed. 

This also meant that none of his descendants (such as his father Jack Barber or his son Hayden Harker) existed, and the future and past in the time loop were totally erased, resetting the entire timeline. This means Shahara from 2053 blipped out of existence in 2023, as did Elias in 2023. This also meant Esther survived, as did Hillinghead, and Whiteman who were shown to have a second shot at life at the end of the show as they went about their normal day, without finding a body in Longharvest Lane.

This would have been the perfect ending but for that sneaky plot twist at the end that none of us saw coming!

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Why was Iris Maplewood in the taxi?

In the closing moments of the show, Shahara was chatting to her cab driver about the future of London and saying that she felt the city was on the precipice of change. It was then revealed that Iris Maplewood, the detective from 2053, was her driver and knew her by name! 

As they continued driving a building with the acronym KYAL (Know You Are Loved) appeared in the background. And the audience was left with their mouths hanging open in confusion. 

So what on earth did all of that mean??

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, series creator Paul Tomalin explained the curveball at the end of the show."The characters were brought to an end," said Paul. "But that being said, if it's a ridiculous hit and people are storming Netflix [for more], we left that ellipsis just in case, with a very exciting idea that does justice to the set-up and develops it further."

"What we knew was it would be a disservice to our audience if they were going to invest eight hours of their time, not to solve this," he added.

So essentially what that means is that the detectives did in fact successfully close the time loop and stopped the bomb killing people in London, but the producers wanted to leave a slight foot in the door in case they wanted to make a second season. 

So we didn't miss anything from the plot! This was just an additional plot line that could be picked up in a possible season two of the show - if Netflix decides to pick up this limited series for a second season.