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After her ordeal inside the caves, episode 6 of Keep Breathing begins with Liv falling from that cliff edge and landing with a hard crash on the ground. When she regains her consciousness, the pain screams through her leg, which is clearly broken. Unfortunately, in Liv’s hastiness to escape the ghost of her mother and the demons of her past in the cave, Liv has left behind her bag. Woops!
Does Liv find salvation?
That doesn’t deter our protagonist though, who grits her teeth and grabs a stick, forcing herself to her feet. Despite her shattered leg, Liv makes it to her feet and hobbles on, wrestling through her doubts, remembering moments involving her father teaching her to take things “one bite at a time.” Using her newly acquired Survivalist skills (see: checking the sky and where the sun is) Liv turns North and continues on. After banishing her mother, next up is Danny, whom she ends up talking to while walking through the woods. They’ve had a long history together, with Liv claiming that he suffers from “chronic overconfidence”. The real elephant in the room here though is Liv’s inability to connect with him, something we’ve seen across the season as she constantly pushed him away. Partly thanks to her familial history, Liv has always been convinced (and worried) that Danny would abandon her. This, of course, stems back from her mother and as we’ve learned over the previous episodes, she hasn’t exactly been a shining beacon of inspiration.
Does Liv get some closure with her past?
With no water, a missing bag and nothing but a stick and her broken leg for company, Liv soldiers on until she hears rumbling in the distance. Believing it to be cars, she quickens the pace until she stumbles upon… river rapids. Water is synonymous with emotion and it’s ironic that we see the river flowing so strongly here as Liv imagines her father sitting alongside her. They reminisce over Liv’s mother, gaining some much-needed closure on the subject of Liv’s mother. Tomas deduces that she was looking for a place like this the whole time. And as for Liv, she wanted to find her mother, look her in the eyes and question her choices, hence the trip. Liv has always been a fighter and given she had no answers over what happened in her life growing up, it’s perhaps poetic that Liv decided to be a lawyer. She’s always been striving for order and in the courtroom, order and structure are two of the key ingredients. Of course, this juxtaposes Liv’s chaotic and disorganized life. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Liv’s father reminds her, referencing her mother’s actions.
How does Keep Breathing season 1 end?
Despite her lack of resources, Liv grits her teeth, grabs a stray log and takes a leap of faith into the water, letting it take her downstream. This is, of course incredibly dangerous. But Liv miraculously makes it safely to the bottom all the same. As the water starts to drift over her, Liv ends up hallucinating, imagining herself as a mother with Danny, and a future that could be a reality if she gets out the wild. As she tumbles downstream, Liv is grabbed by two men who bring her in and resuscitate her. As Liv opens her eyes, sputtering water, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
So Keep Breathing comes to a close with a conclusive final chapter – at least in terms of Liv’s psyche and mental wellbeing. In terms of what happens in the wild though, there are still plenty of questions still to be asked. This show has undoubtedly been drawn out way longer than it should be, and it’s a shame because this could have made for a pretty decent 90 minute flick. As a 6 episode miniseries though, the sheer number of flashbacks and lethargic storyline has made this feel more of a slog than it should be. While Liv is much more likable at the end of this series, it’s taken a long time to warm to her. Given how she was at the start of the season – self-centered, abrupt and slightly rude – that development to someone who’s far more self-aware of what’s happened to her has taken a long time – across multiple intrusive flashbacks. The problem is, these flashbacks haven’t exactly set the show alight. While Keep Breathing isn’t a bad show per-se, it hasn’t been a particularly great one either. There’s been a constant push-pull with the flashbacks that have ultimately taken precedence over the survival story. In the end, we get glimpses of what could be in a second season but we’ll have to wait and see if that manifests. For now, a rather average finale rounds out this series. Read More: Keep Breathing Season 1 Review Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of Keep Breathing Season 1’s ending? Were you happy with Liv’s journey? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
