Carol & The End of The World follows Carol, a timid, socially awkward woman who attempts to quietly live out the rest of her days in an impending apocalypse. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Carol Kohl enjoys a quiet lifestyle and is generally uncomfortable with social interactions and crowds.
When another planet is spotted heading toward Earth, the end of humanity is confirmed by scientists, giving them a timeframe of a little over 8 months.
Most people choose this opportunity to let go of all inhibitions and enjoy life the way they want to.
People go on trips, follow their hearts to find love, and go after their deepest desires. Carol, however, is just focused on going on her usual routine and not getting involved.
Her parents, Bernard and Pauline, are worried for her because she doesn’t get out much. This is exacerbated by the fact that Carol’s sister Elena is out traveling the world.
To soothe her parents’ worries, Carol tells them that she has been surfing at the beach. She heads out to finish some errands and then attends a gathering in the park.
She meets a man named Eric and hits it off with him. She spends the night at his place but he immediately falls in love with her.
She gets away from him and sees a woman in business attire on the train.
When she follows the woman, she is led to an office building where several people are busy working in an accounting department.
She is recruited for a job and despite some confusion as to what the place is, she takes it in her stride and goes to work.
No one else is interested in socializing there but Carol eventually becomes friends with Donna and Luis. Donna calls the place The Distraction.
Elena comes to visit and takes Carol out on a hike so that she can get to know her sister better.
Pauline and Bernard attend a cruise with Michael, Bernard’s caregiver and the third member of their throuple.
The cruise is stranded at sea when the captain realizes that he wants something else in life and abandons the ship.
Carol decides to learn everyone’s names and build some familiarity in the office.
One of their colleagues passes away at his desk and Carol goes above and beyond to see that he is remembered well.
People begin to celebrate holidays early with Donna going to her house to celebrate Christmas with her family.
Carol gets drunk and is visited by a child trick or treating. She gets help from a neighbor to find the child’s house but learns that he doesn’t know where his parents are.
Luis misplaced his beetle broach one day so he, Carol, and Donna searched the lost and found. The different objects there have all kinds of stories behind them.
Somali pirates hijack the cruise that Carol’s parents are on but the passengers take back control and then work with the pirates to get back to land.
Eric goes on a road trip with his son Steven and makes up for his miserable behavior over the last few months.
Carol narrates how she traveled the world in search of the perfect wave and attained spiritual enlightenment along the way.
Ending explained:
The domino effect
A woman notices something through a glass window at the office and is brought to tears. She goes back to her desk and her sobbing evokes a reaction in many others.
Soon the entire office begins crying and the Managers look on concerningly. They tasked Kathleen, the HR person, to report on the incident.
Kathleen attributes this and other certain situations down to the arrival of Carol Kohl into the office.
According to Kathleen, The Distraction was simply a place to work and keep your mind off things before Carol showed up.
Building a culture
Despite her timid personality, Carol was the first member of the office to take an interest in her colleagues.
She began learning people’s names, making friends, and organizing activities so that they could all get to know each other better.
She brought items to decorate her desk and add a sense of individuality to the space, and that slowly spread to other desks as well.
Kathleen also talks about Donna and Luis, the main conspirators in Carol’s attempt to turn The Distraction into a place where people can be more open.
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
When Carol suggests getting drinks after work, Donna says she wants to go somewhere that isn’t too crowded.
Carol says she knows the perfect place and takes them to an abandoned Applebees that she frequents.
After having such a nice time, word spread of the location, and soon it became the place where people spend their happy hour.
Kathleen finds out about the place and checks it out. She attempts to blend in for research but gradually begins to like the place.
She ends her report by removing any blame from Carol, as a flashback shows that she was the first one to cry which set off all the others in the office.
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