Obsession follows William Farrow, who falls for his son’s girlfriend, Anna. Their affair eventually becomes an erotic infatuation that changes their lives forever. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
William Farrow is a well-respected and renowned surgeon who has recently treated conjoined twins. His friends and family are celebrating his success. Apart from that, William and his wife, Ingrid, are also looking forward to meeting their son’s new girlfriend.
Their son, Jay, is quite reluctant to even reveal her name. His sister, Sally, somehow manages to get him to disclose his girlfriend’s name, which is Anna Barton.
William receives an opportunity to meet Anna first at an event conducted by his father-in-law, Edward. Ingrid is late to the event, and it’s Anna who approaches William. From the very first glance, they both sense some sort of attraction towards each other.
William keeps this meeting away from his family. Anna, on the other hand, continues to pursue William. She steals his number from Jay’s phone and sends him a message. William doesn’t back out of this either, as he proceeds to save Anna’s number.
The two meet once again when Jay brings Anna home. William and Anna act like they are meeting for the first time, and they continue to push the sexual tension between them with no one noticing.
Eventually, Anna invites William to her flat, and he desperately waits for the clock to hit the time he has been asked to come over. He leaves the hospital immediately to meet Anna, and they both sleep together for the first time.
The next time they get together, Anna lays down a few ground rules. She is ready to keep this affair going, but William will have to adhere to her rules. He will only come to her when Anna invites him in, and nothing should happen between them outside her flat. Anna chooses to be submissive while they are together.
William thrives to become more important in her life. He asks about things she won’t talk about in an attempt to understand the difference between what they have and what she has with Jay.
Anna lets William know some things Jay doesn’t know. She tells him about her brother, who committed suicide because he was in love with her, and a diary she keeps where she has written every intimate moment she has had with William.
William even tears one of the pages of the diary to keep the experience to himself. William’s obsession with Anna grows to the point where he breaks the rules by following Anna and Jay to Paris.
Anna makes out with him in the dark while Jay is busy. Anna needed to confide in someone, and she chooses to tell her childhood friend, Peggy, who warns her about walking this path again.
Anna also realizes what a nice person Jay is. He is about to propose to her, and she really wants that normalcy in her life. Before he could propose to her, Anna called William to remind him of the rules.
As she is going to be submissive and continue the affair, she wants him to give her permission to say yes to Jay. William does that, and at the same time, he also keeps receiving messages from someone who knows about their affair. This person threatens to expose William.
At Jay and Anna’s engagement party, Anna and William investigate who this person can be. Anna’s mother, Elizabeth, also arrives and notices how much Jay resembles her son, Aston.
Elizabeth also takes note of how William stares at Anna, realizing that she is walking down the same path again. The person threatening William had claimed that they would expose him at the engagement party, but they do nothing.
William and Anna continue to break rules by getting intimate in the garden. Later, Anna learns that it’s William’s daughter, Sally, who is threatening him because she found a page of Anna’s book in William’s coat.
Sally doesn’t know with whom William is having an affair because the book doesn’t mention names. Anna grabs this chance and claims that it’s a page from her book and that she has written this about Jay. She says she had lost this letter, and William had found it. He had promised to give it back to her.
Obsession ending explained in detail:
Does Jay find out about Anna and William’s affair?
William and Anna take their intimate experiences to another level. Jay starts doubting why Anna is so secretive and doesn’t like answering some questions.
Jay still gives her the love she needs by respecting her decision of not disclosing much until he hears William quoting her words. Jay follows his father to Anna’s apartment. He knows what is going on and calls his mother first.
Ultimately, Jay decides to go in all alone to confront his father and Anna. He breaks through Anna’s door and sees her getting intimate with William. The revelation leaves Jay stunned. Jay walks back, slips off the floor, and dies.
William waits for the cops, and Anna leaves right in front of him while he is still holding his son’s body. She knows she has once again managed to ruin her as well as another person’s life.
What happens after Jay’s death?
Jay’s death affects both Anna and William differently. William’s family blames and bashes him. After Jay’s funeral, Ingrid lets him know that they are not going to see each other ever again. William doesn’t regret this incident. He leaves to go looking for Anna.
Anna spends time at her mother’s, hoping to find some comfort. The revelation that her mother knew about Aston’s obsession with Anna and how he walked into her room every night leaves Anna devastated.
She was a child and didn’t know. Her mother defends Aston by saying that he was confused. Anna pours out her fury on her mother and abandons her.
William finds Anna at a resort. Anna is no longer comfortable getting close to other people. William intends to continue his relationship with Anna.
Anna says they have caused a lot of pain. She wishes they had never met and claims that she can’t continue this.
Where do Anna and William end up?
Anna later leaves the flat where she spent time with William. She moves out with a little help from her friend, Peggy. William buys this flat later on and discovers Anna’s hidden diary.
Anna and William are not together anymore. Anna is looking forward to a new life that will be more normal than the one she had before. She attends a session with a therapist who resembles Jay and William.
Earlier, Elizabeth and Peggy had deduced that Anna chose Jay because he resembles her brother.
The therapist also talks about having some rules, which remind Anna of the ones she put on William. The question remains if she has really left her old life behind or not.
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