The sci-fi comedy drama web series ‘The Last Bus’ follows a group of school kids who survive the technological apocalypse, forged by Dalton Monkhouse, as they learn the importance of family. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers.
Plot Summary
Braelawn Academy kids are on their way in a rickety old bus to a school trip to Dalton Monkhouse’s show. As everyone expects the unveiling of some new technological advances made by Monkhouse in the middle of his speech, all hell breaks loose!
Monkhouse’s new invention turns out to be nothing but a tool towards destruction of humanity per se, yet a tool that is supposed to save the earth. The flying pods that he devised out of the Kin Chip network start vapourising humans as the audiences tries to outrun them. It is later revealed that the same form of cleansing has taken place worldwide as Monkhouse himself states that he is sending humans to a better place.
The survivors of the apocalypse end up being the students of Braelawn Academy, who thought very highly of Dalton Monkhouse, and one of the children, Nas — the brain of the operation — feels betrayed. While the children discover that their families have been vapourised and experience grief, Nas holds onto a shred of hope for his idol, Monkhouse, and keeps working on his own inventions.
The same group later comes together on a quest to find their families while also trying to survive the ruthlessness of Monkhouse’s creations. On their way to do so, they figure out the programming of the “genie pods” and how the Kin Chip is vital for their functional structure.
Nas’ scientific exploration aside, Tom figures out that he should take the group to where he thinks was safe, and tries to play the role of the head of this dysfunctional family. While there’s a power struggle between him and Misha that Sophie tries to resolve, they realise they don’t have much time, and end up facing further complications to get to their destination.
If you have any doubts about the ending, here is a complete breakdown.
The Last Bus ending explained in detail:
Genie pods
Dalton Monkhouse, an eco-scientist, claims as a part of his speech how the earth is dying and needs to be saved, and how he has done his best to save it.
He then reveals that the problem lies with the existence of humans. While his audience awaits his promised magnificent look into the future, to their disappointment, the invention ends up being a group of flying pods, that he named “genie pods”, that vapourise humans.
All the genie pods are connected to Monkhouse’s server via the Kin Chip network for him to control and communicate with all the pods. One of the survivors of this terror, Nas, finds out that the Kin Chip acts as a kind of inhibitor, keeping them operating within the pre-programmed parameters.
This leads to a major development in his hypothesis — without the Kin Chip, the pods can be programmed differently than they were earlier, that is, they learn to mimic human emotions.
One of the pods makes acquaintance with Nas and his circle of friends and protects them till the end of the show as he gets extremely attached to them.
While one pod exhibits emotions like joy, attachment, acquaintanceship, there exists another pod, whose Kin Chip falls off as Bethan is thrashing it; this pod mimics Bethan’s anger and need for vengeance, and tries to possess Bethan as its own powerhouse.
Such developments bring to light how the pods could be re-programmed to be more human-like than just killing machines. Later, the group realises they should just look for Dalton Monkhouse in order to find the truth about the technology and the whereabouts of their families.
Fate of the humans
Nas observes that the humans are in stasis as he faces Dalton Monkhouse. Impressed by his observation, Monkhouse calls him the brain of the students’ operation. Monkhouse then reveals that the humans, their families, have not terminated by the pods.
He explains that the genie orbs house a particle scoop which breaks down organic matter at the sub molecular level, converts it to digital data, then transfers it to a designated receiver for reconstitution with zero harm to the being.
Monkhouse had created several sleeping facilities for humans before vapourising them. Each sleeping facility holds millions of humans. He casually puts it out there that the humans are safe and sound in those sleeping facilities.
While Josh is the comic relief, this information riles him up and he demands to be taken to his sick mother. Another development arises as Sophie notices, that they won’t wake up until global carbon levels are at an optimum level.
Next of kin
In the last episode, tensions mount as shocking answers come to light. Borb — the friendly pod — sacrifices himself in order to save the group from the Stevil, the angry, evil pod.
As the group mourns the loss of Borb, Sophie figures out a way to reach Dalton Monkhouse, which turns out to be his secret underground facility.
As the children are getting answers from him, another group makes an entrance. The group is led by a 16-years-old teenager named Lucy who wants to take over Monkhouse’s life’s work and choose who all get to wake up from their slumber. She seems to already have the knowledge of everything that was going on and whatever Monkhouse had in mind.
While Lucy’s group tries to keep the rest of the survivors out of her way, she finds her path in Monkhouse’s underground facility. She seems to have something against Monkhouse as he seems clueless about who she is and why she knows everything.
She announces her plan to him while he, tied up to a chair, protests verbally. A crucial piece of information then comes to light — Lucy is the daughter of Dalton Monkhouse. While Lucy claims that he has been an absent father, she tells him how he owes her his prized possession. He is stunned yet he brags that he had been financially supporting her and her mother.
Meanwhile, the first group of survivors try to get free as they hear a beeping sound. Once they escape, the whole mansion disappears into thin air, while we see a scene where both Lucy and Monkhouse survive the blast, leaving us something to look forward to.
The last episode, therefore, ends teasing another season.