Unstable is a comedy series revolving around Ellis Dragon, a narcissistic entrepreneur who is mentally struggling and whose only hope of fixing things is his son, Jackson. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Ellis Dragon is the CEO and founder of a biotech company that has accomplished many scientific breakthroughs that have benefited the planet but he’s been in a rut ever since the death of his wife, Kate.
His CFO, Anna is worried that the board will oust him from his position due to the uncertainty so she brings in his son Jackson, to help get Ellis back on track.
Despite his eccentricities, Ellis is deeply admired and revered by everyone around him and Jackson finds that frustrating as he has a tough time getting out from under his father’s shadow.
Anna and Jackson soon learn that Ellis has imprisoned the board-appointed therapist Leslie Clevenger in his basement. They let Leslie leave and figure out a way to protect this secret from getting out.
The man project that Ellis is working on is a biome that takes in greenhouse gases and turns them into concrete and he does this with the help of his scientists in the red lab, Luna and Ruby.
Also part of the team is Malcolm, Jackson’s childhood friend who idolizes Ellis to a troubling degree and is mostly pushed around by everyone else.
The main threats to his position are a pair of immature twins, Chaz and JT, who want nothing more than to oust Ellis and take over. Jackson decides to stay with Ellis and work on the concrete project and his relationship with his father.
Anna does her best to keep the vultures at bay and make sure the company runs normally on a day-to-day basis while Ellis deals with his grief and learns to be a more humble and less self-absorbed person who gives his son the space to grow.
Jackson begins working with Luna and Ruby and ends up having chemistry with both of them. While Luna and very shy and awkward and also has a boyfriend named Brian, Ruby is more outspoken and confident and she ends up asking Jackson out.
They go on two dates but ultimately decide to remain friends while Luna develops a crush on Jackson and eventually breaks up with Brian so that she can pursue a romance with Jackson.
Leslie returns to Ellis’s house and requests to stay because he develops a bond with Ellis. Jackson isn’t too thrilled about it and Leslie gradually becomes more of a nuisance by hosting parties often.
Jean appears to be the one person on the board who supports Ellis because she was Kate’s best friend and is extremely close to Ellis and Jackson. She and Jackson spend a lot of time together and he mentions that Ellis had initially kidnapped Leslie.
Luna and Ruby get really close to creating a block of concrete with greenhouse gases but run into one final roadblock. Ellis and Jackson work together to kick Leslie out of their house and he decides to get back at them for this rejection.
He calls Jean and agrees to talk more about his kidnapping, confirming that Jean is also working against Ellis.
Unstable (2023) ending explained in detail:
What is Jean’s plan?
Jean betrayed Jackson’s trust and used their relationship to get dirt on Ellis. Ellis and Jackson finally appear to have grown closer but Anna tells Ellis that the board has called in an emergency meeting.
When Jackson goes to Jean’s house to ask her to buy them more time before the meeting, he sees Leslie there and realizes that he’s been used and could be the reason his father loses his company.
Jean plans to make Leslie testify in front of the board so that Ellis is removed and she can take over the company.
What do Ellis and Anna do?
Anna tells Ellis that while Jackson tries to buy time before the meeting, Ellis can help Luna and Ruby complete their project since they’re so close to the end.
The two issues they’re facing are the horrid smell and the fact that the concrete isn’t hardening so he tells Ruby and Luna to figure out the smell problem while Ellis tackles the hardening problem.
Ellis tries his best but cannot seem to come up with a solution. However, when he’s chatting with Anna about how Katie was the thing that held him and Jackson together, he gets an epiphany about how to solve his end of the problem.
Meanwhile, Luna and Ruby work together and figure out a way to get rid of the terrible smell as Ruby convinces Luna that she’ll be fine with Luna asking Jackson out.
How does Jackson solve the problem?
Jackson figures that the best way to fix things is to distract Leslie long enough to delay the meeting, so he visits Leslie’s ex-wife to convince her to have dinner with him.
He takes Malcolm along and tells Malcolm to get her to the park while he sets everything up and invites Leslie there. However, Leslie’s ex-wife tries to seduce Malcolm and when Leslie shows up to find that his ex-wife isn’t there, he leaves in disappointment.
Jackson goes back to the office in defeat and tells his father that Jean is the one who betrayed him and it’s all because Jackson let his secret slip.
While talking to Ruby and Luna about people losing their jobs and houses, he realizes there’s one final option for him and heads out in a hurry.
At the board meeting, Jean calls out Leslie and asks him about the kidnapping but Leslie denies everything. Jackson tells Anna that he offered Leslie the option to move back into their house with his pick of any room in the house.
How does Ellis react?
When Ellis finds out that Jean used his son to get to him, he gets angry and decides to act on it. While everyone else is at the office, he goes over to Jean’s house and sets fire to her car.
He then gets back to the lab and helps them complete the final step so that they can successfully create the concrete and present it to the board, convincing him to stay on as the CEO.
He also kicks Jean off the board and celebrates this little victory and the fact that he’s ensured Jackson stays with him a little longer.