The One (2021) ending explained: Inescapable repercussions

The One, which is based on John Marrs’ novel by the same name, is now streaming on Netflix. It is a sci-fi drama that revolves around finding the perfect partner for people, “The One” who is made for them.

Rebecca Webb (Hannah Ware) is the CEO of The One, the company that has helped millions find their partners. The technology was together developed by James (Dimitri Leonidas) and Rebecca.

James wrote a research paper on how ants identify other ants from their colony through hydrocarbon pheromones. This spiked a curiosity amongst the two if it was possible for humans as well, to match their DNA with their special one; the one with whom they’re genetically meant to be.

Their theory looked promising but they needed a DNA database to run their trials. Rebecca stole the database from her flatmate, Ben Naser’s (Amir El-Masry) laptop.

Rebecca was the first match and she matched with Matheus (Albano Jerónimo) from Tenerife, Spain. She visits him and instantly feels a spark. Their research has henceforth worked.

Rebecca insists on staying over a little longer and in the meantime asks Matheus if he would come along. Matheus’ brother doesn’t want to move to London and he declines Rebecca’s offer.

Rebecca and James pitch their idea to Damien (Stephen Campbell Moore), who invests his money and helps set-up The One.

Everything is going well and the company is able to match one million people. At the same time, Matheus turns up to Rebecca’s flat looking for her where he meets Ben and tells him how they met in Tenerife.

Ben joins the dots together and finds out that it was Rebecca who stole the database from her laptop and she was the reason behind his suspension and that Rebecca has matched with Matheus.

Unaware of these developments, Rebecca and James are enjoying their millionth match party. Everything is fun and games until Ben turns up to the party.

The One ending explained in detail:

Side-effects of matching

The One was an ambitious venture by Rebecca and James but they overlooked its counter effects. It caused turmoil in the pre-existing marriages and relationships, it messed up with people’s minds. One such example is of Hannah (Lois Chimimba) and Mike’s (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) marriage.

Hannah became insecure about her relationship and wanted to know who Mike’s genetic match was. She discreetly sent his DNA sample and found his match- Megan (Pallavi Sharda), she joined the same yoga class with her and became friends.

Over time both Mike and Megan got to know what Hannah had done. Mike and Megan felt an instant spark too and started to come closer.

But Mike chose Hannah over Megan. This infuriates Megan and she discreetly sends Hannah’s sample for matching.

On the other hand, David Copperfield, who lost both his wife and children because of The One, attempts to stab Rebecca but ends up killing her one true love, Matheus.

What happens at the millionth match party?

After finding out how his friends Rebecca and James have betrayed him, Ben goes to their party to confront them.

On the roof, the three of them have a heated argument and Ben punches James in the face again and again. He then confronts Rebecca that she could’ve asked him for the database and he would’ve given it to her happily.

She resorts to lying to achieve power and success. He threatens to expose her and take everything away from her.

The argument leads to an accident when Rebecca pushes Ben off the building. She rushes down with James to find Ben dead.

Rebecca gives the idea to get rid of the body and throw it in the Thames, James denies this but she tells him that they can go to jail either for killing Ben or for stealing the database if they don’t get rid of the body.

The two bring his body near the river and Rebecca asks James to wait in the car. Just then, Ben starts coughing. He is alive but Rebecca pushes him into the water as she thinks he’s a big threat to her success, killing him.

Nothing to lose

Rebecca mentions in the series that she has nothing to lose but ironically has lost everything to become successful.

She first lost her flatmate Ben by lying to him and then ended up killing him. She also lost her best friend James who couldn’t tolerate the dark side of the business and stopped trusting her.

She even caused the death of her lover’s brother, Fabio. He had overdosed on heroin and called Rebecca for help but instead of taking him to the hospital, she let him die, thinking that he can pose a threat too.

Tired of all this, she decides to step down as CEO to spend time with her one true love, Matheus. He also finds out what he had done to his brother and stops trusting her.

She loses Matheus too when David Copperfield tries to kill her in revenge but ends up stabbing Matheus.

The season finale ends up in a cliffhanger when Rebecca says that she has a secret that she wants to share. We will have to wait for the next season to know what this secret might be.


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