Lizzie Borden may have spent much of her life defined by murder, but Monster gives her something she probably never expected: a happy ending. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Episode 8, “Carnival.”
Episode 8, “Carnival,” brings Lizzie Borden’s (Ella Beatty) story into the 20th century, as the woman once acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother discovers that escaping conviction doesn’t mean escaping her reputation.
The episode also brings Aileen Wuornos back into the story, connecting the two women across generations before giving Lizzie and Maggie (Vicky Krieps) one surprising final role to play.
What happens to Aileen Wuornos?
The episode first returns to serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson), who was introduced earlier in the season with her girlfriend Shelby (Jessie Lee) as a true-crime obsessive fascinated by Lizzie. Now, Aileen is on trial for murder, tearfully testifying that client Richard Mallory attacked and sexually assaulted her and that she believed her life was in danger when she killed him. After she is sentenced to death, she lashes out at the jury for “putting someone that was raped to death.” The episode also notes that Mallory had previously been arrested with intent to rape. Wuornos is eventually executed by lethal injection.
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What happens to Lizzie and Emma after the trial?
The story then picks up after Lizzie was found innocent at trial, thanks to the testimony of her sister Emma (Billie Lourd). Now set in 1908, Lizzie is living very differently from the woman audiences met at the beginning of the season. She has moved into a mansion, surrounded herself with some 200 animals, replanted her beloved cherry trees (after her sister hacked them down in a moment of fury), and even installed electricity. She shares the home with her sister Emma, who has increasingly turned to alcohol for escapism.
Lizzie is also close with actress Nance O’Neil (Jessica Barden), whom she once helped through her own murder trial. Now preparing to make the transition into film, Nance needs money, and since Lizzie helped her handle the jury at the trial, she is happy to help Nance.
Things take an uncomfortable turn during a dinner party with their wealthy friends when Emma drunkenly reveals just how miserable she has become. She says she tried to leave, but the Borden name became “a bit of an albatross.” Instead, she turned to drinking and “the demon poppy” while keeping the promise she made to their mother to protect Lizzie. Now, she says, the sisters are trapped together in “a gilded cage.”
Naturally, the conversation eventually turns to the question everyone still wants answered: Who killed Andrew (Charlie Hunnam) and Abby Borden (Rebecca Hall)?
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Lizzie offers three possibilities: Perhaps it was the Portuguese man connected to the murder of Bertha Manchester (Linda Reiter), who entered the house to rob Abby and was interrupted? Or maybe it was Uncle John Morse (Joey Pollari), whose sudden reappearance in the family always seemed suspicious? Or perhaps the rumors were true that Andrew had an illegitimate son who murdered them both?
Lizzie, however, claims she believes it was simply a random act of violence. “Someone just walked into my family’s house and killed my dear parents. With an axe.”
What happened to Maggie?
That same night, a mysterious figure sneaks into the basement and sets off Lizzie’s makeshift alarm. But it isn’t an intruder. It is Maggie. The two immediately embrace and kiss.
After helping Lizzie kill her parents and then keeping her distance during the trial, she has returned to her, but her story is sad. Maggie has tried to build another life, settling on a small farm in Ireland with a horrible husband she despises, but she still returns to Lizzie for a few days whenever she can.
Lizzie becomes a legend
By 1911, Lizzie is beginning to understand what history has made of her. On Halloween, she comes face-to-face with a little girl dressed as Lizzie Borden…and promptly slaps her. In town, she finds a book labeling her a murderer while children run around carrying toy axes and singing the infamous rhyme.
“You’re the boogeyman now, sister,” Emma tells her.
And Emma has finally had enough. She announces that she is leaving and promises never to return, giving Lizzie one final parting shot: “I hope on your deathbed you admit to what you did.”
Meanwhile, Maggie’s marriage is falling apart back in Ireland. Her husband becomes suspicious about where she got the money for their home, and his treatment of her becomes so bad that she briefly imagines killing him with an axe. Instead, Maggie makes a different choice: She leaves.
When she returns to Lizzie, Maggie decides she is done hiding. No more basements. No more men. This time, she is walking through the front door — and she is staying.
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How does Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story end?
Lizzie and Maggie become suffragettes and work tirelessly for women’s right to vote. Together, they build a happy new life, with new passions and each other.
Lizzie also turns to God, begging forgiveness for her acts of violence and asking for grace.
The episode then brings Lizzie and Aileen’s stories together one final time. After Aileen is executed by lethal injection, her eyes suddenly open. Waiting for her are Maggie and Lizzie, offering the grace Lizzie herself had sought.
“All is forgiven,” Lizzie tells her. “All is understood.”
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Now Streaming, Netflix