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After her ordeal inside the caves, episode 6 of Keep Breathing begins with Liv falling from that cliff edge and landing with a hard crash on the ground. When she regains her consciousness, the pain screams through her leg, which is clearly broken. Unfortunately, in Liv’s hastiness to escape the ghost of her mother and the demons of her past in the cave, Liv has left behind her bag. Woops!
Does Liv find salvation?
That doesn’t deter our protagonist though, who grits her teeth and grabs a stick, forcing herself to her feet. Despite her shattered leg, Liv makes it to her feet and hobbles on, wrestling through her doubts, remembering moments involving her father teaching her to take things “one bite at a time.”
Using her newly acquired Survivalist skills (see: checking the sky and where the sun is) Liv turns North and continues on. After banishing her mother, next up is Danny, whom she ends up talking to while walking through the woods. They’ve had a long history together, with Liv claiming that he suffers from “chronic overconfidence”.
The real elephant in the room here though is Liv’s inability to connect with him, something we’ve seen across the season as she constantly pushed him away. Partly thanks to her familial history, Liv has always been convinced (and worried) that Danny would abandon her. This, of course, stems back from her mother and as we’ve learned over the previous episodes, she hasn’t exactly been a shining beacon of inspiration.
Does Liv get some closure with her past?
With no water, a missing bag and nothing but a stick and her broken leg for company, Liv soldiers on until she hears rumbling in the distance. Believing it to be cars, she quickens the pace until she stumbles upon… river rapids.
Water is synonymous with emotion and it’s ironic that we see the river flowing so strongly here as Liv imagines her father sitting alongside her. They reminisce over Liv’s mother, gaining some much-needed closure on the subject of Liv’s mother. Tomas deduces that she was looking for a place like this the whole time. And as for Liv, she wanted to find her mother, look her in the eyes and question her choices, hence the trip.
Liv has always been a fighter and given she had no answers over what happened in her life growing up, it’s perhaps poetic that Liv decided to be a lawyer. She’s always been striving for order and in the courtroom, order and structure are two of the key ingredients. Of course, this juxtaposes Liv’s chaotic and disorganized life. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Liv’s father reminds her, referencing her mother’s actions.
How does Keep Breathing season 1 end?
Despite her lack of resources, Liv grits her teeth, grabs a stray log and takes a leap of faith into the water, letting it take her downstream. This is, of course incredibly dangerous. But Liv miraculously makes it safely to the bottom all the same. As the water starts to drift over her, Liv ends up hallucinating, imagining herself as a mother with Danny, and a future that could be a reality if she gets out the wild.
As she tumbles downstream, Liv is grabbed by two men who bring her in and resuscitate her. As Liv opens her eyes, sputtering water, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
So Keep Breathing comes to a close with a conclusive final chapter – at least in terms of Liv’s psyche and mental wellbeing. In terms of what happens in the wild though, there are still plenty of questions still to be asked.
This show has undoubtedly been drawn out way longer than it should be, and it’s a shame because this could have made for a pretty decent 90 minute flick. As a 6 episode miniseries though, the sheer number of flashbacks and lethargic storyline has made this feel more of a slog than it should be.
While Liv is much more likable at the end of this series, it’s taken a long time to warm to her. Given how she was at the start of the season – self-centered, abrupt and slightly rude – that development to someone who’s far more self-aware of what’s happened to her has taken a long time – across multiple intrusive flashbacks. The problem is, these flashbacks haven’t exactly set the show alight.
While Keep Breathing isn’t a bad show per-se, it hasn’t been a particularly great one either. There’s been a constant push-pull with the flashbacks that have ultimately taken precedence over the survival story. In the end, we get glimpses of what could be in a second season but we’ll have to wait and see if that manifests. For now, a rather average finale rounds out this series.
Read More: Keep Breathing Season 1 Review
Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of Keep Breathing Season 1’s ending? Were you happy with Liv’s journey? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Loved the show and would love a season 2. There is just so many unanswered questions.
Please do more then one season!
We gave up during Episode 5. Just couldn’t anymore. Not only is Liv incredibly annoying, but her back-stories are long and boring. Not sure why she’s going to lengths to see a mother who clearly was never there for her anyway. She also needs a better vocabulary. Her language was absolutely pitiful.
Loved the series cant wait for second series
I watched all 6 episodes. I liked the story line but it was a bit stretched out with the flashbacks. I didn’t get the fire or the baby . And the cliff hanger ending was disappointing . I would like to have season 2 and tie the loose ends up.
I loved this … loved the lengthy flashbacks providing insight into her journey processing and integrating her chaotic, yet at moments beautiful, childhood memories as she struggled to survive in the northern wilderness! Loved that she realized it was her childhood that kept her from giving in to love… and that Danny is so warm and loving!
I loved the existential track “Dead Letter & the Infinite Yes!” as she was swept along the river!
I would love a second season but uncertain if it could have the same impact. I saw the hospital scenes as her actual future, with Danny and giving birth… as her dad said “jumping in!”
I Vote for a Season 2.
So many questions….
How does Liv return home and to Danny?
Does Liv have the baby ?
Will her view of life, going forward, change after her wilderness experience?
Does Liv embrace “her younger self” and start healing childhood pain?
Liv’s father encouraged her at the end of season one. Will her reappear again ?
Love this show, it was emotionally triggering because of the heaviness of liv’s traumas..no child should have to live through that. But the moments of levity, memories of her father’s care for her, promising that he would abandon her..we’re made all the more beautiful..and moving, given all that she has been through. This didn’t feel just like entertainment for me, but a fairly realistic picture of what it means to deal with life’s struggles. The way the episodes in the law offices were shot, grey, sterile..without color…felt like what could have been liv’s emotional state: completely numb and devoid of color. Given the unaddressed traumas of her childhood, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had reoccurring depression, obviously a substance use disorder..as her happy place was found at the bottom of a whiskey tumbler. Moments with her mother..felt lively, colorful and carefree, but also terrifyingly chaotic and uncontrollable…just really enjoyed the visual imagery and aesthetic paralleling liv’s emotional states. it’s not the kind of series you’re just suppose to “enjoy” with a bag of popcorn, imo. But the kind that makes you sit back, reflect, and wonder at the strength of human resilience.
I hope there is a 2nd season as there is still so much more to discover about her future! The mire fact that she survived should be reason to go on…I enjoyed the show!
I ejoyed it, it showed her struggle through childhood and adulthood and never giving up
I just binged watching the whole season! I would like to see how her life changed after overcoming her past! And to see possibly, the new side of Liv, her outlook on how a family should be, despite what she went through as a child. She can be the mother to her child that her mom wasn’t. And make a beautiful life for her family❣️
I agree with your review. Way too long, but a good show, nonetheless.
Would I look for a Season 2? Not certain, but curious …
Gis
I love the show I want liv to live and when she opened her eyes and spit out water I was so happy I wanted her to make it so I love the ending while the ending when she is alive she’s in bad shape but she made it alive