The ending of Reptile on Netflix explained: Summer's killer and more

Reptile on Netflix recently dropped on the platform, and it is subverting every expectation. This Benicio Del Toro and Justin Timberlake starrer case goes above and beyond a normal whodunnit, and true to its name, it starts shedding everyone's lies.

Reptile on Netflix follows Tom Nichols, who is investigating the murder of a real estate agent, Summer. At first, Summer’s husband, Will, seems to be the likely suspect, and then Summer’s ex-husband, Sam, turns out to be the apparent murderer. However, the story of Reptile on Netflix does not end there; it merely starts.

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Reptile on Netflix ending explained: What truly happened to Summer?

Although it is not completely clear, Reptile on Netflix hints at the fact that Will Grady (Summer’s husband) did kill his wife. When Nichols is trying to figure out who Rudy Rackozy called so many times that day, it is implied that Rudy called Will. Will Grady is also seen in a subtle shot of Reptile, where he is standing over the barely breathing body of Summer.

Will and his mother, Camille, were actually running a major drug scam and higher-ups of the police department were in on it. Summer would unknowingly sell properties with drugs in them, and they would be forfeited and bought by a company named White Fish Assets. Summer soon realised it and tried to alert the FBI. However, Will and his partner, Wally, learn about it through their powerful connections, and Summer is brutally murdered at the end of Reptile on Netflix.

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How does Reptile on Netflix end?

After finding out everything about the White Fish Assets in the movie, Nichols goes to his superior, Captain Robert Allen’s birthday party, to try and talk to him about it. He attends the party with Judy, his wife. However, he is interrupted by Wally, and Nichols heads to Allen’s garage to get a beer.

There, he finds the Chrysler that his wife Judy identified as leaving the crime scene, as opposed to the Buick that the police told him. Allen says he is getting it fixed for a friend, but Nichols did not buy it.

At this point, Nichols has two options: either stay quiet and save his and his wife’s lives, or risk everything and go higher up. He reaches out to the police chief, Marty Graeber, and as evidence, he gives him the USB drive that he obtained from Eli, another suspect in the murder case, who turned out to be helpful and wanted to expose Will for the injustice done to his father and family.

However, as they head to Allen’s house, Graeber asks to use the bathroom. Once he is gone, Allen lets Nichols know that Graeber is a part of all of this and is not clean himself either.

Allen then heads upstairs to tell someone, "He knows, it's over." Later, it is revealed that Wally was waiting for him there, and he shoots Allen as soon as he hears it.

Nichols goes upstairs and has a shoot-out with Graeber, who is coming out of the bathroom. He also has a shoot-out with Wally, but he chooses to paralyze Wally instead of killing him and handing him over to the police.

The audience gets a satisfying ending as they see Will not being let off the hook as he was taken away while he was playing golf.

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Reptile on Netflix is available for streaming exclusively on the platform for audiences across many regions.