As the finale of Anatomy of a Scandal begins, Sophie (Sienna Miller) surprises Kate (Michelle Dockery) in her office. Sophie says she seems familiar and questions whether they’ve met before. Kate doesn’t think so. Sophie asks her to forgive her manners before formally introducing herself. When Kate is asked whether she went to Oxford, she claims she went to Liverpool. Sophie wonders if they ever shared a mutual friend. She asks Kate if she knows Holly Berry. Kate says no and that they really shouldn’t be speaking. Sophie questions whether that is because she is trying to send her husband to prison. Kate promises it isn’t personal. Sophie argues that James isn’t a rapist and she knows her husband.

Sophie apologizes for disturbing her. As she prepares to leave, she notices Kate’s notes and it triggers a memory for her. Sophie runs nearby and tries to collect herself. We see flashbacks of James’s encounters with Holly and Olivia. James (Rupert Friend) thinks about that and calling her a prick tease before Finn (Sebastian Selwood) interrupts to say he can’t sleep. Emily (Amelie Bea Smith) says the same. James lets them sleep in bed with him. Kate goes to Ali (Liz White) to tell her that Sophie knows. Ali believes Sophie would’ve already told James and Kate would be in handcuffs if that were the case.

Kate worries they’ve bypassed Angela and gone directly to the police, but Ali suggests she is just paranoid. It’d kill her if they’ve found out and she just tried her last case. Ali tells her not to say that. Sophie returns home and opens a bottle of wine. When she goes upstairs, she sees James sleeping with the kids. Before long, James comes downstairs where he finds Sophie sitting on the couch with the cake on her lap. She tells James she had been out walking and thinking. James warns her that things might not go his way tomorrow although Sophie doesn’t think he’ll go down.

They agree that Sophie has always stood by him. He begins asking about Holly Berry, her appearance, and when Sophie last saw her. Sophie thought she saw Holly today in the street. She saw a woman and immediately thought it was Holly, but it was just her mind playing tricks. James asks her not to hate him before confessing he might’ve been with Holly at the Libertine party at the end of the year. He was running back to her room when he collided with a woman who looked familiar. After that, it was spontaneous. Sophie asks if one of his friends fell to his death, he ran into a woman, and had sex with her. James quickly clarifies that it was consensual sex.

He admits she was shaken afterward since she was a virgin. His sense of it was that the encounter fell short of her romantic expectations. He suggests he was a bit abrupt while Sophie uses the word brutish. Sophie realizes what Chris Clarke said was true, but James said it was rubbish because it was 100% not rape. James gets emotional as he says he is trying to be honest with himself and her. If it was Holly, James thinks he might’ve got it wrong and they weren’t in sync. He doesn’t want to hide anything from her. Sophie asks if there could be more. James believes she already knows most of it. He told her about Alec and how he died, but James didn’t tell her that Tom supplied him with the heroin and he disposed of the evidence.

James knows it was a tragedy, but he lied for Tom. Sophie reminds him that she lied for him. She complains that she was his alibi the next morning despite not knowing the full facts. He apologizes while insisting he was trying to protect her. She could’ve decided for herself although James says she didn’t seem that interested in the full set of facts. Sophie believes all of his stories keep changing. James has told her everything now so there is nothing else. Moments later, Kate gives her closing statement in court. She tells the jury that one of them is lying before returning to her claim that Olivia’s journey was one from yes to no.

It was yes when they were kissing, but no when Mr. Whitehouse became violent. She claims that not here meant no and was a clear indication that Olivia did not want to continue. Kate tells the jury that Olivia did not lie about being called a prick tease because he raped her in black and white. She hopes they don’t believe that different rules apply to the rich and powerful. Kate suggests the members of the jury know which one is lying. Then, Angela Regan (Josette Simon) asks whether James Whitehouse committed rape or made love. The answer can only be found in the evidence so Angela is going to start with what they agreed on. They had aggressive, consensual, spontaneous sex several times before.

On the day in question, Olivia told James that she found his arrogance attractive before they entered the lift and began passionately kissing. As for what they don’t agree on, Olivia says there came a point when she became unwilling. Angela wonders how a person can know when it has never been said and makes it clear that James never heard her say not here. Even if she did say it, not here doesn’t mean no. Angela argues it might mean yes but just not here. She questions why James would force himself on a woman who still loved him and was willing to resume their relationship. Once they finish, Kate talks to Angela about the watch they replaced because her first one was defective.

They compliment one another’s statements before Angela admits she sometimes can’t believe she spends her life defending these people. As for Kate, she believes it is time to be done with this case. Sophie returns home where she finds Krystyna (Violet Verigo) playing with the kids. Emily asks if they’ve won it, but Sophie says not yet. Finn claims they will because they’re Whitehouses. When Sophie goes outside, Emily watches her light a cigarette from the door. Moments later, Maggie (Kudzai Sitima) finds Kate to tell her they’re calling them back. Kate is surprised that they have a verdict since it has only been four hours. As she goes back inside, she runs into James briefly.

Chris (Joshua McGuire) crosses his fingers for Sophie when she sits down next to him. James is found not guilty. Chris tells Sophie that their boy has dodged another bullet. James thanks Angela as everyone begins leaving the courtroom. Kate and James eyeball one another. Once Kate makes it to the door, she runs into Sophie and they share a moment. Outside, James thanks the jury for seeing the truth and recognizing his innocence. He says he finally got his life back after an uphill climb before thanking his family for sticking by him. They make it home where James and the kids decide to get something to eat. Kate watches James’s statement on television.

She gets angry and begins hitting the television screen with her remote. She begins screaming until Ali arrives with a bottle of wine. Kate watches a news report about Labour MP for Penthorpe, Malcolm Thwaites, being arrested for soliciting young male prostitutes for sex not long after the no-confidence vote. James tells her that it was the impeccable timing of Chris Clarke. He reveals Tom is thinking about bringing him back into the Home Office. She believes she was wrong when she said his luck had run out. Sophie says it is almost like he is being rewarded, but James likes to call it restored. She wants to know whether he told Olivia not to be a prick tease. James reminds her that he answered that in court.

She admits she thinks it is possible that Olivia asked him to stop only for him to decide that she didn’t mean it. Sophie argues it is something he would say. He says she didn’t mean it because it was a game they perfected and Olivia loved risky situations. They both did. She says he didn’t say that in court and instead called it a foul phrase. James agrees it is before saying he was just telling the truth that she wanted it. The core truth is that he would never force himself on a woman. Once Ali arrives home, she is surprised by Sophie who is waiting for her outside. They chat briefly before Sophie reveals she is trying to find Holly Berry.

Ali says she cut ties with everyone from Oxford and they don’t bother contacting her because she is just a school teacher. Although she was very close to Holly, she doesn’t know where she is. Sophie asks whether Holly Berry is Kate Woodcroft. Ali says she is mistaken and they just drifted apart once she moved back to Liverpool. She asks Sophie why she wants to see her. Sophie says she just wants to ask her something. Before Sophie leaves, Ali changes her mind and says the answer is yes. Later, Ali calls Kate to tell her what she did. While Kate believes she is screwed, Ali argues that Sophie knows her husband is a rapist.

Kate calls someone else to say she really needs to speak to them. Richard (Jonathan Firth) meets with her and learns she prosecuted someone she knew in a different life. She reveals James assaulted her and he might know who she is. Richard doesn’t think she should squeal on herself and James won’t since he’d be telling on himself too. Kate says she can’t do this anymore. Richard claims he might leave her one day, but Kate picked him because he is unavailable. She asks about going to the judge and getting a lawyer although she knows she has messed up. Sophie tells James she is taking the kids to Sussex because she is leaving him.

She believes she has been complicit and she hates herself for it. Sophie thinks she has let him curate the truth. When she says he plays with the truth, James claims everyone does that. Sophie quickly suggests otherwise. She turned a blind eye for all these years because she thought she was the only one who got the real thing from him. James insists she did get the real thing since nobody knows him like she does. He begins begging her as Sophie says she doesn’t know who the heck he is anymore. She doesn’t know who she is because she always defines herself through him. Sophie can’t stay because she is worried about what their children might become.

James hopes he hasn’t lost her. Once he asks what she is going to tell the children, Sophie says the core truth. The next day, Kate meets with Sophie who says her left-handed scribbling and color-coded notes finally gave her away. Sophie admits it is amazing the number of ways she is unrecognizable. Sophie suggests Kate fancied James at Oxford, but she says he assaulted her. Kate didn’t report it because she didn’t think they would’ve believed her over James, but she is adamant that it was rape. Kate often wonders what it is like to be excused and forgiven no matter how you behave. Sophie promises she didn’t know at the time. Kate says she does now.

She asks Sophie whether she still expects her to do her homework for her. Sophie suggests she has been simultaneously under and overestimated her entire life. A lot of people think they know her, but they don’t. Sophie asks whether she is Holly or Kate. She guesses she is finally both. Kate questions whether Sophie is going to expose her. She tells Kate that the night of the rape was the night one of the Libertines fell to their death. It was the only time she had seen him cry because he had come dangerously close to destroying his golden future. Sophie reveals she made a call to an acquaintance in the press today.

A lot of horrible things happened that night and some of them can be prosecuted in court. When asked why she is doing this, Sophie guesses it is course correction. She goes on to say her Majesty’s government is about to implode. She tells her Merry Christmas before leaving. Tom is arrested and taken away. James is picked up moments later. Sophie hangs out with the kids in the country. As for Kate, she goes into the courtroom for another case as usual.

 

Anatomy Of A Scandal Review

Anatomy of a Scandal was littered with flaws such as being unrealistic, predictable and having a weak ending which was easily the weakest point of the series besides the bad camera work. The cast was particularly good including Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery, and Rupert Friend. Some of the minor characters were great as well although I don’t think we got to see or hear Olivia nearly enough.

The finale felt like they were just hoping to get a second season because it left so many doors wide open. We really don’t know what happened to any of the main characters since it just ended abruptly. Despite all these complaints, this was probably one of the more enjoyable shows on Netflix I’ve watched in a while. It is only a few hours long so it isn’t like you’re going to lose much by binging the series.

The finale wasn’t bad besides the lackluster, abrupt ending. It scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Anatomy of a Scandal are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support us at this link.