Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Below’ follows the Penney family as they witness a series of strange events in their town, culminating in a shocking revelation. A sea creature is revealed to be haunting the waters and wreaking havoc on the boats as well as the people who happen to be close enough to the water and within the monster’s reach. But as these events unfold and the Penney family, along with the rest of the town, try to find a way to defeat the monster and save themselves, their complicated personal dynamics also come into play. One of the Penneys to come home for the family gathering is Mary, who brings her boyfriend, Noah. She intends to introduce him to the family, but has no idea that he has already planned the next step in their relationship. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Noah’s Plan for Proposal Goes Awry
Noah meets and falls in love with Mary in the city, which is why coming to Snook’s Arm is a major development in their relationship. Her introducing him to her family shows how serious she is about their relationship. Since her father, Calvin, and brother, Wade, never really leave the island, and her other brother, Jay, works on the rig, they spend most of the year apart. Thus, before this, Noah had only heard about them through her, which means by making him meet them, Mary is showing him an important side of her. Throughout their trip, she wishes for her family to act well around Noah, hoping he won’t hate them, and by association, her.
She always keeps an eye on him to ensure he is having fun, but sometimes she worries that he has had enough of the town and wants to leave because his family is so chaotic. The escalating series of unexplainable events doesn’t help her cause either. However, she doesn’t know that all her fears are entirely unfounded. Noah, in fact, took this trip as an opportunity to propose to Mary in front of her family, hoping to win their approval. This is why he is so nervous, which Mary misreads as his dislike for the island and her family. It turns out that he had been carrying around his grandma’s ring for weeks, intending to pop the question at the right time.
And then, when they planned to go to Snook’s Arm, he took it as the sign to go forth with it finally. But then, things take another turn when his ring goes missing. At first, he thinks he’s misplaced it or that it fell out of his pocket, but then he starts to suspect that someone stole it. He is unable to investigate at all because the bad ice he and the rest of the town consumed makes him severely ill. The situation gets so bad that, at one point, he starts to wonder if this is how he will die. With the possibility of his end so imminent, Noah decides not to die with any regrets. He and the other patients are sequestered in the town hall while they wait for help to arrive from the mainland.
Mary and Noah Seal Their Relationship With an Engagement
As time passes and there is no sign of any help, Noah, like others, starts to give up hope. Since others seem to be losing their minds because of the disease, he talks to Mary while he is still in control of his senses. He gives her the empty box that was supposed to have his grandma’s ring and tells her everything. His proposal moves her, and she immediately says yes. They happily declare they are engaged, even though the threat of death by the mysterious disease looms over Noah. Eventually, the infection passes, and Noah survives. The true scale of the conspiracy surrounding the town comes to light, and the matters concerning the sea creature are resolved to some extent.
In all of this, Noah sees just how much Mary loves her family and her hometown. He tells her that this is where she belongs and where she should stay. Even though they’d put up a deposit for a place in the city, Snook’s Arm is where home should be. This, however, does not mean they have to break up. In fact, later, when the dust settles and the town starts to recuperate, we see Noah and Mary happily hanging around town, showing that they have found a way to stay. With Noah’s music career taking off in the city, they will likely have to do a lot of back-and-forth, but a trip back home is a trip worth making.
The Thief Turns Out to be a Strange Outsider
While Noah proposes to Mary without the ring, he doesn’t entirely forget about it. After getting better, he would have thought to look for it, but things unravel in such a way that he has no time to do so. And then, Wade shows up following his mysterious disappearance, and Noah sees the ring on his finger. When he points out that it is his, Wade refuses to return it, saying it was given to him by the missus. This missus was actually Maggie, the girl who’d lived in Little Pot Rock with her father and grandfather, among others, and who decided to stay behind after the resettlement about twenty years ago.
After Wade is marked by the giant squid, called Mudder, Maggie takes an increasing interest in Wade. This is encouraged by her father, who knows that his daughter needs someone not just for companionship but also to populate the abandoned town. This is why Maggie comes all the way to Snook’s Rest and haunts Wade, who is already delirious because of the mysterious disease. When she enters the house, Maggie looks around and takes things that she likes, such as the Tetley tea box that Mary had been looking for earlier, and Noah’s ring, with which he intended to propose to Mary.
When she brings Wade to Little Pot Rock, he bonds with her, and it seems that he will stay there with her forever. So, she gives him the ring as a gesture of their unconventional engagement. But then, Calvin comes to the island and takes his son back home. Wade keeps the ring as a reminder of Maggie, only to later discover that it belongs to Noah and was intended for his sister. At first, he refuses to part with it, but then, he gives it to Mary, knowing that the ring truly belongs to her. Thus, Noah’s ring takes an unexpected journey, going on quite an adventure before it unceremoniously returns home to serve its true purpose.
Read More: What Accent Do the Characters Have in Below?
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