Tamal Kundu
‘Off the Hook’ is like hot chocolate on a winter evening — sweet, warm, and fuzzy. This delightfully funny Netflix French comedy series revolves around two cousins. Léa (Tiphaine Daviot) and Manon (Manon Azem) are 30-something women in pursuit of some stability in their lives. They live together and are addicted to their phones and social media. After Léa’s former boyfriend files a police complaint against her and an embarrassing video of Manon goes viral, the cousins decide that they have to get their addiction in order. So they get rid of all their devices and try to live as if it’s the 1990s with hilarious results. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Off the Hook’ season 1. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Off the Hook Season 1 Recap
The series begins by depicting how elaborately Léa stalks her former boyfriend. Although the scene is meant to incite laughter, it’s admittedly quite terrifying, so you can absolutely see why Guillaume wants to put as much distance between himself and this woman as possible. Léa has created multiple accounts to stalk Guillaume on Instagram, put spy cameras on his bike, and hacked into his phone and email. Guillaume finds out and blocks her from everything. Desperate, she barges into his workplace and is promptly arrested. Finally tired of her antics, Guillaume files a police complaint against her.
Meanwhile, Manon aspires to be a rapper but has a horrible manager who forces her to perform with a silicone bottom. She tries to jump into the crowd at her manager’s suggestion during her performance, but things don’t go according to plans, and the fake appendage falls out of Manon’s dress. Predictably, people make videos and post them on the internet. And suddenly, Manon is facing widespread online ridicule.
The two cousins subsequently realize that they have become too addicted to their cell phones and social media and decide to go on a complete detox from digital devices for a month. They give all their devices to Gagan, the local convenience store owner, for safekeeping.
Unfortunately, as the girls soon find out, this plan of digital detoxing is easier said than done, especially in a world where 99% of the population are fellow addicts. The two women try to bring changes in their lives, investing in watches and buying books. Léa, who works at a hotel chain, is told by her boss that she must pass a detox course or she will be fired from her work. Léa convinces Manon to come along with her. The excursion proves to be an informative one for both women. Léa meets a woman who is basically her in a few years, and Manon encounters one of her rap idols, Chaya.
In the season finale titled ‘Weird Moves,’ Manon infiltrates a rap show called Enter the Circle with the help of her family on the 30th day of the detox and wins over the crowd with her performance. Léa receives big news at her workplace. The family proves that despite all their differences, they will always have each other’s backs.
Off the Hook Season 1 Ending: Does Léa End Up with Guillaume or Gagan?
The dynamic between Léa, Guillaume, and Gagan isn’t a romantic triangle. If anything, it demonstrates the development of Léa as a character. She starts the series as a stalker against whom her former boyfriend files a police complaint. But by the end of the series, she has changed drastically. But this progression of the character doesn’t happen overnight. Guillaume attends the party celebrating Léa’s brother Julien getting a Ph.D., and this is the first time that Guillaume and Léa have met since he filed that complaint against her. Having learned Guillaume will come with his new girlfriend, who just might be a racist, Léa cajoles Gagan to accompany her. Her actions don’t particularly make Guillaume jealous, but they begin to turn her friendship with Gagan into something more.
Toward the end of episode 3, Léa discovers that Guillaume’s girlfriend is pregnant. She spends most of the fourth episode trying to process that information and eventually decides to go on a double date with Gagan. While the date is a disaster, the entire experience brings her and Gagan closer.
Just when it seems she is finally ready to move on, Guillaume shows up at her door one evening, drunk and complaining about his new girlfriend. One thing leads to another, and Léa ends up sleeping with her ex. The following morning, there is only regret. She is supposed to host her mother’s birthday, but with Guillaume’s arrival, she has forgotten about the entire thing. Léa’s attempt to hide Guillaume misfires. Seeing him there, bound and gagged, Léa’s family thinks the worst, and she has to clarify that it was Guillaume who showed up at her doorstep. When her family learns that Guillaume has filed a police complaint against Léa, they throw him out of the apartment. And that is the end of Guillaume’s involvement in the story.
By this point, Léa seems to have firmly moved on. Her relationship with Gagan has started to bloom. But before it can fully manifest. she is offered a managerial post in Martinique, a Caribbean island and overseas region of France. Although she is reluctant to go, Gagan encourages her to put her career before everything else. However, just as she is about to board the flight, she and Manon get a phone call from their mothers, telling them they are in trouble in Puducherry. Frustrated with their respective mothers, Léa and Manon board the next flight to India. They are joined by Gagan and Bernard. The latter is Manon’s friend and has developed romantic feelings for Léa’s mother. Just as the episode ends, Gagan takes Léa’s hand in his, and the latter couldn’t be happier about it.
Why Are Léa and Manon’s Mothers in Puducherry?
Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, used to be a French colony. Since the start of the show, Manon’s mother, Patricia, wants her daughter to return to Corsica and run her restaurant with her. As this will mean the death of her dream, Manon has refused her multiple times. Her older sister was originally meant to stay in Corsica, but she passed away. Manon and Patricia have a big fight in episode 5, during which the former finally makes her mother understand that she will never return. Manon’s mother loves the restaurant. Her sister did so as well. But that doesn’t mean that Manon has to love it.
Meanwhile, Léa’s mother, Mireille, has grown tired of her husband, Philippe, who is as addicted to his phone as anyone in the family. Mireille chooses adventures over the routines of her life and grows close to Bernard. After the fight between Manon and Patricia, Mireille approaches the latter to suggest that they should do things that they have always wanted to do. The next thing we hear of them is that they are in Puducherry and have been scammed while trying to buy unsold clothes. Moreover, they have been arrested and have only 24 hours to post bail. This forces their respective daughters to drop everything and fly to India along with Gagan and Bernard.
Read More: Is Off the Hook Based on a True Story?
