“I’m not a person you say things like that to,” Marianne whispers when Connell tells her she’s lovable. And in that line, Sally Rooney’s entire thesis unfurls. Abuse doesn't just hurt; it colonizes identity. Connell’s response—gentle, insistent, untheatrical—is the most heroic act in the show: “You’re not a bad person, Marianne. And you deserve to be happy.”
If you have watched Normal People 1x12 , you know it left you staring silently at the credits, trying to process the emotional weight of that final conversation. If you haven’t, be warned: Normal People 1x12
The final shot is not a kiss or a wave. It’s Connell walking out the front door of Marianne’s house, turning back for one last look, and then stepping into the gray Irish morning. Inside, Marianne stands alone—but not lonely. She smiles. Not because she’s happy he’s leaving, but because she finally knows who she is when he’s not there. “I’m not a person you say things like
The finale's conclusion, which sees Marianne and Connell parting ways, has left audiences divided. Some have praised the show's decision to maintain the complexity and messiness of real-life relationships, while others have expressed frustration with the lack of a neat, tidy resolution. It’s Connell walking out the front door of
Then the title card: Normal People . And the haunting piano of “I’ll Be Seeing You” swells.
What follows is a three-minute exchange that feels entirely improvised (though it was meticulously scripted by Alice Birch and directed by Lenny Abrahamson). Marianne explains that she doesn’t feel the same fear of abandonment she felt as a teenager. She has spent her life believing she is unlovable, a belief reinforced by her abusive brother Alan and her emotionally absent mother. But Connell has healed that part of her. She tells him she is happy now, truly happy for the first time, and she doesn’t need him to stay in Dublin to prove his love.
