Lie with Me on Channel 5: Thriller gave Jake and Becky the ending they deserved as Anna finally got her revenge after years of abuse
Best served cold? Anna got the brief
Lie with Me on Channel 5 came to a bloody ending, with Anna finally getting revenge on her monster husband Jake.
At the beginning of the very first episode, viewers saw a glimpse of how the four-part series would end – with someone in a bodybag.
And, at the end of episode four, we discovered who died, how, and who killed them. The series, which first aired in 2021, wasn’t your average thriller. It dealt with some serious and ever-pressing themes.
Iconic EastEnders star Charlie Brooks played Anna, a British woman who moved to Australia with her husband and kids after “infidelity threatened their marriage”.
But Melbourne didn’t give them the fresh start they’d hoped for, as she became convinced that he was cheating again. At first, viewers wondered if Anna was simply paranoid. But, by the end of episode 1, viewers knew the truth. Jake was cheating with the ‘au pair’ and that wasn’t all he was guilty of. He was controlling, emotionally abuse, coercive, and gaslit Anna until she thought she was losing her mind.
So how did it all come to a head on the ending of Lie with Me on Channel 5? Here’s the finale unpacked.
What happened in the series finale of Lie with Me?
Jake’s coercive control over his wife Anna came to a head in episode 4, but she was finally able to turn the tables on him. Viewers knew that Jake had been having an affair with nanny Becky, gaslighting Anna when she voiced her suspicions, and even tampering with her medication to confuse her.
And Becky was complicit. The pair had been scheming to make Anna appear unstable. Their plan? They wanted to report her to the police, allowing Jake to gain full custody of the children. Even Anna’s new job turned out to be arranged by Jake’s old friend.
In the final episode of Lie with Me, Becky helped Anna set up an apartment where she could be safe from Jake. After finding out about Jake’s affair with Becky, Anna cooked up a plan of her own. She told Becky she was being abused by her husband, and asked for her help in escaping. On the day Anna was due to move out and take the kids, she asked Becky to stay at home with Jake. But events then took a shocking turn…
Of course, Anna was playing the long game, keeping Becky on side. And not revealing that she knew about Becky’s affair with her husband. Meanwhile, Becky was torn between her loyalty to Jake and her growing concern over Anna’s situation…
Understandably, Becky was having her own doubts about her relationship with Jake. However, when she expressed her worries, he love bombed her before asking her to marry him. Stupidly, she said yes.
Who killed Jake in the ending of Channel 5 thriller Lie with Me?
Jake ended up dead in the series finale. When Jake and Becky went to the family beach house and started getting frisky, Jake put drugs in Becky’s drink. When she realised what was happening, she was understandably horrified. She tried to stop him from getting amorous, but he became aggressive – hitting her in the face. He forcefully restrained her on the bed, but she hit him back before he could hurt her further.
Having escaped him, she subsequently called Liam, admitting the situation was “not alright”. Becky had finally realised that Jake was a rotter.
It was at this point that Anna arrived at the beach house. She drugged Jake with the same substance he’d used on Becky. Once he was woozy, Anna tipped Jake from his sun lounger into the pool. Anna then dropped Becky’s bracelet in after him, framing her as the culprit.
It was a foolproof plan. Jake was dead, having drowned in the pool. And the CCTV showed that Becky had been there when it happened… It didn’t look good for Becky. She’d been having an affair with the deceased, was at the scene of the crime, and her necklace was found in the pool.
Anna framed Becky for Jake’s murder
When the police questioned Becky, she insisted that Jake was abusive – and called on Anna as an ally. But she was shocked to learn that Anna had denied that Jake had ever hurt her… Of course, this was all part of Anna’s plan. Having been gaslit for years, it was her turn.
Anna had set Becky up for murder and her hands were clean (as far as the police were concerned anyway). Becky was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for Jake’s murder. In the Lie with Me ending, Anna subsequently visited Becky in jail.
Anna told Becky: “Abuse comes in many different forms, whether it’s physical or psychological. We’re both free of that now.”
We then saw Anna and her children living happily ever after, free from Jake’s lies and manipulation. She finally got her happy ending, and Jake and Becky got what they deserved too.
‘The Lie with Me ending was excellent‘
Fans were thrilled with the way the series played out, with one writing: “How well do you really know a person, the person you lie beside every night, the person you trust more than anybody else in the world? Wow what a brilliant drama. Charlie Brooks played a brilliant character, the plot was so addictive Surly a BAFTA is on the way?”
Another said: “I thought #LieWithMe was a brilliant drama. The ending was excellent.”
A third added: “Just finished #LieWithMe. Wow what an incredibly clever and calculating story! Loved it. And that ending was perfect!”
Another wrote: “I tell you what! Anyone messes with me the way Jake did to Anna you’ll get the same. Great ending. #liewithme #dontmesswithwoman #CharlieBrooks.”
Is there a series 2?
Lie with Me was a one-off limited series, which won’t have a series 2. At the end of the series, Anna was free of her abusive husband Jake forever. And we think Becky had learnt her lesson as well. Five years in jail will do that to you.
Channel 5 are currently working on several new thrillers and crime dramas, not least Anna Friel’s The Heights, and John Hannah’s Benidorm is Murder.
If you can’t wait, there are dozens of great thrillers to catch up on currently streaming on Channel5.com. We especially liked The Game, The Inheritance, and all three series of The Teacher.
Visit womensaid.org.uk or call 0808-2000 247 for more information about coercive control, domestic abuse, and the help available for those affected.
