That Night Ending Explained: Created by Jason George and directed by Jorge Dorado and Liliana Torres, the Spanish Netflix drama Esa Noche is a six-episode thriller and stars Clara Galle as Elena, alongside Claudia Salas as Paula and Paula Usero as Cris, with Pedro Casablanc appearing as their father Javier. Based on a novel by Gillian McAllister, the show mixes crime drama with an emotional family story.
Netflix’s That Night revolves around the wild and chaotic night of events when Elena, in a state of panic, calls her sisters after she runs over a man with her car. While this appears to be an accident, it quickly turns into something far more complicated. The three sisters realise that they are in a situation that could destroy their lives, but instead of calling the police, they decide to cover up the crime and leave the country, thinking that this is the only way they can protect their family.
That Night Ending Explained
Why Did Elena Kill Wilfredo?
The big twist in the story is not just an accident. The man Elena hits, the one she thought she would never have to face again, turns out to be Wilfredo, a police officer and the real father of Ane. Elena had a one-night stand with Wilfredo when she went to the Dominican Republic on a quick vacation. She never told Wilfredo she was pregnant with his child. Instead, she decided to raise the child on her own.
When Wilfredo found out he had a daughter, he began to blackmail Elena. He wanted to meet his daughter. However, he wanted a large sum of money from Elena to leave her alone. Elena felt threatened. She knew Wilfredo’s intentions were dangerous and that he might take her child away permanently.
Being desperate and with no options left, Elena arranged a meeting with him in a secluded spot. Her plan was simple: slip away from him by drugging him and getting the documents he used to manipulate her. However, things did not go as planned when they met, and the situation got completely out of control. At the end of That Night, we see that Elena decided to run him over with her car again and again, so that he would not live to cause any more problems. She justified the action as a means of protecting her daughter, even though the action would end up destroying her own life.
What Happened to the Arbizus Sisters’ Mother?
Long before the Dominican Republic case was even brought to the surface, the Arbizu sisters had already been dealt a childhood marred by a horrific tragedy. The sisters’ mother had been a woman with mental health problems for many years. One night, while in the midst of a mental breakdown, MarÃa locked herself in a bathroom with her two youngest children, Elena and their infant brother Roberto.
Paula, who was also just a young girl at the time, did all she could to intervene. She screamed for help and tried to enter the room where her mother was with her sisters, but was powerless to stop what was to come. In one of the most tragic scenes imaginable, MarÃa threw herself off the balcony while holding Elena and Roberto. The fall killed MarÃa and Roberto instantly, but Elena would survive against all odds.
That night would have a lasting effect on the family. The sisters’ father would not be able to face what had happened to his family. Instead, he would blame Paula and Cris for not doing enough to stop their mother. The guilt would plague the sisters for many years to come. This is why Paula would go to such great lengths to protect Elena by covering up the crime, even at the expense of her own future.
Why Did Luisa Break Up With Paula?
Paula and Luisa seemed like a good pair, but the shadows of Wilfredo’s death revealed that their relationship was not as solid as it seemed. Luisa always knew that Paula was consumed by her family’s problems, that despite her attempts to move on, Paula felt obliged to solve everything that went wrong in her family, in the Arbizu clan. When the police investigation started, Luisa expected Paula to focus on their future together, but Paula continued to prioritise her family over everything else. She helped cover up the murder, went along with her father’s schemes, and even fled from the police when things got too hot.
The final blow was when Paula chose her father’s desperate plan over her own advice of prudence. The family decided to flee, illegally crossing the border to avoid being arrested by the police. In the midst of this frenzy in the forest, Paula, who was pregnant, was in real danger of being hurt. In her haste to avoid the police, Paula fell and lost her baby.
This loss was the reality check that changed everything for Luisa. She realised that no matter what happened, Paula would always prioritise her family’s problems over everything else, including their future together and their unborn baby. Grieving over her miscarriage, Luisa realised that the cycle of sacrifice and loyalty would never end in her family, that Paula would always be consumed by her family’s problems. She realised that she could not stay in a relationship where she and her future would always be secondary to everything else in Paula’s life. She left Paula and started a new life.
Was Elena Able to Get Out of Prison? Did She Reunite With Her Daughter?
After the crime was discovered, Elena was arrested and locked away for the murder of Wilfredo. Elena’s sisters were also penalised for their role in the cover-up. However, Cris worked with the authorities to receive a lesser sentence. Cris ended up raising young Ane as her own. This is so she can give the child a life free of the scandal.
In That Night Episode 6, two decades later, the story picks up with the adult version of Ane. She has heard all sorts of stories about her mother’s disappearance over the years. When Elena applies for parole, Ane is called to testify. This leads to her grappling with the truth about the woman she barely knows. When called to the stand to give her testimony on her mother’s crime and the pain she caused others.
However, Ane is also honest about the fact that her mother’s decision to murder her father came out of fear and the need to protect her child. This plays a large role in the judge’s decision to grant Elena parole. However, in the ending of That Night, we see that despite her mother’s release after all those years, Ane still refuses to let her mother come to her. This leaves the reader wondering what the future holds for the mother-daughter relationship.
What Does the Ending of That Night Signify?
The ending of the That Night Spanish series is not about justice; it is about the messy consequences of love, loyalty, and trauma within a family. Everyone in the story bears a price for what happened that night in the Dominican Republic: Elena spends decades in prison, Paula forgoes love and freedom, and Cris spends years raising a child who is not hers. At the same time, the story shows that our past makes us who we are. The sisters’ childhood informs their adult choices. Their tendency to protect each other, even when it leads to disaster, is a result of a lifetime of guilt and unspoken hurt.
Ultimately, the series is about how we look at things. Elena is a murderer, or she is a desperate mother trying to protect her child from harm. The show does not leave us with a judgment, with a sense of how we are supposed to look at Elena, or at what happened in that house in the Dominican Republic. It leaves us with a sense of how complex truth can be when love, fear, and loyalty are involved.
Also Read: That Night Review: Tense Character-Driven Thriller That Explores the Cost of Protecting Family
