The Trap Ending Explained: Directed by Isabel Kleefeld and based on Melanie Raabe’s novel, the Netflix German psychological thriller Die Falle stars Friederike Becht as Lisa Konrad and Hans Löw as Robert Lenzen, Josephine Thiesen as Anna, Matthias Brandt as Norbert Rudow, Miriam Ohlmeyer as Miriam Ohlmeyer, alongside Malaya Stern Takeda, Anna Schudt, and Michael Klammer.
Netflix German Series The Trap Ending Explained
Why Does Lisa Believe She Killed Her Sister Anna?
Lisa Konrad has been confined within herself for ten years since she cannot come out of the shock after the brutal killing of her sister, Anna. The shock she experienced by her due to that event was so intense that she broke down mentally and ended up being admitted in a psychiatric institution. The memories she holds about that night are not entirely clear, and she finds it hard to separate things that really happened from her distorted imagination.
After finding her sister with blood stains all over her body, she took the knife which she found near her and gazed outside through the window in the direction of the murderer’s escape. She couldn’t clearly remember the murder to know who the culprit was. Lisa is first sure of her conviction that Robert Lenzen is the killer upon seeing him on TV; however, doubts arise in her mind following Robert’s revelation that he had been covering news from Afghanistan at the time of Anna’s death.
Robert further discloses that Lisa was considered a suspect in the case owing to her seclusion from society and her problematic relationship with her sister. Reflecting on her memories of childhood, Lisa comes to the realisation that her sister was not the perfect sister that she had painted her in her mind. There were always fights between the sisters, which left Lisa with feelings of jealousy and hatred towards her.
Who Killed Anna and What Was the Motive Behind the Murder?
The Person responsible for the murder of Anna is Robert Lenzen, whose motives for the crime have something to do with their extramarital affair. Prior to her death, Robert was involved with Anna for almost one year, even though he was already married and was a father. The situation between them became increasingly unbearable for Robert once he realised that he could not continue their relationship after his wife got pregnant again.
However, Anna would not tolerate his decision to break off with her. She mentioned that she knew where he was living and threatened to reveal their affair, making Robert believe that he would ruin his family and professional life. In the process, Robert stabbed her repeatedly out of rage. After killing, Robert ran away via the window and refreshed himself in a hotel near there and collected his car after a day. Robert had been hoping that his murder would not help any investigator connect the dots to him, given that their love had been kept secret.
How Does Lisa Discover the Truth About Anna’s murder?
At the end of The Trap, Lisa finds out that the killer of Anna was none other than Robert Lenzen, but not before being faced with several wrong assumptions and moments of insecurity. After recognising Robert on the TV show, Lisa is now sure that Robert is the person whom she spotted on the night of the murder. She writes a book about this case with the intention of confronting Robert, using the book as an instrument that will make him confess.
Her idea is that Robert would come to see her in order to get a DNA sample from her. But in their confrontation, Robert manages to shake her confidence, and at some point, Lisa pulls a gun on him, asking for his confession. But Robert seems to break the case with his film of himself in Afghanistan on the day of the murder. And Lisa goes crazy while Robert leaves with no confession. Robert also lets it be known that he had investigated Lisa and found out that she was accused of murdering her own sister.
However, Lisa does not give up on believing that there are more secrets to this story than she initially thought and, after noticing some discrepancies in Robert’s video and understanding how he has manipulated the situation, decides to go to Robert’s place, where she takes her hidden phone for recording. There, Robert stops pretending and openly confesses to his affair with Anna and the murder, which he committed out of fear of being exposed, and about how he has planned his manipulative behaviour towards Lisa during the interview.
However, despite admitting his involvement, Robert adds that Lisa had also been involved in the murder since she had hit Anna during the incident. After Robert kills Lisa and tries to commit suicide, Lisa manages to survive. The recording of the confession gives the possibility of another perspective of the story; however, Lisa deletes it afterwards. Although Lisa has managed to identify the murderer, she remains in doubt concerning her own memory of the event.
What Happens to Robert Lenzen at the End of The Trap?
In The Trap Episode 6, when Lisa confronted Robert in his own house, his carefully devised alibi begin to crumble. Up to this moment, he is able to create the impression of being nothing more than a journalist, trying to discover the truth behind a mysterious murder. Even during his interview with Lisa, Robert successfully uses his knowledge about her past and psychological background to make her seem dangerous and unreliable. Robert confess to Lisa that he knew Anna personally and that they have been conducting an affair.
He explains that, in a rage, he murdered Anna because she threatened to expose their affair, and goes on to say how he tried to use Lisa’s book and the interview to cover himself up. Violence comes into play when Robert reveals that he stabbed Anna six times, while Lisa is responsible for the other two stabs. When Lisa attempts to leave the scene, Robert shoots her before Norbert and Pia arrive.
Now that his secrets are out and he cannot keep things under control anymore, Robert informs Lisa for the second time that she had stabbed Anna twice and kills himself by shooting himself in the head. He thus eliminates the danger to Lisa but also ensures that he will not be prosecuted for the murder of Anna by the end of The Trap.
How Does The Trap End, and What Does It Signify?
The Trap ending brings Lisa’s ten-year-long quest for justice regarding the death of her sister. Having accused Robert of her sister’s death in front of him at his place, Lisa is shocked after hearing him confess that he had killed Anna in the course of their affair and was trying to keep this secret. Nevertheless, when Robert tells Lisa that she herself had stabbed her sister, the confrontation finishes with him shooting her before committing suicide himself.
Despite the fact that Lisa manages to survive and gets questioned by the police, she does not tell everything about her confrontation with Robert and says that the gun used in that incident was already unregistered and was lying around her apartment. It appears that Detective Leon Weber informs her in private that he always doubted that Lisa could be guilty of Anna’s death. Following the departure from the police station, Lisa erases the tape of Robert’s confession and convinces herself that she loves her sister. However, judging from the facial expression of the character, one can assume that she has not yet forgotten the last allegation.
The ending of The Trap does not give a definite answer regarding the fact that Lisa beat up Anna when the latter committed the crime. Therefore, the viewers have to wonder how much the memory of Lisa was really altered by the shock and how true Robert’s last allegation was. This adds additional depth to the series title. On the one hand, the book about Lisa was supposed to entice the killer and make him confess; on the other hand, her own investigation is turning out to be a psychological trap, where Lisa has to face her memories, complex relations with Anna, and the reality that she will probably never find out the whole truth.
Also Read: The Trap Review: Friederike Becht’s Mystery Has More Confusion Than Suspense
