Netflix just dropped The Boroughs, the new sci-fi mystery from the Duffer Brothers, and viewers are already racing through all eight episodes. The series follows Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina), a grieving widower who moves to a quiet retirement community in New Mexico, only to discover terrifying creatures are secretly feeding on residents. By the finale, Sam and his unlikely group of senior citizen heroes manage to take down the evil company running the town. But then comes the final scene that has everyone scratching their heads.
Sam walks into his bathroom, fixes his bandage, looks away from the mirror, and his reflection glitches. Twice. Just like the monsters did throughout the show.
So what exactly happened? And what does that creepy mirror moment actually mean?
What Happens in The Boroughs Finale Before the Mirror Scene
The last episode packs a lot of action. Sam discovers that Blaine Shaw (Seth Numrich) and his wife Anneliese (Alice Kremelberg) have been using an ancient alien creature called Mother to stay young forever. They feed residents to Mother’s spider-like children, and in return, drinking Mother’s blood stops their aging.
Sam helps Mother escape from the underground lab where Blaine kept her trapped. He takes her back to a cave deep in the old mine shaft, which is her actual birthplace. Mother chooses to die there in a massive explosion, taking her children with her. Blaine attacks Sam inside the cave and also dies in the blast.
Before she disappears, Mother gives Sam one final gift. She sends him back in time to the night his wife Lilly (Jane Kaczmarek) died. Sam gets to dance with Lilly one last time and finally say goodbye. This moment gives him the closure he has been unable to find all season.
After the explosion, Sam wakes up back in the present. His friends throw a barbecue at his house. Everyone is laughing, eating, and enjoying life. Sam’s daughter is there. Everything seems perfectly fine. Then Sam excuses himself to go to the bathroom.
Why Sam’s Reflection Glitches in the Mirror
Sam replaces the bandage on his head wound. As he looks away from the mirror, his reflection starts glitching. The distortion looks exactly like how Mother’s visions appeared throughout the series and how the creatures looked when captured on video.
The show’s creators, Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, have confirmed this was a deliberate choice. They told Netflix’s official site:
“Sam glitching in the mirror is a hint at where we hope to go next. We wanted to have some fun.”
The creators also explained that the glitching connects to how Mother communicates. Addiss said:
“Mother puts out a signal, a sort of SOS, and that message gets picked up by people who are sensitive to it. Mother is transmitting a signal, and that’s why we played with the idea of old TVs and this idea of transmission.”
So the glitch means some kind of signal is still present. But Mother died in the cave explosion. So who or what is sending that signal now?
Is Sam Still Connected to Mother After Her Death
This is the big question the finale leaves hanging. Throughout The Boroughs, Sam experienced more direct connection to Mother than anyone else in his friend group. He could hear her signals and understand her loneliness when others could not. The Duchess (Mary McDonnell), a resident with special insight, told Sam that his grief over Lilly had “split” his mind, which made him more open to Mother’s telepathic contact.
Here is the problem. The show established that people who drank Mother’s blood changed physically. Their outer appearances became projections. But Sam never drank Mother’s blood. That was only Wally. So by the rules the series set up, Sam should not have any physical connection to Mother after she died.
Yet the mirror glitch suggests otherwise. Some fans think Mother left a small piece of herself on Sam before she exploded. Others believe that spending so much time connected to Mother’s mind permanently changed something inside him.
What the Creators Have Said About Season 2 Plans
Addiss and Matthews are keeping the exact meaning of the glitch a secret. They are saving that explanation for a possible second season. In an interview with Deadline, Addiss said:
“Why he glitches at the end is not something we can reveal, but hopefully can reveal, knock on wood in a season two, because it’s a big part of where we’re going.”
The creators also confirmed that the glitch pays homage to Stranger Things. They compared it to Will Byers vomiting a slug at the end of Season 1. That moment signaled that Will brought something back from the Upside Down. Sam’s glitch works the same way. It shows his time in the Cave of Wonders left a mark on him.
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Popular Fan Theories About the Mirror Glitch
Viewers have come up with several ideas about what the glitch really means.
Theory 1: Sam carries a part of Mother inside him now. When Mother exploded, some of her energy transferred to Sam. This could give him powers similar to what the Shaws had, or it could mean Mother is not truly gone.
Theory 2: The glitch means something else lives in the cave. Blaine told Sam before he died, “You have no idea what Mother is or what she’s capable of.” Some fans think there is another creature or force still underground that is now trying to reach Sam.
Theory 3: Sam actually died in the explosion. This darker theory suggests the happy barbecue scene is not real. The glitch could mean everything after the cave blast is a vision or a false reality created by Mother to make Sam comfortable.
Netflix has not officially renewed The Boroughs for a second season yet. But with the show currently sitting at the top of the most-watched chart, and the creators openly talking about where they want to take the story next, another season seems likely.
Until then, the mirror glitch remains an open question. All viewers know for sure is that Sam is not the same person who arrived at that retirement community. Something followed him back from the cave. And whatever it is, it is still watching.
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