Summary

• In the final episode of Them Season 1, the Emory family confronts their inner demons and the evil supernatural beings haunting them.
• Lucky saves her family by defeating the spirits that torment them and facing racism and threats from their white neighbors.
• The season ends with the Emorys united and standing against their neighbors, but the real-life threat of racism remains unresolved.

The following contains mentions of rape, murder, and other dark themes.

Throughout Them's first nine episodes, circumstances grow worse for the Emory family following their move to East Compton, California. In the climactic events of Episode 10, "Day 10," the Emorys confront the monsters haunting them, the racist neighbors threatening them, and the guilt and grief they're holding onto after the murder of baby Chester back in North Carolina.

When the episode of the horror show begins, things look bleak. Mother Lucky has been committed to a psychiatric facility and is about to undergo a treatment likely to leave her with no memory of her family. Meanwhile, two of the Emorys' white neighbors have broken into their home, threatened daughters Ruby and Grace, and tortured father Henry in an effort to force him to confess to kidnapping Betty, a third neighbor who has mysteriously disappeared.

Updated on January 12, 2024 by Katie Doll: The Amazon Prime series Them still hasn't released its second season, but that doesn't mean it'll stay a limited series. As an anthology series, Them has the potential to break new ground in the horror genre and explore different time periods to combine history and the supernatural into a thrilling tale. This article has been updated to expand on the latest news of Them Season 2 and its relation to the Emory family in the first season.

Them's Ending Thrives On Internal, Everyday Terrors

• The Emory family endure their worst nightmares in the Them Season 1 finale.

Of course, Henry doesn't know what happened to Betty in the horror anthology series. But when he doesn't disclose her whereabouts, the duo forces him into the basement and starts to hang him. Meanwhile, Lucky is restrained and about to be drugged in preparation for her treatment. She convinces the nurse to let her go to the bathroom. After he loosens her restraints, Lucky grabs the syringe and injects him with the drugs instead. As she flees the facility, she notices the Black security guard at the door. They lock eyes before the guard looks away — and Lucky slips out the door.

At the same time, Ruby has grabbed the axe in the Emorys' basement, which she plunges into the back of one of Henry's attackers. That causes the other one, Marty Dixon, to drop the rope hanging Henry. Ruby is still brandishing the axe, so Marty runs away. Henry grabs the gun in the other assailant's waistband and runs after Marty, shooting at him and hitting him in the leg. With their neighbors watching and Da Tap Dance Man egging him on, Henry almost kills both Marty and his wife, but Ruby calls to him from the front door. Henry snaps out of it and tries to return home, but the supernatural forces shut the door and lock him out.

Inside, Grace hears students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance from the closet. She approaches and something pulls her in. Ruby is hearing cheerleaders chanting from the bathroom. She walks inside, and the room becomes her high school restroom. Doris walks out of a stall. Henry lets himself in the back door and is lured into another room by the sounds of a movie theater. On the balcony, he finds Da Tap Dance Man waiting for him.

He demands to know where his daughters are, so Da Tap Dance Man points to another part of the balcony, where Henry is sitting with Ruby and Grace. This is where they were the day Lucky was raped and Chester was murdered. Da Tap Dance Man plays on Henry's guilt for not being there while in the bathroom, and Doris plays on Ruby's fear of being like her mother.

Da Tap Dance Man Embodies True Horror

• The Emorys look within to defeat their inner demons, thus vanishing the supernatural beings that have been haunting them.

Lucky arrives home and walks into the angry crowd of white people circling her house. They throw racial slurs at her until she screams, silencing them. As she walks up the driveway, a wall of flames lights up across the lawn, preventing the neighbors from getting any closer.

Lucky saves the members of her family one by one. First, she takes on Miss Vera, who is menacing Grace. Miss Vera attacks Lucky and as they fight, Grace runs into her room, grabs her Miss Vera book, and rips up an illustration of the woman — destroying the spirit that haunts the Emory family. Next, Lucky confronts Doris, who is doing her best to make Ruby believe Lucky intends to hurt her. As Ruby breaks a mirror and starts to cut her face, Lucky comes in and promises Ruby she will never hurt her, banishing Doris.

At the movie theater, Henry is forced to watch a film of what happened to Lucky and Chester in North Carolina, while Da Tap Dance Man observes how much has been taken from him. He encourages Henry to attack his white neighbors, and Henry looks like he's about to do so when Lucky places her hand over his, calming his desire for violent vengeance. Henry apologizes for not being there when Lucky needed him most. Lucky forgives him and Henry lets go of his guilt. Da Tap Dance Man attempts to draw Henry back in — but Henry uses his last bullet to shoot the spirit and then wipes the black paint off his face, revealing the white man underneath.

Them's Supernatural Plot Was Easier To Vanquish Than Reality

• The Emorys take a final stand against the Black Hat Man, but find their true enemy in the people meant to help them.

The final battle happens when Them's Black Hat Man calls for Lucky, and she goes to meet him in the basement. In a last-ditch attempt to bring down the Emorys, he simultaneously taps into Lucky's guilt for being unable to save Chester and relates to her because he's also experienced the death of a child. He then resurrects Chester, disarming Lucky with the thing she wants most. Lucky picks Chester up and holds him. The Black Hat Man offers Chester as a gift to Lucky. But instead of falling for this illusion, Lucky finally admits her baby is gone. She tears the cross from the Black Hat Man's hand and tosses it to the ground. The spirit once again becomes Hiram Epps, loses his sight, and bursts into flames.

With this, the supernatural beings threatening the Emorys are finally vanquished, and the family exits the house to face their neighbors and two police officers aiming guns at them. Sadly, the real-life threat of racism won't be as easy to overcome as that of East Compton's evil spirits. Viewers are unlikely to discover what happens after this point, as Them is supposed to be a horror anthology series (a second season has yet to premiere). At least now the family is standing united against their neighbors, no longer divided by grief, guilt, and fear.

Them Season 2 Is On The Way

• The Emorys' story has ended, and fans likely won't know what their fate is due to Them starting over with a fresh story in Season 2.

The creators of Them are planning on making the series an anthology series where each season is a different horror narrative, similar to American Horror Story. It was announced at Prime Video's year ahead video presentation that Them Season 2 would be arriving in 2024. Sadly though, being an anthology series, it doesn't seem like there are any plans to finish out the Emorys' story.

Details on Them Season 2 have yet to be released, but fans can expect it to have similar themes to Season 1, such as the Black experience in a horror setting. There's also a chance that the series will move to a different time setting. Despite the promise of a new cast and characters, there's still a chance that the Emorys could make an appearance in Season 2 if Them chooses to overlap storylines in a subtle and meaningful way.

The first season of Them is available to stream on Prime Video.