On March 5, Vladimir — an irreverent dramedy about an English professor who, in the midst of her own marital troubles, becomes obsessed with her new colleague — dropped on Netflix. The show has its fair share of twists and turns, but Vladimir‘s ending has viewers totally puzzled. So, given the cliffhanger finale, will there be a Vladimir Season 2? And what actually happened in that cabin by the lake? Here’s the Vladimir ending, explained. Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Netflix’s Vladimir ahead.
Vladimir is narrated by a woman known only to viewers as “M,” a mom, author, wife, and professor at a small liberal arts college in New York. M frequently breaks the fourth wall, which puts the audience completely into her perspective and psyche as the story unravels — ultimately challenging viewers to wonder about what’s real and what’s fantasy.
Throughout the show, M becomes obsessed with her colleague Vladimir — who is very handsome and, unfortunately for M, very married. As the two grow closer in their professional life, M frequently fantasizes about Vladimir and his personal life and marriage, obviously blurring the line between reality and what M wants to believe is true. Not to mention, her husband (who is also a professor) is also under fire for having multiple affairs with his students, which causes a strain on their already complicated open marriage.
How does Vladimir end?
After M witnesses an interaction between her husband John and Vladimir’s wife Cynthia, she believes that the two are having an affair. So, she invites Vladimir out for lunch and gets him drunk enough to agree to spending the afternoon at her lake house. There, M’s behavior turns predatory, eventually ending in her drugging Vladimir, tying him to a chair once he passes out, and breaking into his phone to text Cynthia a lie about him finding out about her supposed affair.
The next morning, Vladmir wakes up panicked and confused, but M insists they just drank too much, and he disclosed a desire to be dominated and tied up. She then tells Vladimir what she believes about John and Cynthia’s affair and, in an effort to cover her tracks with the text, says that she told him the information while they were drunk the night before. Heartbroken, Vladimir asks to stay the night, and they end up sleeping together the following evening.
Shortly afterward, John shows up looking for M and finds them both at the cabin. But when Vladimir confronts John about his supposed affair Cynthia, he insists that the two of them were only taking drugs and writing together — even though Cynthia is supposed to be sober. Eventually, Vladimir tells M he wants to continue on with their affair, and John tells M he wants to work on (and close) their marriage to recommit to each other.
Later that night, malfunctioning space heaters set the cabin on fire. However, as the three try to escape, M rushes to the other side of the cabin to rescue her handwritten manuscript from the flames and escapes through the front door, while John and Vladimir are trapped inside by the broken back door.
After M makes it out, she turns to the camera and explains what supposedly happens next — or, at least her version. “I finish my book about a woman’s obsession with her younger colleague,” she says. “Vlad writes a book about a tender affair with an older professor. Mine does much better. It speaks to a certain need. Oh, don’t worry. I call 911. Everybody gets out. You don’t believe me?”
Do I? Was it an accident? Did anyone actually get out of that house? That’s where the theories come in:
M started the fire in Vladimir.
In M and John’s final conversation, M says that her manuscript will give her the ability to “start a whole new life.” Shortly after, M gives her play-by-play of how the rest of the night goes, with the space heater causing a fire in the living room. Conveniently, M is situated by the front door, with John and Vladimir closest to the stuck back door. It’s then that M says she’s making the choice to start a whole new life, and leaves through the front door.
We then see that M is writing the ending as it’s happening — making us question if the whole space heater story was actually what caused the fire. Given that M is an unreliable narrator, we can see a world in which she actually started the fire to leave her messy romantic life behind her in order to start anew.
Fans think John and Vladimir die at the end of Vladimir.
According to M, both John and Vladimir live by the end of the show. However, M is not only an unreliable narrator, but she’s also morally gray. Given the fact that she was capable of drugging and tying up Vladimir, and her descent into pure madness by the end of the season, it’s not that far off to assume that she left John and Vladimir to die at the end of the show.
Not only that, but the sirens in the background of the last shot are especially ominous — viewers never see John and Vladimir escape. All audiences have to go off of is M’s word, which is proven to be untrustworthy.
However, the book’s ending suggests a different fate.
The show was based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Julia May Jonas, who also adapted the book for the screen — except the book’s ending is a bit different. In the book’s ending, all three characters suffer third-degree burns — but they live! After that, M is inspired to continue writing her manuscript. The show’s ambiguous ending is a departure from this that really leaves it all up for interpretation.
Will there be a Vladimir Season 2?
There is no official word on whether there will be a second season of Vladimir, but fans can draw some conclusions. At the time of publication, there’s no sequel to the book. It’s also worth noting that Vladimir was billed as a limited series, which usually only means that a show only runs for one season. So, it’s not looking likely — but one can hope!