Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester leads the cast of Netflix's latest thriller, The Weekend Away. Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Alderson, it tells the story of best friends Kate (played by Christina Wolfe) and Beth (Meester), who go on a long-overdue girls' weekend to Croatia. Their trip takes a dark turn, however, when Kate is killed.
Determined to solve her friend's murder, Beth remains in Croatia and quickly finds herself a suspect. So, who killed Kate? Newsweek has everything you need to know. Warning—there are spoilers below.
What Happened at the End of 'The Weekend Away': Who Killed Kate?
At the end of Netflix's The Weekend Away, Beth gets to the truth of who killed her best friend—and in a shocking twist, it turns out to be the person closest to her all along.
Beth's husband Rob (Luke Norris) was the killer, not Croatian police officer Pavic (Amar Bukvic).
Pavic became the prime suspect because he was thought to have been the last person to see Kate alive. After all, CCTV footage did show him driving her home—and showed a man resembling him hitting Kate on the boardwalk before shoving her into the water.
Because Pavic had a history of sexual misconduct, police believed he had gotten angry when Kate rejected his sexual advances and attacked her.
By the time the real killer was revealed, though, Pavic was already dead: he had died in a fall during a struggle with Beth.
It was this fight with Beth that finally convinced the Croatian detectives she had not killed her friend. They apologized for not believing in her innocence sooner and the case was effectively closed, with Pavic wrongfully declared the killer.
Back in London, Beth finally pieced everything together when she visited Rob with their daughter, Aster.
While searching for her spare car key in Rob's apartment, she discovered one of the beads from Kate's necklace in his jacket pocket.
At the beginning of The Weekend Away, Beth had given Kate the necklace to celebrate the start of their holiday—which meant Rob must have seen Kate on the evening she disappeared.
Rob claimed to have arrived in Croatia on day two to comfort Beth and, looking back, the timing just seemed a little too convenient.
Beth called Kovac (Iva Mihalic), the lead detective, from Rob's bathroom and placed her phone in her pocket. She then agreed to stick around for the cup of tea Rob had previously offered, where she seized the opportunity to confront him.
Rob confessed (pretty easily) to Beth that he did kill Kate, but claimed it was an accident. He admitted that he had gone to Croatia to confront Kate, fearing she would tell Beth about their affair.
In a flashback, Kate and Rob were seen arguing on the rocks by the sea about their relationship. Rob claimed Kate had been screaming and crying about their affair ending, saying she was in love with him—but this was not true. In reality, Kate had rejected Rob, saying their affair was a mistake and the biggest regret of her life.
Rob then turned violent and pushed Kate onto the rocks, where she smacked her head and fell into the sea. He told Beth he thought Kate had died instantly from her injuries but the autopsy report revealed Kate was alive when she fell into the water, meaning Rob had left her to drown.
Thankfully, Kovac heard Rob's confession over the phone and had already sent the British police to arrest him—and Beth was kind enough to let him know.
As soon as Rob realized he was caught, he tried to lash out at Beth but she was able to grab their daughter and run.
Beth also realized the weekend away was not about Kate getting over her break-up from Jay (Parth Thakerar), it was about Kate trying to help Beth realize who she was before she met Rob and without him.
The ending of the Netflix adaptation differs slightly from the novel. In the book, Beth does not confront Rob and the story concludes with her realizing her husband was the one behind her best friend's death.
The Weekend Away is streaming on Netflix now.
