Warning: Spoilers for One Day.

Summary

Dexter and Emma finally end up together after 11 years of friendship and struggle to conceive a child.
Emma tragically dies in a car accident, leaving Dexter devastated and struggling with grief.
Dexter reflects on his time with Emma and finds solace in their memories and their daughter, keeping Emma’s presence alive.

Netflix’s One Day is the latest adaptation of the 2009 bestselling novel of the same name by David Nicholls. Previously adapted into a feature film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, the new series is a much better iteration of the story according to recent critical reviews. The show follows Dexter (Leo Woodall) and Emma (Ambika Mod), who meet on the evening of their college graduation and spend the night with one another before going their separate ways. The series then revisits the duo on the anniversary of their meeting on July 15 (St. Swithin’s Day) over the course of the next 19 years. Sometimes together, but sometimes not, they weave in and out of one another’s life as their friendship is tested and the prospect of something more between the two develops.

Leading up to the show’s finale, Dexter and Emma’s friendship faces hardships as their romantic feelings for one another creep to the forefront, although the timing is never right. Furthermore, Dexter’s playboy approach to life doesn’t necessarily mesh well with Emma’s more reserved, studious manner. As such, Dexter abuses drugs and develops a drinking problem which ultimately drives a wedge between the two. Only when they cross paths at a mutual friend’s wedding, after a couple of years of not speaking, do the two rebuild their friendship. Although now Dexter is getting married and has a baby on the way. No longer in their 20s, each of them begins to settle into adulthood as nothing more than platonic best friends, or at least that’s how it would seem.

Dexter and Emma Finally Find One Another

One Day (2024) Release Date February 8, 2024 Creator Nicole Taylor Cast Leo Woodall , Ambika Mod , Amber Grappy , Brendan Quinn , Jonny Weldon Seasons 1

After Dexter’s wife cheats on him, which inevitably leads to the couple’s divorce, he pays Emma a visit to her new home in Paris, where she’s been doing research for her second book for the past two months. Having slept together right before Emma’s departure, Dexter understandably believes the trip will cultivate the kind of romantic relationship he’s finally ready to have with her. However, when he discovers Emma is seeing someone else, he loses hope. As a result, he feigns tonsillitis and stays at Emma’s apartment while she and her new beau go out for dinner without Dexter.

However, it doesn’t take long for Emma to realize she wants to be with Dexter. She returns home without her boyfriend and makes it clear to Dexter that they finally want the same thing. After 11 years since their initial meeting, the pair definitively become more than friends. Dexter then stays in Paris with Emma until they both eventually move back to London, where they share two years together before getting married. Seemingly the happiest either has ever been in the series, Emma’s writing continues to thrive while Dexter opens a restaurant nearby. Unfortunately, such bliss is short-lived.

Related Netflix’s One Day Cast & Character Guide Meet the talented cast of characters starring in the Netflix adaptation of One Day.

Emma is Taken Too Soon

Just when Dexter and Emma finally have their blissful life together, the penultimate episode in the series shatters any hopes viewers had for the couple’s future. Before tying the knot, Emma and Dexter decide they want a baby. However, after a year of trying, they have yet to successfully conceive, and the stress of the situation prompts the couple to fight one morning. Having already agreed to meet later that afternoon to view a house for sale, they unknowingly part ways for the last time.

They manage to reconcile a bit after their argument, but each clearly still feels snappy and unsettled given the circumstances. As such, they call one another to apologize and affirm their love, but each call goes to voicemail, so the couple doesn’t actually speak one final time. Instead, in a moment that’s arguably the most shocking and jarring scene in the entire series, Emma is hit by a car while riding her bike en route to meet Dexter. She succumbs to her injuries rather quickly and the audience is left in a state of shock. Occurring on the only St. Swithin’s Day in which it rains, without warning, the couple the series built up is so quickly torn apart.

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Dexter Reflects on His Time With Emma

It doesn’t take long for Dexter to fall back into his old negative drinking habits as he tries to reconcile the aftermath of Emma’s death. A year after her passing, Dexter is beaten up as a result of his drunken actions and eventually finds himself at his father’s home, where he’s overwhelmed by grief. Thankfully, the following year, he quit harmfully drinking and is surrounded by loved ones who help him remember the good times he spent with Emma. Once he’s finally alone, he talks to her, and she explains to him that one day his grief won’t feel so painful. Although, he’s not so sure.

On the fifth anniversary of Emma’s death, Dexter visits the college where the pair first met. While there, he climbs Arthur’s seat with his daughter just as he did with Emma 19 years earlier. The scene is cross-cut with flashbacks of the past as he reflects on his time spent with Emma. Clearly not a footnote in the story of his life, just as she declared she wouldn’t be, Emma’s presence is still very much with Dexter.

The final scene of the last episode flashes back to the moment Dexter caught up with Emma the day after their initial meeting. Although viewers saw the pair part ways as friends, the finale reveals Dexter actually went back to Emma and kissed her after they said goodbye. Although she died, viewers aren’t left with the tragedy. Rather, they are left with the couple’s love and Emma’s impact on Dexter’s life.

Stream on Netflix