Let’s be real, when you name a show The Better Sister, you’re basically asking for drama, secrets and at least one dead husband. Amazon Prime’s limited series adaptation of Alafair Burke’s novel gave us exactly that and more.
Starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks as sisters who have a whole lot more than childhood rivalry between them, the series flips between whodunnit and who the heck are these people really? And, don’t even get us started on The Better Sister ending. It doesn’t just tie things up, it ties them, unravels them, lights them on fire, and leaves just enough smoldering embers for a potential Season 2.
So if you blinked during that final episode or just needed to emotionally process all the twists, here’s The Better Sister ending explained, one reveal, one fake-out, and one very dead man at a time.
⚠️ Spoiler Alert: We’re Going Full Truth-or-Stab Here. This is your friendly warning that there are MAJOR spoilers ahead for The Better Sister ending (the Prime Video series, not just the book). Proceed only if you’ve finished the finale or you’re okay with learning who plunged a knife into Adam and why it wasn’t a burglary gone wrong.
The Setup: One Murder, Two Sisters, Too Many Secrets
Adam, a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, is found dead by his wife Chloe (Jessica Biel). Almost immediately, suspicion lands on their teenage son Ethan, because apparently no one trusts moody teens with alibis. But things aren’t what they seem, especially when Chloe’s estranged sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) reenters the picture.
Plot twist: Nicky isn’t just Chloe’s sister. She’s Adam’s ex-wife and Ethan’s biological mom. Yeah. Thanksgiving must be a nightmare.
The Killer? Surprise, It’s Actually Nicky
Just when you think the murder mystery is settling into a cozy little true-crime formula, the The Better Sister ending hits you with its big twist: Nicky kills Adam.
But don’t panic, this wasn’t cold-blooded. Years ago, Adam framed Nicky for nearly drowning Ethan in a pool, got her stripped of custody, and started spinning a web of lies to keep her away. He was also physically abusive to Chloe, something Ethan had quietly witnessed. When Nicky confronts Adam, it spirals out of control. He attacks her, and in self-defense, she stabs him with a pocketknife. Brutal? Yes. Justified? Kinda.
Enter Chloe, Mastermind Mode: The Frame Up
Here’s where the The Better Sister ending takes a sharp turn into criminal genius territory. Ethan finds Adam’s body and tries to stage a fake robbery to protect Chloe (or maybe himself). Meanwhile, Nicky spills the truth to Chloe and instead of panicking, Chloe decides to go full heist movie.
Knowing Adam was gathering dirt on a shady criminal group called the “Gentry Group,” Chloe frames Bill Braddock (Matthew Modine), Adam’s corrupt boss and part-time human trafficker. She uses intel from her secret lover Jake (more on him in a minute), plants the knife and Adam’s DNA in Braddock’s office, and tips off the feds.
Boom. Braddock gets arrested not just for his crimes, but for Adam’s murder too.
Sisterly cover-up? Accomplished.
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Detective Guidry was This Close, But Gets Canceled
Detective Nancy Guidry (played by Kim Dickens, aka your favorite morally complicated cop from everything) senses something’s off. She starts digging into Nicky and gets this close to cracking the real case. But Nicky gets wind of it and hires a private investigator, who digs up dirt on Guidry’s past: specifically, a brutal misconduct case involving an innocent Black man.
Next thing you know, Guidry’s out suspended from the force and publicly disgraced. Just like that, the investigation is dead. Nicky walks free.
Sister Act: From Enemies to Beach Buddies
For most of the series, Chloe and Nicky have a relationship that makes oil and water look like best friends. But as secrets unravel, so do the lies Adam spun between them. Chloe realizes Nicky isn’t the unstable addict Adam painted her to be and that he manipulated them both for years.
By the end of The Better Sister, the two women put their pain aside, reconcile, and agree to co-parent Ethan together. Their final scene? Sitting on a beach, plotting to write a tell-all book. You know, something light.
And Just When You Think It’s Over, Jake’s Dead
Remember Jake? Chloe’s lover, Adam’s colleague and the one feeding her all the behind-the-scenes dirt about the Gentry Group? Yeah, he winds up dead on a beach in the final moments.
The show doesn’t explain how or why, but the message is clear: the Gentry Group doesn’t play nice. The implication is that Jake was murdered as payback for helping expose them. That dark twist pushes The Better Sister ending beyond personal drama and into bigger, scarier territory. This isn’t just a murder mystery, it’s a potential crime saga in the making.
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Final Thoughts: Justice, Lies and One Very Complicated Family Reunion
If you came for closure, The Better Sister gives you just enough to breathe, then yanks it away with that final body on the beach. It’s messy, morally gray, and completely addictive. The sisters are no longer enemies, but the world they’re up against is far from safe. The Better Sister ending doesn’t just wrap things up; it opens the door to something even darker and more dangerous.
And if there’s a Season 2? We’ll be the first in line—knife-free, but emotionally unprepared.