‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette’ Ending Explained: Was the Couple Separated at the Time of Their Deaths?

By Hope Sloop

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette seemingly became an overnight phenomenon after premiering on Hulu in February, shocking the world with its raw retelling of Kennedy and Bessette’s brutal, beautiful, and heartbreaking romance. It should be no surprise then, for a show that shocked us from the very start — opening with Carolyn (Sarah Pidgeon) and John (Paul Anthony Kelly) boarding the plane alongside Carolyn’s younger sister, Lauren (Sydney Lemmon), foreshadowing their plane crash — that the end would measure up to the beginning. 

In reality, all eight episodes leading up to Episode 9, “Search and Rescue,” showed us the attraction, love, and struggle that occurred within this relationship between the “Heir to Camelot” and the Calvin Klein publicist. It truly wasn’t until the finale, however, that we understood just how gritty the show was going to get in the end. Honestly, we shouldn’t have been surprised, Constance Zimmer, the actress who plays Carolyn’s mother in the series, told us so herself. 

“I think we all know what’s coming. It’s just how we’re telling it,” the actress told DECIDER in a Zoom interview, saying things are going to “be very, very difficult for everybody to watch.”

Maybe, just like John and Carolyn, we still had our rose colored glasses on after all this time? Alas, we’ve made it to the end of this FX series, and we’re here to help you understand what just happened. 

Keep reading for a breakdown and an explanation of the Season 1 Love Story finale…

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette Ending Explained: Were John and Carolyn Fighting at the Time of their Deaths?

At the start of Episode 9, things between the titular couple are certainly less than perfect. Tense conversations in Episode 8, “Exit Strategy,” lead to them seeking out the advice of a marriage counselor. Much to their shock, the counselor tells them that they should attempt a trial separation, as they are clearly stuck in a vicious cycle of feeling like the other person is not listening and only considering their own wants and needs.

Unsurprisingly, this headstrong couple only gets turned on by being told to keep their distance and reconcile (a couple times if you know what we mean) and find themselves with renewed interest in figuring out their relationship and making it work. This comes only after conversations with their respective siblings, Caroline (Grace Gummer) and Lauren, who say that they are both expecting the other person to change who they are fundamentally, and it’s not fair.

After initially saying no to an event hosted for George Magazine, Carolyn takes her sister’s advice and shows up to her hubby’s event, which breathes new life into their marriage once again. She also says yes to going to John’s cousin’s wedding, which is the wedding they were flying to when their plane went down in July 1999. To answer the first question quickly: no, John and Carolyn appeared to be making things work at the time of their plane crash, at least so says the series. Love Story does briefly detail the plane crash and shows Carolyn, John, and Lauren in the aircraft in the moments before the crash, but spares fans seeing too much.

Photo: Getty Images

The latter half of the episode, which is aptly titled “Search and Rescue,” shows the aftermath and those the pair left behind coping with the unimaginable and unexplainable deaths of John and Carolyn. It’s only after tense meetings between Ed Schlossberg (Ben Shenkmen) and Ann Freeman (Zimmer) that brings together Caroline and Ann to discuss the deaths.

While it takes some conversation and tears, the two women — both of whom the show reminds you have experienced more loss than anyone should ever have to withstand — agree that they will spread John, Carolyn, and Lauren’s ashes together in the ocean. This will happen, they agree, after the funeral where all of their closest friends and family gather to mourn the tragic deaths of these two young lovers.

The final scene of the series sees Carolyn’s mother walking up to the front of the church and reading excerpts from “Death Is Nothing At All” by Henry Scott Holland. As Ann reads the heartbreaking poem, which asserts that loved ones have not left, but have simply “slipped away into the next room,” a shot of Carolyn and John on the beach together, embracing, fades to black.

The first season of Love Story is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. 

If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $10.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.

If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $12.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $32.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.