Under The Bridge Ending: Why Rebecca Stayed In Contact With Warren Explained By Creator

This article contains spoilers for Under the Bridge.

Summary Under the Bridge creator Quinn Shephard discusses Rebecca's bond with Warren, highlighting the complexity of their relationship.

Shephard learned that Rebecca got attached to Warren due to similarities with her deceased brother.

The show explores how Rebecca's connection to Warren reflects her own struggles and quest for understanding, culminating in self-realization.

Under the Bridge creator Quinn Shephard explains why Rebecca kept in touch with Warren, offering a thoughtful response to a complex relationship. Debuting on Hulu in April and consisting of eight episodes, the crime drama tells the real-life story of Reena Virk's murder. Riley Keough played Rebecca Godfrey, who wrote the 2005 book on which the series is based. In the show's early episodes, Rebecca comes across Warren Glowatski (Javon Walton), and the two develop a camaraderie. At the end of Under the Bridge, it is revealed that they stayed in touch for over 20 years.

In an interview with IndieWire, Shepard candidly responded when asked about the dynamic between Rebecca and Warren, who was convicted of Virk's murder, admitting that it was the trickiest relationship to write for the adaptation. She stated that when she first met Rebecca, who died in October 2022 from complications of lung cancer, it was mentioned that she became attached to Warren because he was the same age as Rebecca's brother when he passed away. She then realized that Rebecca saw herself in Warren, feeling this sense of self-blame. Read the full quote below:

“It was probably the most tricky relationship to write in the show. Because I think Rebecca herself was still grappling with why she had grown so close to Warren. … And I think in a lot of ways, he did see her like family. When I first met her [she] had said friends, [or] a therapist, had pointed out to her that she likely got really attached to him because he was the same age that her brother had been when he passed away. And so we talked a lot about that.” “But it was very interesting to me. Because the more I got to know her, and the more I learned about her brother, the more it felt very clear that while that loss had definitely impacted her bond with Warren, he and her brother really had nothing in common. And I think as we got closer, she trusted me. She wanted to explore it [in the show], to talk about the fact that it was really about guilt that she saw herself in Warren more than even that she saw her brother; that the experiences that she had after losing her brother led her to this crippling sense of self-blame, that I think shaped a lot of who she became as an adult. … I think in a lot of ways her quest to make people care about him and understand him was in a way, her asking people to see herself. We did our best to show in the finale, that in the end, it really makes her realize that she’s been writing about herself in a lot of ways the whole time.”

Why Under the Bridge's Relationship Complexity Makes It Stand Out?

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The adaptation does what it can to illuminate the perspective of each character, including both Rebecca and Warren, a duo that meets early in the show.

Under the Bridge strikes a different balance, dealing with the horrific murder of a teenage girl. Though it doesn't shy away from those dark circumstances, the Hulu series doesn't flatten it either. Unlike a lot of true crime adaptations and even just the general retelling of true stories, Under the Bridge isn't simply content to repeat the events in a bland narrative that is closer to a Wikipedia entry than a television series.

The adaptation does what it can to illuminate the perspective of each character, including both Rebecca and Warren, a duo that meets early in the show. Though it's something Rebecca doesn't want to talk about, it's known that Rebecca's brother died and that she has a hard time grappling with the loss. It's under these circumstances, while covering Reena's disturbing murder, that she keeps running into Warren.

Related What Happened To Rebecca Godfrey's Brother, Gabe, In Under The Bridge Hulu's Under the Bridge tells the true story of Reena Virk's 1997 murder case, while also including real elements of Rebecca Godfrey's family tragedy.

Given the very real stakes of the story being told, the Hulu show tries to deliver a compelling adaptation without excusing the behavior of the characters or painting it in too sympathetic of a light. Helped by a talented Under the Bridge cast that also includes Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, Vritika Gupta, Chloe Guidry, Izzy G, Aiyana Goodfellow, Ezra Faroque Khan, Anoop Desai, and Archie Panjabi, the series is notable for how it tries to paint a complete picture despite the enormous difficulty involved.

Under the Bridge is available to stream on Hulu.

Source: IndieWire