Who is the killer in Adolescence? Details about the Netflix miniseries, explored

Netflix's latest crime drama series, Adolescence, follows a 13-year-old boy, Jamie, who is caught on CCTV camera fatally stabbing his classmate, Katie. Through its four episodes, the series investigates Jamie's case as he maintains that he is not guilty.

While Jamie maintains his innocence throughout the series, even when he is caught on camera, he finally breaks in Episode 4.

Thirteen months after his trial, Jamie finally pleads guilty, which confirms that he was Katie's killer in Adolescence, as the evidence showed.

Since he is a juvenile, the series ends with him still at the training center, where he will be sentenced to a life sentence (murder sentence in the UK), till he is transferred to an adult prison.

More on Adolescence ending in our story.

Adolescence: Details about Jamie's admission of guilt

The Adolescence finale takes place 13 months after Jamie's arrest, as he is held in a detention center and is awaiting trial. Coincidentally, it is also Eddie's 50th birthday, and the episode opens with Jamie wishing his father a happy birthday and then finally revealing that he wants to change his decision from not guilty to guilty.

While Jamie never really verbalizes to his family or the police that he killed Kate, his admission of guilt in the end proves that he did, in fact, kill his classmate.

While there were hints in Adolescence Episode 2, where Jamie talks with his therapist, Briony, that he is guilty, Jamie controls the narrative to his end and makes it look like he is innocent.

Why did Jamie kill Katie in Adolescence?

Katie was Jamie's classmate, and her bullying, along with that of his peers, affected him deeply. As revealed in his conversation with Briony, they ridiculed him and labeled him an "incel" (involuntary celibate), which heightened his insecurities and ultimately pushed him to take such a drastic step.

If subjected at this age, such insecurity could adversely affect a child, and he develops insecurity. This coupled with notions of toxic masculinity online, Jamie underwent a dark path. He confessed to Briony that after one of his classmates circulated Katie's topless images, he thought she would be vulnerable and agreed to accompany him to the fair.

But Katie refused and humiliated him, which drove him to take such a drastic step. At the end of his conversation, he says:

"That night, I didn't touch her ... Most boys would've touched her. So that makes me better, don't you think?"

This convoluted sense of superiority towards the other gender was one of the reasons that he took such a drastic step.

What does Eddie and Manda's conversation say about Jamie's actions in Adolescence?

On his 50th birthday, Eddie receives the devastating news of Jamie's admission of guilt. That morning, he also wakes to find kids vandalizing his van with graffiti. Fueled by frustration, he chases one of them down, throws him to the ground, and angrily warns him never to do it again. While his reaction is partly influenced by Jamie’s actions, it also suggests that Eddie is a man who values gratitude—something his son may have inherited from him.

In Adolescence Episode 4, Eddie blames himself for not being a good father in a key conversation with his wife, Madna. Madna also blames herself for her child's behavior, who spends most of his time in his room on his computer and stays up late at night until 1.

While these factors do not justify Jamie's actions, they do highlight the kind of lifestyle young adult men have nowadays, which shapes who they are.

In the final scene, Eddie breaks down in Jamie's room, saying: