Netflix’s Below ends with several mysterious icebergs appearing on the horizon. But what are they hiding? And what happened to the tiny squid left inside a freezer? The creator’s explanation reveals why the ending is more unsettling than it first appears.
Spoiler Warning: This article discusses the ending of Netflix’s Below (2026).
Just when it seems the nightmare is over, Below delivers one final surprise.
Calvin Penney and his family have survived. Their Newfoundland community has avoided destruction, and life in Snook’s Arm appears to be returning to normal.
The terrifying sea creature known as Mudder is gone.
Then Calvin sees something in the ocean.
More icebergs.
Not just one, but several enormous masses of ice approaching the coast.
After everything the town has experienced, that image immediately raises a frightening question:
If one iceberg concealed a giant creature and its offspring, what might be hiding inside the others?
And there is another mystery viewers have not forgotten.
What happened to the tiny squid that was kept in a freezer?
The series never provides an explicit answer to that question.
Together, these two details have fueled speculation about whether Below is truly finished — or whether its greatest danger is still approaching.
1. What Happens in the Final Scene of Below?
By the end of the series, Calvin has undergone a remarkable transformation.
He begins the story as a fisherman haunted by his childhood encounter with an enormous creature beneath the sea.
For years, he believes that the monster represents destruction and personal tragedy.
But marine biologist Fonda Howander discovers the truth.
Mudder is protecting an egg sac trapped inside an iceberg.
The creature’s aggression is connected to her desperate attempt to save her offspring.
Calvin and his family intervene to prevent the military from destroying her. They help move the egg sac into deeper water.
The immediate crisis ends.
Later, life in Snook’s Arm appears brighter. The community is functioning again, Calvin’s family remains together, and the Crockers have suffered a setback in their attempt to exploit the town.
But the final images reveal several more icebergs appearing offshore.
The ending deliberately recalls the beginning of the series.
At first, Calvin welcomes the arrival of icebergs because they represent economic opportunity.
After his encounter with Mudder, however, he understands that an iceberg can contain something completely unexpected.
The same natural phenomenon that once promised prosperity now represents uncertainty and danger.
2. Are There More Giant Squids Inside the Icebergs?
This is the most obvious interpretation of the final scene.
The original iceberg contained Mudder’s egg sac, so viewers naturally wonder whether the newly arriving icebergs might contain other giant cephalopods or their offspring.
The series encourages that possibility without confirming it.
There is no final reveal showing additional giant squids inside the ice.
Nor does the creator explicitly confirm that every iceberg contains another Mudder.
That distinction is important.
The final scene establishes the arrival of more icebergs, not the confirmed arrival of more monsters.
However, the implication is intentional.
In Netflix’s official ending discussion, actor Josh Hartnett explains that Calvin now understands the terrible secrets one iceberg can conceal.
The appearance of several more makes him question what other dangers may be approaching.
The visual invites viewers to imagine possibilities beyond the creature they have already encountered.
Perhaps Mudder was not unique.
Perhaps the ocean contains other extraordinary species that humans have never discovered.
Or perhaps the next threat will be something entirely different.
These are interpretations, not confirmed plot developments.
And that uncertainty is precisely what makes the final image effective.
3. What Did Below’s Creator Say About the Final Icebergs?
Series creator Jesse McKeown has explained that the closing image is closely connected to climate change.
In Netflix’s official ending interview, McKeown describes a world in which environmental changes are accelerating and increasingly unpredictable consequences are approaching.
He also explains that Calvin’s perspective has fundamentally changed.
Earlier in the story, icebergs represent money.
By the end, they represent the frightening possibility of what the changing world might bring next.
McKeown expanded on this idea in an interview with TIME, describing how the sight of enormous icebergs inspired both wonder and fear.
The icebergs are beautiful, but their arrival also raises troubling questions about where they came from and what their movement might mean.
This gives the finale two levels of meaning.
On the surface, the icebergs suggest another possible encounter with something unknown.
On a deeper level, they represent environmental consequences that no single family or community can control.
Calvin managed to confront one extraordinary creature.
He cannot stop the ocean from changing.
That is why the final scene feels ominous even without revealing another monster.
4. Did Mudder Die at the End of Below?
Yes.
Mudder’s death is confirmed in the ending and by the show’s creator.
After Calvin helps move the egg sac into deeper water, the creature completes her reproductive cycle.
She dies following the release of her eggs.
Fonda later explains that the offspring did not survive because the surrounding water was too warm.
The attempted rescue therefore ends in tragedy.
Calvin and his family succeed in preventing the military from destroying Mudder.
But they cannot reverse the environmental conditions that threaten her offspring.
This distinction is essential to understanding the finale.
The characters prevent an immediate act of violence, yet they cannot prevent a larger ecological disaster.
Mudder’s death also means the final icebergs should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that she survived.
The original creature is dead. The mystery concerns what else may exist beneath the ocean — and whether any of it can survive the changing environment.
5. What Happened to the Baby Squid in the Freezer?
This is where Below leaves viewers with a more specific unanswered question.
Earlier in the series, a tiny squid is kept in a freezer.
Its presence becomes especially intriguing once viewers learn that Mudder’s offspring require extremely cold conditions to survive.
So did the baby squid live?
The series does not definitively establish its fate.
In an interview reported by Variety, the creators were asked whether the baby squid was still alive.
Rather than giving a clear answer, they responded with smiles and shrugs.
That reaction keeps the question open.
But it is not confirmation of survival.
There are at least three possible interpretations.
Possibility One: The Baby Squid Died
This is the most straightforward explanation.
Fonda reveals that Mudder’s offspring could not survive the warming ocean.
The freezer does not necessarily provide the conditions required to keep a living marine creature alive.
A low temperature alone is not enough to establish that the animal survived.
The series never demonstrates that the freezer was a suitable long-term habitat.
Possibility Two: The Baby Squid Survived
The creators’ refusal to answer leaves room for this possibility.
If the tiny squid survived, it could represent the last remaining connection to Mudder’s offspring.
Such a reveal could support a future story.
However, there is currently no confirmed scene establishing that the baby squid remains alive.
Possibility Three: The Mystery Is Intentionally Unresolved
This may be the most convincing interpretation from a storytelling perspective.
The unanswered question allows the audience to leave the series wondering whether Mudder’s story has truly ended.
A single surviving offspring would complicate Fonda’s conclusion about the reproductive failure.
But even if the baby squid died, its unresolved fate reinforces the tragedy of a species struggling to survive.
Our interpretation: The freezer mystery is an intentional opening for speculation, but it should not be treated as proof that Mudder’s offspring survived.
6. What Are Reddit Viewers Saying About the Icebergs and Baby Squid?
The finale has generated specific questions on Reddit.
In an October 9 discussion on r/BelowTV titled Ending?, one viewer asked whether the final icebergs were setting up another season and what happened to the baby squid in the freezer.
Other participants suggested that the icebergs might be a final warning about climate change rather than a direct sequel announcement.
Some also questioned whether the baby squid could survive the conditions in which it had been stored.
A separate October 18 discussion again raised the freezer mystery, with viewers debating whether the animal had died or whether its fate had simply been omitted.
These discussions reveal two different expectations.
Some viewers approach the final scene as a puzzle.
They want to know whether another creature exists, whether the baby survived, and whether a second season will answer those questions.
Others see the ending as symbolic.
For them, the unanswered questions are part of the message: humans cannot predict every consequence of environmental change.
Both readings are possible.
But only some of their underlying claims are confirmed by the show.
The existence of additional icebergs is a fact.
The presence of more giant squids inside them remains speculation.
And the baby squid’s survival remains unresolved.
7. Does the Final Scene Confirm Below Season 2?
No.
The final image leaves room for another story, but it is not an official renewal announcement.
In an interview with TV Insider, executive producers Jesse McKeown and Jessica Rhoades discussed the ending and the possibility of continuing the series.
McKeown emphasized that the six episodes were designed to tell a complete story.
The open-ended finale was intended to reflect the uncertainty surrounding climate change and the future.
Similarly, in an interview with TIME, he described the ending as deliberately ambiguous rather than necessarily setting up another season.
This is a crucial distinction.
An ending that allows a sequel is not the same as a confirmed sequel.
The arrival of more icebergs creates narrative possibilities.
The baby squid’s unknown fate creates another.
But neither establishes that Netflix has commissioned a second season.
As of this article’s publication, the available creator interviews do not establish a confirmed Season 2.
8. The Hidden Connection Between the First and Last Icebergs
One of the most interesting aspects of Below is how its ending transforms the meaning of an image introduced at the beginning.
In the opening episodes, Calvin sees icebergs through the eyes of a fisherman.
They are familiar features of the landscape and potential sources of income.
He believes he understands the ocean well enough to survive whatever it brings.
But his encounter with Mudder exposes the limits of that confidence.
The sea contains life he cannot explain.
His community is vulnerable to forces it cannot control.
And the economic interests threatening Snook’s Arm are willing to exploit that vulnerability.
By the finale, Calvin no longer sees the approaching icebergs as simple opportunities.
He sees unanswered questions.
This is more than a horror-series cliffhanger.
It is a transformation in how the main character understands his environment.
The ocean has not changed from a safe place into a dangerous one. Calvin has changed from someone who believes he understands it into someone who recognizes how little he knows.
That is the deeper significance of the final shot.
9. Our Theory: Mudder’s Story Is Over, but the Phenomenon Is Just Beginning
Here is where we can connect the confirmed details into a broader interpretation.
Mudder is dead.
Her offspring in the ocean did not survive.
The baby squid in the freezer has an unresolved fate.
And new icebergs are arriving.
Taken together, these elements suggest that the story may not be about one extraordinary animal.
It may be about an ocean undergoing changes that are bringing unfamiliar forms of life into contact with human communities.
Mudder could be one example of a much larger phenomenon.
The next iceberg might conceal another creature.
Or it might bring an entirely different environmental crisis.
The series does not confirm either possibility.
But the ending supports a broader idea:
Mudder was not necessarily the final danger. She may have been the first warning Calvin truly understood.
This interpretation also explains why the creators chose not to end the series with a definitive monster reveal.
Showing another giant squid would provide an immediate answer.
Showing only the icebergs preserves the uncertainty.
And uncertainty is what makes the changing ocean frightening.
Final Verdict: The Icebergs Are a Warning, Not Proof of Another Monster
The ending of Netflix’s Below leaves viewers with two mysteries that should not be confused.
The final icebergs are real, and their symbolic significance has been explained by the creator.
They represent an uncertain future shaped by environmental change.
But the series does not confirm that each iceberg contains another giant squid.
Meanwhile, the baby squid’s fate remains deliberately unanswered.
Its survival is possible within the story’s open-ended structure, but it has not been established.
The most powerful interpretation of the finale is therefore not that a new monster is definitely coming.
It is that Calvin now understands how much remains hidden beneath the ocean.
He saved his community from one immediate crisis.
He could not save Mudder’s offspring.
And he has no way of knowing what the next iceberg will bring.
The real horror of Below’s final scene is not what we see inside the icebergs. It is what we can no longer assume is absent.
What do you think?
Do the final icebergs suggest more giant sea creatures, or are they primarily a warning about climate change?
And do you believe the baby squid in the freezer survived?
Share your theory in the comments.
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