Warning! This post contains spoilers for Apple TV+'s Sunny.Although Suzie learns the truth about Masa's disappearance in Sunny's finale, the Apple TV+ show's ending introduces a twist that changes everything for her and her family. Based on Colin O'Sullivan's book, Apple TV+'s Sunny revolves around an American woman, Suzie, who lives in Tokyo, Japan. Her world is turned upside down after her husband and son suddenly go missing, forcing her to dive deep into what her husband was up to before he vanished. After collecting one clue after another throughout the show's runtime, Suzie finally reunites with her son in the finale.
However, before she can celebrate this reunion, things take a grim turn when a former yakuza leader's daughter, Hime, imprisons her and her friends. Although Suzie and her friends eventually escape and even manage to save the titular home bot, Sunny, from wiping her memory, the Apple TV+ sci-fi show's closing scene introduces a major twist. This major twist not only reveals the surprising true motives of one of the main characters but also sets the stage for another season.
Mixxy's Betrayal In Sunny Season 1's Ending Explained
Sunny Was Always Right About Mixxy
In Sunny's closing arc, the titular home bot avoids talking to Suzie because she believes she might harm her. However, Suzie helps her realize that she has only helped her so far, which encourages Sunny not to erase her memory. This is when Mixxy assures Suzie that, while she will accompany Sunny back to Kyoto, Suzie should go into hiding with Hiromasa and her son. Since Suzie trusts Mixxy, she agrees with her plan and leaves with Hiromasa to live in his cabin for a couple of days.
DID YOU KNOW : What is portrayed as Masa's workplace in Apple TV+'s Sunny is actually the Kyoto International Conference Center (ICC Kyoto).
However, Sunny's finale's ending reveals that Mixxy has been working for the yakuza as she drives Sunny to them with Tanaka. Mixxy seems guilty about her actions, but the yakuza either promised her a grand sum of money or threatened to kill her family if she did not comply with them. Therefore, Sunny season 1's ending confirms that, even though Suzie and the crew managed to save the day by ensuring Hime does not get access to Sunny's dark "killer" code, they will have to encounter many more challenges before emerging victorious over the yakuza.
Sunny always doubted Mixxy's motives and even questioned whether they should trust her.
Many early clues in the Apple TV+ series hinted at Mixxy's potential involvement with the yakuza. For instance, Sunny always doubted Mixxy's motives and even questioned whether they should trust her. Even after Mixxy took Sunny and Suzie to her village, the yakuza somehow figured out their whereabouts and abducted Sunny. These early hints suggest that Mixxy has been working for the yakuza since the beginning. However, her guilt towards the end suggests she might eventually have a change of heart.
Is Masa Still Alive?
Masa's Fate Remains Uncertain
When Suzie confronts Hime in Sunny's finale and asks her where Masa is, Hime implies that he is dead. She even reminds her that she gave him his shoes because he died after he went missing. However, Hime cannot be trusted because she previously tried to fake Suzie's son's death and even sent his shoes to her home. Sunny's closing moments present a narration from Masa, which reveals the contents of a letter he had written to Suzie before he went missing. In the letter, Masa expresses his uncertainty about the future.
What ScreenRant has said about Sunny:
"What’s perhaps most engaging about the series is in the way it handles AI. The writing contends with domestic robots and the potential for them to be helpful, friendly, and violent. With humans able to hack their original code, the world of Sunny’s futuristic homebots becomes riddled with questions the series is less interested in answering than in providing us with some food for thought." - Mae Abdulbaki , Sunny Review: This Rashida Jones & Apple TV+ Mystery Series Made Me Think More Deeply About AI
However, he also mentions that if Suzie has found his letter, it may not be too late — "Maybe there is hope." He ends the letter by saying that he hopes to see her again and tells her how much he loves her. Unfortunately, as soon as the letter's narration ends, the next scene cuts to Mixxy taking Sunny to the yakuza. While it is possible that Masa is still alive, the future seems grim for all the main characters in Apple TV+ Sunny.
What The Dark Manual Is In Apple TV+'s Sunny
The Dark Manual Was Developed By Masa
Image via Apple TV+ Although Apple TV+'s Sunny does not delve into the details of the Dark Manual, it reveals it contains code that could allow the home bots to acquire abilities with significant ethical and moral implications. As Masa and Sunny's backstory in Sunny episode 9 discloses, some home bots designed at Masa's company were even capable of committing murder. Sunny, too, had shown violent tendencies after Hime and her men had slightly tweaked her code after abducting her.
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Why Sunny Made THAT Decision In Episode 9
Sunny makes a crucial decision towards the end of the Apple TV+ show's episode 9, making it hard not to wonder why she eventually went down that road.
Masa initially wrote the Dark Manual with the hope that AI robots would eventually help humans rediscover their humanity, just like the home bot at his father's cabin prompted him to end his isolation as a hikikomori. However, the more conscious the robots became, the darker human tendencies they developed. Realizing that the Dark Manual could be misused to weaponize the home bots, Masa seemingly decided to hide it away before it was too late.
Why Hime Wants Sunny's Dark Code
She Wishes To Weaponize It
During several moments in the show's finale, Masa gives a narration, where he walks through the significance of the Japanese Setsuban festival. He says that, at the festival, the people throw soybeans at "the evil demons who would destroy us, rob us of our dreams, our family." His narration also draws parallels between Suzie's story and the Japanese expression, "Oni ni Kanabou," which translates to "If you give a demon a metal club, it becomes stronger, invincible." The "metal club" in the expression refers to Sunny's "killer" code, which would make the yakuza "invincible."
By acquiring Sunny's "killer" code, Hime seemingly hopes to reign supreme by making home bots perform all the dirty, henious deeds that would secure her dominance in the criminal world.
Hime's father had promised her that she would have a chance at becoming his successor as the yakuza leader if she got him the Dark Manual. However, he passed away before Hime could get her hands on the code. Towards the end of Sunny season 1, Hime kills her cousin, who was appointed as the new leader after her father's death. Her cousin's death makes her the new leader of the yakuza clan. By acquiring Sunny's "killer" code, Hime seemingly hopes to reign supreme by making home bots perform all the dirty, heinous deeds that would secure her dominance in the criminal world.
How Sunny Season 1's Ending Sets Up Season 2
Season 1 Introduces A Major Cliffhanger
Sunny season 1 ends with Suzie getting one step closer to learning the truth about Masa's fate. Meanwhile, despite betraying Suzie, Mixxy feels some guilt about her actions. In season 2, Suzie could discover that Masa is dead and execute the final steps of his overarching plan to ensure the Yakuza does not misuse Sunny. Or, season 2 could also reveal that he is alive and has been waiting for the right opportunity to come out of hiding. Either way, Suzie and the crew will have to overcome bigger challenges before they can stop the yakuza from acquiring Sunny's dark code.
Sunny Key Facts Breakdown | |
Created By | Katie Robbins |
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score | 90% |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score | 70% |
Number of Episodes | 10 |
Considering Mixxy's guilt, it seems likely that she, too, will eventually give in and go back to teaming up with Suzie. Suzie will have a hard time forgiving her, but now that Sunny has helped her rediscover some of her humanity, she might give Mixxy another chance. Noriko might also finally leave prison to meet her grandson in Sunny season 2, leaving a lot for the potential follow-up to unfold.
The Real Meaning Of The Sunny Ending
There Are A Number Of Themes In The Apple TV+ Sci-Fi Show
Image via Apple TV+ The ending of Apple TV+ sci-fi series Sunny has a number of layers of meaning. The events of "The Dark Manual" convey several different messages, with most of them unsurprisingly being comments or warnings on advanced technology. Firstly, as with the majority of the show, the Sunny season 1 ending asks questions about the nature of free will with AI, the nature of sentience, and whether a self-aware artificial intelligence can ever be truly considered a person. Like most sci-fi TV shows about AI, these were the core themes of Sunny as a whole, and "The Dark Manual" wrapped them up nicely as a finale.
When it comes to specific events in the Sunny ending, the final episode of the Apple TV+ sci-fi show covers several themes. Being careful with trust is a clear meaning behind Mixxy's story in the last episode of Sunny, for example, especially when she offers to take Sunny with her to Tokyo. This is also a prevalent theme with Noriko too. The son of one of her compatriots is unwittingly used as a pawn in her plan, his trust in her betrayed so that she can escape.
The importance and value of self-sacrifice is also a major theme in the last episode of Sunny. This is apparent in two specific ways. Firstly are Suzies actions keep Zen safe. After reuiniting with her son, Suzie will stop at nothing to keep him safe, putting herself in danger time and time again. The second time self-sacrifice becomes a key theme of the meaning of the Sunny ending is with Sunny herself.
Sunny deciding to flee and keep Suzie and Zen safe is the most poignant moment of the Sunny finale, and also one of the most important when it comes to some of the show's deeper messages. As well as mirroring the self-sacrifice of Suzie and reinforcing the same themes as Rashida Jones' character's arc, Sunny's decision also raises questions about consciousness and free-will. Sunny has an odd similarity to 1999 animated kids movie The Iron Giant here. Both Sunny and the titular Iron Giant have to process knowing they could be used as a deadly weapon, and in doing so seem more human than most of the human characters.
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Sunny
Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, grapples with the mysterious disappearance of her husband and son in a plane crash. Given a domestic robot named Sunny by her husband’s company, Suzie initially resents Sunny but soon they form a unique bond. Together, they uncover the dark truth behind her family's disappearance, becoming entangled in a dangerous and hidden world.
Release Date July 10, 2024
Seasons 1
Writers Katie Robbins
Directors Lucy Tcherniak
Showrunner Katie Robbins
Main Genre Mystery
Creator(s) Katie Robbins
English (US) ·