Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers from Adolescence.
In the Adolescence premiere, viewers learn that 13-year-old Jamie is accused of stabbing his classmate, Katie, to death, and while the case is solved by the show’s finale, the mystery of what happened to the murder weapon is left ambiguous. The Netflix miniseries, created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, reveals in episode 1’s ending that Jamie isn’t innocent as some might have first believed. The police have the young boy on CCTV killing Katie, which all but proves his guilt.
Adolescence has a 99% Tomatometer score and a 72% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite having surveillance footage of Katie’s murder, the police (played by Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay in the Adolescence cast) try to gather as much evidence as possible to build their case against Jamie. Consequently, that means their number one priority in episode 2 is finding the murder weapon. However, the Netflix TV show ends before the audience can get a clear answer about what happened to the knife after Jamie used it to kill Katie.
The Knife In Adolescence May Have Been Hidden By Ryan, Jamie’s Friend
Ryan Runs From The Cops In Episode 2
DI Luke Bascombe and DS Misha Frank go to Jamie’s school to speak to his classmates in episode 2 of Netflix’s TV show Adolescence. They want to figure out his motive for murdering Katie and where he might have stashed the knife. Although Bascombe and Frank run into some mishaps, they end the day knowing a lot more than they did at the start, mostly thanks to Bascombe’s son, Adam, and Jamie’s friend, Ryan. Adam informs his father about incel culture and online bullying happening at the school. Meanwhile, the cops’ interactions with Ryan lead to new information about the murder weapon.
| Adolescence Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Stephen Graham | Eddie Miller |
| Owen Cooper | Jamie Miller |
| Ashley Walters | DI Luke Bascombe |
| Erin Doherty | Briony Ariston |
| Faye Marsay | DS Misha Frank |
| Christine Tremarco | Manda Miller |
| Amélie Pease | Lisa Miller |
| Mark Stanley | Paul Barlow |
| Jo Hartley | Mrs. Fenumore |
| Kaine Davis | Ryan |
Ryan runs from Bascombe, but the inspector catches up to him at the end of Adolescence episode 2. Jamie’s friend ultimately admits that the knife belonged to him. Ryan claims he gave it to Jamie because he thought he was just going to use it to scare Katie. So, the police arrest Ryan for conspiracy to murder. After that, it’s unclear what happened to Ryan or if the authorities ever learned the location of the murder weapon. It’s possible that Ryan could have been involved in getting rid of the knife. Or their other friend, Tommy, might’ve played a role (although unlikely).
Why Adolescence Never Reveals What Happened To The Knife
The Ambiguity Is Intentional
The minds behind Adolescence didn’t forget to share what happened to the murder weapon — that mystery was intentionally left unsolved. While speaking with Deadline, co-creator Jack Thorne explained why the Netflix series never reveals the knife’s fate. He said:
“I think that there is a real joy in the incomplete. There is a real joy in how partial this show was able to be. It was written in a really partial way, we couldn’t cover all corners. For instance, episode two has a whole question going through it, of where is the knife? That’s why DI Luke Bascombe [Ashley Walters] is there. We cannot answer that. We don’t answer that. I could have tried to fit it into dialog in episode three, but that would have felt inauthentic and wrong… I’m not going to answer [where the knife is] because if I did, then that would spoil it… Stephen [Graham] and I worked everything out. But the point is that we didn’t have to answer it, and by not answering it, we create a question, and that question hangs on.”
Ultimately, Adolescence never answered the question of what happened to the knife Jamie used to kill Katie on purpose. The episodes play out in real-time, thanks to the one-shot takes. So, the writers would’ve had to drop random lines into the episodes to explain every single detail of the case, which isn’t ideal. Plus, it sounds like Thorne and Graham thought it was better to leave some mysteries unsolved by the end of Adolescence.
