I May Destroy You ending explained – and will there be a series 2?

I May Destroy You is a BBC drama created by and starring Michaela Coel - a writer who, if you didn't know her before, you should now.

The series has captivated audiences with its frank, brutal and at times beautiful look at consent and healing.

Arabella is I May Destroy You's main character - her experiences are in part based on Michaela's own.

After being raped on a night out when her drink is spiked, Arabella must find ways to recover and cope with the aftermath.

Throughout the series we see her - in no particular order - take up new hobbies, go to therapy, become a social media spokesperson for survivors of rape, cut ties from social media, lose her literary agent and publisher, and revisit the bar in which she was spiked.

We also see issues of consent depicted in its other forms through Arabella's best friends, Terry and Kwame, as they both inflict and are at the receiving end of events in which they didn't have full control.

The series also looked at stealthing too.

What happened in the final episode and what does it mean?

In the 12th and final episode of the series, we watch Arabella replay an imagined encounter with her rapist, except each time it unfolds differently.

The first time, Arabella calls on her friends who help her spike him until eventually Arabella kills him and takes his body home, placing him under her bed as blood stains her walls and floors.

The revenge murder is common plot choice and when speaking to Vulture, Michaela recalled a story in which someone she met suggested she leave it there, to which she replied: "I’m kind of trying not to do that".

She contemplated: "Must there be bloodshed for there to be justice?";

The next scenario sees an unexpected twist in which we are invited to feel sympathy for the rapist.

Arabella listens to him speak of his past experiences of mistreatment and time spend in prison and therapy due to repeatedly committing rape.

Eventually the police arrive and take him away as he sobs and begs Arabella to stay with him.

The third time round is the most stylised of Arabella's imaginings - the bar scene is stripped back to just Arabella, Terry, the rapist and his friend with the lights fully up and music mute.

Then gender roles are reversed and instead of Terry (as the woman) seductively grinding and dancing for the rapist's friend, the friend starts dancing while Terry sits and watches.

Arabella buys the rapist a drink this time and invites him to the toilets (which have reversed men/women signs on the door).

Then they passionately kiss and have sex at her flat, but again gender roles are reversed as Arabella takes control and dominates.

When Arabella wakes, she tells the rapist to "go".

As he gets out of the bed, the murdered version of him from the first scenario crawls out from under the bed and together they leave.

Arabella stops going to the bar after that.

Michaela's various endings show there is no set method to get closure and the trauma doesn't just go away - it is up to Arabella to tell her demons to go and to continue to work through her pain with the help of friends.

At the end she self-publishes her book and has the launch in a small independent East London bookshop and she spends time with her friends.

The last shot is of her smiling on the beach then joyfully running.

Will there be a series 2?

The short answers is, we don't yet know for sure - but it is unlikely.

Knowing Michaela's resoluteness, she isn't one to be pushed into writing a second series purely because of it's success.

Michaela herself has never given a definite no, but hinted numerous times that the ending should give you the answer about a second series.

The ending feels whole and complete - there are no cliffhangers.

She spent a lot of time trying to give Arabella "closure", as told by Vulture.

It's most likely this will be a standalone series, but by no means will this be the last success show created by Michaela Coel.