It’s shocking to talk about a series with only eight episodes that are 20 minutes each. Rarely does a show capture human sentiment so deeply and thoroughly that you just can’t help but have your faith restored in our species. This series is funny, mysterious, haunting, and poignant all at once, all within such short episodes. Somewhere Boy, tells a simple yet effective tale about an 18-year-old whose entire life has been spent locked up in a home with the lie that there are monsters outside, so he can’t go anywhere. Let’s get into Danny’s story further.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Show?
Danny wakes up one day when he’s being grabbed by the police and taken outside of his home. He can’t understand what’s going on and suffers from anxiety and fear of leaving his home. His father, Steve, has been found dead outside—suicide, they call it. Danny is taken home by his aunt Sue, who is extremely gentle with him, and soon we realize it’s because Danny’s never been outside his house. For 18 years, his father kept him locked up in the house with the excuse of monsters outside. Danny’s mother had supposedly been killed by one of these “monsters,” so Danny was never allowed to go outside. According to Steve, Danny would not be able to survive out there in the real world, and almost everyone was gone. Danny is quick to befriend the members of Sue’s family. She has a son named Aaron, who is around the same age as Danny, and a second husband named Paul, who has his own two kids who are much younger. Although he’s afraid initially, Danny finds himself intrigued by the world and people, especially Aaron, and takes a liking to him immediately. There is an assessment every ten days where a woman comes in to check on Danny, who is considered a victim of abuse. Danny doesn’t think his father ever abused him; he loved his dad very much.
Danny and Aaron are similar in many ways, even though Aaron has lived a “normal” life. He has no friends because he’s shy and secluded. He feels distant from his mother, who has a new husband and family, so he lashes out at Payl for no reason. One fine day, Danny wanders out of the house when no one is keeping watch on him and ends up running into a neighbor’s house by accident after being frightened by the sounds of traffic. He slowly realizes it’s not that bad outside, and his curiosity is stronger than his fear. Over the course of time, we see flashbacks of Danny and Steve having a great time at home. They had a simple routine, and Danny would watch old movies while Steve would go out to bring supplies. They would communicate with walkie-talkies until Steve was out of range. Steve would always walk out with a rifle, wearing a helmet and leather clothing, looking like he was geared up for battle. Danny was always curious about the outside world and asked his father if he could go out when he was little, but Steve had come back looking like he had been hurt, so Danny never asked again. On top of it all, if Danny mentioned the outside, Steve would react violently, so he quickly learned that he shouldn’t do that. Danny’s ideas about the world all stem from the old movies he used to watch and the things his father told him. In Danny’s eyes, all humans were supposed to be nice. Danny’s pure worldview helps him make friends easily, and even though Aaron is unkind to him, he continues to stick around and speak to him because he’s finally free.
At Steve’s funeral, Danny is confused about what the priest is reciting. He wonders why he would say Steve did some things that were wrong. He had hoped to see many people at the funeral to celebrate his father’s life, but instead, there was nobody apart from one friend and their family. Danny is disappointed, and Sue shows him a video from Steve and his mother’s wedding. Danny is in awe of the video and wishes he could’ve had such a time with them too. Quickly, Danny realizes that nobody really likes Steve, and he wonders if he would also be disliked by everybody. Sue is quick to tell Danny that he’s nothing like his father. In the meantime, Danny continues to ask Aaron questions and get close to him. It’s quite an entertaining and adorable pairing. Through the one friend who came for the funeral, Danny finds out how his mother really died. It was a hit-and-run, and soon enough, Danny found out all about the man (the monster) who killed his mother through Aaron’s phone.
Aaron acts like he’s better than Danny because he’s at that age where he wants to go on dates and be friends with cool people. But in reality, he’s quite fond of his cousin too. Aaron heads out one day to the pub, and Sue suggests that he take Danny along too. He’s happy to go and even tries a martini, which makes him think about his mother’s death. Because he knows where the killer is, Danny asks Aaron to take him, but of course, Aaron thinks it’s a bad idea. So, when Aaron is trying to enjoy the match in the pub with his friends, Danny gets out to find the man. Aaron’s neighbor is the first to notice Danny’s gone and suggests he go find him. Aaron is reluctant at first but realizes he’s right. He knows that he would’ve headed to Mead Farm, where Mark, the killer, lives now. In the end, Danny and Aaron end up being caught by Mark, and they try to escape but end up breaking one of the farm doors. Mark stops them from escaping and takes a picture of the license plate. The only way they can avoid getting arrested is by working at the farm.
Aaron and Danny meet a girl on the farm, and she seems nice enough. Aaron takes a liking to her while Danny tries to figure out what he can do to Mark for killing his mom in a hit-and-run and then getting only one year of prison for it. In flashbacks, we see that Steve taught Danny some ways of “protecting” himself, but Danny could never actually be violent. Aaron and Danny start having conflicts when Aaron tells Danny that they should just work there and leave. Danny brings up the fact that Aaron’s dad didn’t love him as much as Steve loved Danny, so he’s jealous. Soon, Danny finds out that Mark is actually a father, and his daughter is the girl Aaron likes. This changes everything for Danny. Danny used to see Mark as a monster, but now that he has felt the loss of his own father, he could never do that to another person. He knows intrinsically that that would make him a monster too.
At a party on the farm, Danny takes some mushrooms and ends up telling Mark’s daughter the truth. This is when Aaron and the girl are just getting close, and Aaron gets extremely upset with Danny, so he tells Sue that he doesn’t want Danny with them anymore. When Sue and Paul find out the truth about the job, they realize Danny may need to be sent away, at least for a bit. Danny gets sad about hurting Aaron’s feelings rather than about how he feels about him. Mark comes over and apologizes to Danny about what happened with his mother, and Danny seems to forgive him in the end. To get over the situation, Aaron tries to talk to his own father because he feels too distant from his mother, but he realizes his father has moved on to a new family and really doesn’t care about Aaron at all. He throws a tantrum, and they send Danny away.
Danny is 18, so he stays in what looks like a foster home for older people. They have to take care of themselves, but there’s a curfew and a warden. Danny goes out on the first day and ends up peering into a hen party. There’s a man with the ladies, and he invites Danny to join them. Danny is happy to do so, and they have a great time together, even going to karaoke. Danny really likes the guy and follows him out when he’s on a date with another man. Danny doesn’t seem to question the fact that it’s a man and not a woman, even though he’s only seen heterosexual relationships all his life, thanks to the movies he watched. The man’s date is a bore, so Danny takes him home. Maybe it can be considered Danny’s sexual awakening, and they have a great time in his room. But when he’s about to leave, Danny begins to sound like his father. He doesn’t want the man to go and asks if he doesn’t like it there with him. The guy says he loved it, but he has to leave; he can’t be there with him forever. At the same time, Aaron feels terrible for sending Danny away and apologizes to Paul for behaving badly as well. They finally have a moment together, and Aaron begins to accept Paul as his new father figure.
‘Somewhere Boy’ Ending Explained – What Really Happened To Steve?
Across the episodes, we see Danny having flashbacks about his dad bringing a woman home. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he was extremely happy to meet another human being. Steve told Danny not to ask her any questions, and Danny agreed because she might have just narrowly escaped a dangerous situation with the monsters. The next day, though, the lady decided to leave because of an argument with Steve. Danny couldn’t understand what was happening until she told him that there was a whole world outside. In the present day, Danny begins to comprehend these flashbacks when he goes back to his old house because he doesn’t like it out in the world anymore. He thinks that he’s better off locking himself up. Finally, Danny remembers the night his father died. Steve had realized because of that woman that Danny could not be happy in this locked-up house forever. Danny asked him to follow the lady and save her. Steve obliged, but he came back with a rabbit he shot and used its blood to cover his face. Danny observed this but didn’t let it show to Steve. They then followed their regular routine, and when Danny was about to go to sleep, Steve told him he loved him as usual.
But, early in the morning, Steve went out and called Sue, telling her where they were put up and that things may change now. Steve then took his rifle and aimed it at a sleeping Danny’s head. Danny managed to escape and finally ran out of the house. Danny wondered why Steve would do such a thing, but from his words, it can be understood that he wanted Danny to be finally free. Steve finally told Danny that there was only one monster, and that was Steve himself. He made Danny point the rifle at him and told him to keep the rifle on his chest so they wouldn’t blame Danny for murdering his father. Finally, a crying Danny ends up shooting Steve out of fear.
This was the moment which marked the beginning of Danny’s new life outside. At the same time, when Danny is remembering all of this, Aaron tells his mother that he wants to bring him back. He also tells Sue finally that he felt like she was pushing him away by adding more members to their family of two with Paul and his kids first and later Danny. Sue apologizes for making him feel that way, and Aaron heads out to bring Danny back. He goes to the old home and finds Danny walking up the road. They hug it out, and Aaron has a wide smile on his face. Danny is finally ready for the real world because he knows he has Aaron and Sue, along with everybody else, to help him out. In the end, they drive away from the house and into the world for Danny’s new life.
