The Gathering is a mystery drama thriller by Helen Walsh. Before we dive into the series, I want to talk about something important: the pressure that parents put on their children and how, often, instead of following their own dreams, young people follow their parents’ dreams just to make them proud or happy. Speaking from personal experience, these young minds are so fragile that external influences have a significant impact on them, and they want to impress others so much that they forget about themselves. I didn’t just say this for the sake of it—I promise you’ll see it throughout the series as well. Now, coming back to the story, this series revolves around a girl named Kelly (Eva Morgan), who was drowned in water at a rave. From the first to the last episode, we see glimpses of Kelly being drowned. But who did it? That’s the big question. Kelly had many enemies because of various circumstances, so figuring out who tried to drown her was quite difficult. You wouldn’t guess the culprit until the last episode. But, to be honest, the mystery’s outcome didn’t quite satisfy me. But without further ado, let’s dive into The Gathering to find out more about the story.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Kelly and Jessica get into a fight?
Kelly and Jessica were very good friends from the beginning. They were teammates in the gymnasium, both trying their best to prepare for the next tournament. Kelly had real talent and was obsessed with gymnastics. She even made videos of herself and others jumping from one building to another to gain followers, which often got them in trouble with the police. Jessica, on the other hand, was very focused on her gymnastics sessions, mainly because her single mother pushed her too much. Jessica was very afraid of her strict mother and always wanted to impress her. Her mother believed Jessica had so much potential that she could be the best, even better than Kelly. She even tried to sabotage their friendship by badmouthing Kelly in front of Jessica. Despite this, Kelly and Jessica remained tightly bonded at first. The problem began when Kelly was selected for a special training program that would help her in the world championship. Of course, she got the chance because she was one of the best, and Jessica was proud and happy for her friend. But Jessica’s mother was not pleased. She was toxic and competitive, and she wanted those qualities in her daughter. So, what did she do? Knowing that Kelly had been warned by their coach, Debbie, that she would be off the team if she did any more building jump stunts, Jessica’s mother recorded a video of Kelly doing one of these stunts and sent it to Debbie. This caused a misunderstanding, and Jessica falsely took Kelly’s place on the team because of her mother’s actions, leading to a fight between the two friends.
Why did Julian Bullan accuse Paul?
Paul was Kelly’s father. After her mother died, Kelly and her brother were raised by Paul, and he was a very good father. One day, Kelly, her brother, and their father were at a football training ground. Their dog wandered onto the field, so Kelly tried to get it off. Charlie, one of the boys there, came to calm the dog, but his teammates started bullying him. Kelly encouraged Charlie to stand up to them and fight back. However, Paul, being the polite and protective father he is, came over to defuse the situation and get them out of there. Charlie’s father, Julian Bullan, on the other hand, was a toxic male figure who always pushed Charlie to be manly. He often pressured Charlie to have relationships with women, even though Charlie showed no interest. When Julian saw Charlie was being bullied, that too, in front of a girl, he took it personally. He called Paul and his children “dogs” and told them to leave. This insult didn’t sit well with Paul, and in anger and frustration, he punched Julian. The strangest part? Charlie secretly recorded the incident but didn’t say or do anything to stop it. It seemed like Charlie wanted to see his father get beaten up. He was tired of pretending to be someone he wasn’t—acting like he liked sports and women. Charlie felt relieved to see his father get punched, thinking he deserved it.
Why were Adam and Jessica fighting?
Adam was Kelly’s best friend, more like a brother to her, and Jessica was Adam’s girlfriend. Jessica wasn’t comfortable with how close Kelly and Adam were, especially after Kelly and Jessica became enemies because Jessica got her place on the team. Actually, it was Jessica’s mother who did the snitching, but Kelly didn’t know that and blamed Jessica. In the meantime, we see how training trials at the gymnasium were tough for Jessica. Gymnastics wasn’t her true passion, and she was under a lot of pressure to please and impress her mother. This pressure made her anxious, and she even started taking high-dose steroids to perform better. One day, there was a gathering at Adam’s place, and both Jessica and Kelly were invited. Despite their strained relationship, they both attended. During the gathering, something bad happened: Jessica suddenly became unconscious because someone spiked her drink. Despite being rivals, Kelly felt Jessica needed a friend and went to the hospital with Adam to make sure she was okay. Kelly didn’t spike the drink, but Jessica’s mother convinced her that Kelly did it out of rivalry and hatred to take back her place. Jessica believed her mother and told Adam this. However, Adam knew Kelly too well and was sure she wouldn’t do something like that, so he defended his friend. This angered Jessica, and she and Adam stopped talking.
Why did Bazi stop talking to Kelly?
Bazi was one of the guys who did building jumping stunt videos with Kelly, and she fell for him. Little did she know that Bazi was gay and worked as an escort to pay off his debts and bring his sister back from Syria. Bazi was ashamed of his identity and didn’t want to reveal the truth to Kelly, fearing she would judge him and only see his trauma. He had been through a lot—losing his parents and family members in Syria, being unable to bring his sister with him due to her lack of a passport, and dealing with dangerous people to get the money to bring her here. Amidst all this, Kelly was his only friend, and he didn’t want to lose that. The bad guys threatened Bazi, saying that if he didn’t pay them back in time, they would harm Kelly. To protect her, Bazi kept his distance. Kelly misunderstood this and thought Bazi had lied to her to take advantage of her emotions. She followed Bazi and discovered that he and Charlie were in a relationship. She secretly took a photo to threaten Charlie into stopping the case against her father, promising to expose him to his father otherwise. After this, she stopped talking to Bazi. However, on the day of the gathering at the rave, Kelly found out that Charlie was actually helping Bazi with money to bring his sister back. And they again mended their friendship.
Up to this point, you get the idea that Kelly had many people who were against her. So, who tried to drown her at the rave? It wasn’t any of the usual suspects. Surprisingly, it was Adam’s brother, Joshua. At the gathering, Kelly and Jessica were arguing when Joshua approached them. Suddenly, Jessica remembered that Joshua was the one who tried to spike her drink at Adam’s party and force himself on her. Realizing she was wrong about Kelly, Jessica wanted to apologize, but before she could, Joshua hit her and knocked her to the ground. When Kelly saw this, she confronted Joshua, but in his anger and panic at being exposed, he tried to drown her. Thankfully, Kelly was saved. What happened to Joshua? Initially, his parents tried to protect him from being exposed to the police. However, after talking to his older brother Adam, Joshua understood his mistake and confessed to the police. This might send him to a juvenile facility, but we can hope it will be a lesson for him. Despite his parents’ attempts to cover for him, Joshua showed courage by telling the truth, indicating there’s still potential for him to be better.
