Apples Never Fall Ending Explained: What Happened To Joy Delaney? (2024)

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Apples Never Fall episodes 1-7.

Apples Never Fall is a family drama with a gripping mystery at its core, and the Peaco*ck show's ending is one that will genuinely surprise viewers who haven't already finished Liane Moriarty's book. Based on the author's novel of the same name, Apples Never Fall chronicles the disappearance of Joy Delaney, the matriarch of a small-town family known for their achievements on the tennis court. Joy disappears after allowing a stranger named Savannah to stay with her and her husband, Stan, for several weeks — and both her kids and the detectives on the case can't decide who's responsible for her absence.

Apples Never Fall offers plenty of reasons to believe that either of them could be behind Joy's missing-persons status. However, Joy Delaney's fate becomes clear during the Peaco*ck series' finale. Apples Never Fall episode 7 is aptly titled "Joy," and it answers all viewers' questions about where the Delaney family matriarch has been. With the main characters of Apples Never Fall assuming Joy is dead all season, the truth may come as a shock: that Joy is alive, well, and seemingly unaware of the chaos unfolding in her absence.

What Happened To Joy Delaney In Apples Never Fall?

Joy's Fate Will Come As A Surprise To Newcomers

Apples Never Fall episode 6 concludes with a bombshell revelation: that Joy Delaney is alive and with Savannah — initially of her own volition. This is where the Apples Never Fall finale picks up, and the last episode finally explains the circ*mstances surrounding Joy's disappearance. Joy does have a fight with Stan prior to leaving, but there's more to their confrontation than the recording used to arrest Stan suggests. After an argument about Harry Haddad gets heated, Stan attempts to walk away and cool off. By contrast, Joy escalates the fight, eventually scratching Stan's face when he moves past her.

The sounds heard on the recording are Stan knocking over their tennis memorabilia, not hitting his wife. Joy is very much alive when he leaves the house, and she heads to a bar to wallow. It's there that she opens the mysterious envelope she received in a previous episode, revealing that it's from Savannah. Savannah's "thank you" card contains a phone number, and Joy decides to use it. At first, she only intends to confront Savannah about lying and leaving. However, she winds up staying with Savannah in her off-grid home, taking a "vacation from Joy Delaney."

Since Joy doesn't have her phone and doesn't think her family will search for her, she remains with Savannah for days before deciding to go home. It's only when she hears about the hurricane that passed through West Palm Beach that she realizes she needs to get in touch with her husband and kids. Unfortunately, Savannah cuts the chord on the phone, so Joy is left at the young woman's mercy. And Joy realizes that Savannah is a threat too late. While Savannah is getting gas, Joy finds a gun and a bag full of her fake IDs. She feigns ignorance, but she's stuck with Savannah driving her home.

Savannah's True Identity & Reason For Targeting The Delaney Family Explained

Savannah's Real Name Is Lindsay Haddad

In addition to solving the mystery of Joy Delaney's disappearance, the ending of Apples Never Fall also reveals Savannah's true identity. Accepting that their mother is dead, the Delaney children begin looking through photos they can use for a "celebration of life" ceremony. They come across old shots of their family get-togethers with the Haddads. In one of the pictures, Amy and Brooke recognize the angry woman who offered them information — and a young girl standing near her. The older woman is Harry Haddad's mother, and Savannah is his younger sister. He confirms as much when the Delaneys confront him about it.

Harry also reveals that he had to take legal action against his sister, and that she's partially responsible for his former retirement. Savannah — whose real name is Lindsay — was left alone with Harry's unstable mother when his tennis career took off. According to him, Lindsay became bitter and angry with him. No matter what he did, she would stalk and threaten him. Eventually, she showed up at his house with a gun. It's unclear if it's the same gun that Joy finds while searching Savannah's house. However, Harry's words make one thing clear: Savannah — or Lindsay — is a dangerous person.

She proves this during her drive with Joy, during which she passes the exit to take Joy home and explains her reason for targeting the Delaneys. Savannah blames them for being left behind with her mother, as her brother and father only started leaving after Joy convinced them to fire Stan. Savannah admits that she wanted to destroy the Delaney family in the same way they destroyed hers. Even after this admission, Joy almost gets through to her, insisting she deserves to be loved. Before that thread can go further, Savannah's reckless driving gets them into an accident, and she flees the scene.

Joy's conversation with Savannah creates an interesting parallel between the two characters, as neither of them feels appreciated by their families. While Joy's loneliness and unhappiness stems from her husband and children's indifference, Savannah's pain comes from her brother and father forgetting about her. This is probably why the characters get along so well throughout Apples Never Fall.

Why Joy's Bike Is Bloody & Missing In Apples Never Fall

The Bike Is A Red Herring

Surprisingly, Joy's bike doesn't have much to do with her whereabouts in Apples Never Fall. Apples Never Fall's ending shows that she falls off her bike in between Savannah's initial departure and her fight with Stan. She's left bleeding on the side of the road, and her phone calls asking her kids for help are because of this. The bike is meant to be a red herring, pushing viewers to believe that something violent happened to Joy, when in reality, the blood is just from a fall. It's a clever trick the Peaco*ck series plays on viewers, and it does make Joy's disappearance look more sinister than it really is.

What Happens To The Delaney Family In Apples Never Fall's Ending

They Reunite & Decide To Mend Their Relationships

Despite the car crash looking pretty bad, Joy walks away from the accident unscathed and returns home to her family. The ending of Apples Never Fall finds the Delaneys tearfully reuniting with their mother, who seems surprised by the response to her absence. Stan returns home, and the Delaneys are forced to contend with everything that's happened since Joy's disappearance. Joy admits her own frustration with being ignored and unappreciated, and the kids reveal how worried they were. Stan tells Joy the truth about his abusive father, and they seem ready to mend things. Stan and Troy also apologize to one another.

While the Delaneys are ready to work on their familial dynamics, only Logan's future outside the family is clear from the Apples Never Fall finale. He announces plans to move to California to be with Indira, while the others are seemingly still lost. Amy may continue her relationship with Simon, but Brooke's engagement seems definitively over. Troy's job and affair are also finished, and it's not revealed what's next for him. Apples Never Fall seems to imply that these things don't matter in comparison to the show's true message, which its ending masterfully drives home.

The Real Meaning Of Apples Never Fall's Ending Explained

The Peaco*ck Series Is A Family Drama At Its Core

Apples Never Fall sets itself up like a mystery, but it's a story about family first and foremost. One of the central messages of the series comes straight from the title: that kids are often more like their parents than they're willing to admit. This fact — that "the apple never falls far from the tree" — is responsible for much of the Delaney family drama, from Stan's behavior to his children's reactions. The ending of Apples Never Fall sees the Delaneys admitting this and agreeing to work on it.

Peaco*ck's adaptation of Apples Never Fall also offers a poignant commentary on motherhood, highlighting how Joy feels she's sacrificed so much of herself for it to go unappreciated. While Joy has her flaws, there's no denying that the Delaneys take her for granted. This becomes obvious when her disappearance finally gets their attention, even though Joy tries to do so repeatedly while she's still around. It's also telling that Harry and his father leave his mother behind when she needs their help. Apples Never Fall isn't subtle about its take on motherhood, and the finale emphasizes how overlooked this important role can be.

Apples Never Fall

TV-MA

Mystery

Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty (author of Big Little Lies), Apples Never Fall is a mystery-drama series created by Melanie Marnich for Peaco*ck in 2024. The Delaney family seemingly has it all from an outsider's perspective. Still, when Stan and Joy sell their sports academy to spend more time with their older children, their plans are disrupted when a young woman arrives at their door, leading to Joy's disappearance soon after.

Cast

Annette Bening , Sam Neill , Jake Lacy , Alison Brie , Essie Randles , Pooja Shah , Sharon Brooks , Jane Hall

Release Date

March 14, 2024

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Peaco*ck

Writers

Melanie Marnich

Directors

Chris Sweeney , Dawn Shadforth

Showrunner

Melanie Marnich

Creator(s)

Melanie Marnich