Richard Gadd talks the prison scene, the meaning behind the title, and the last few minutes.

Half Man creator addresses those shock ending revelations: ‘It’s the difficulty of expression and vulnerability’

Richard Gadd talks the prison scene, the meaning behind the title, and the last few minutes.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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May 28, 2026 10:14 p.m. ET

Niall (Jamie Bell) and Ruben (Richard Gadd) on 'Half Man'. Credit:

Anne Binckebanck/HBO

- *Half Man* creator Richard Gadd addresses those shock revelations in the finale.

- "*Half Man* is a lot about the difficulty of expression as a man — or as an alpha male," he says of the title's meaning.

- Gadd notes says people have used "Shakespearean" to describe that last scene.

**Warning: This article contains spoilers from the *Half Man* finale.**

Richard Gadd can't definitively remember what came first: the title for *Half Man* or the finale scene that explains the title. If he were a betting man, he would guess the latter.

As the past timeline catches up to the wedding chaos in the present on the six-episode HBO/BBC drama, Ruben (Gadd) makes a startling admission to Niall (Jamie Bell) during a prison visit. He reveals that his father molested him when he was younger, which led to their nonexistent relationship over the years.

"I wanted it to be left opaque enough to be, to a certain degree, a surprise," Gadd, previously known for making Emmys darling *Baby Reindeer*, says of that revelation. The executive producer and star points to earlier moments in the season, like when Ruben flinched at the sight of his dad through his bedroom window.

The traumatic childhood event, Ruben says in the prison scene, made him feel like "a half man."

Richard Gadd as Ruben on 'Half Man'.

Anne Binckebanck/HBO

"*Half Man* is a lot about the difficulty of expression as a man — or as an alpha male, as Ruben prides himself on," Gadd, who's also the series creator, tells **. "It's the difficulty of expression and vulnerability. Ruben clearly felt very vulnerable as a child for obvious reasons. Then, in my mind when I wrote him, he decided that through his life he was never going to feel disempowered ever again like that. So anytime there was a slight, a tiny little thing to go against him, he would kick back as hard as possible and he would take no prisoners and he wouldn't care about what anyone thought about himself."

The whole show, Gadd continues, "is about these two people who aren't able to express themselves to themselves and also express themselves to one another. So, in a lot of ways, it just felt right to build a naturally honest conversation.... And then the tragedy of it is that it becomes too honest."

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Niall's slip-of-the-tongue about sleeping with Mona (Amy Manson) and possibly fathering her child sets Ruben on a warpath that leads to their to-the-death brawl at the wedding. A previous episode already revealed Ruben dead as he's carried out of the barn by emergency responders. The finale then reveals Ruben also killed Niall before losing his own life.

"They clearly couldn't live together, so in a lot of ways, they had to die together," Gadd muses on this moment. "People say it's Shakespearean almost. That's not what I've said, but people have pointed that out."

Did Ruben die from injuries sustained during his fight with Niall? Did he take his own life after killing his "brother from another lover"? Those are the two biggest theories, Gadd admits, but he's intentionally leaving things ambiguous for the audience.

Jamie Bell as Niall on 'Half Man'.

Anne Binckebanck/HBO

"There were many different thoughts about the ending, and I never really want to say *truly* what I meant, especially that last bit with the way Ruben reacts," he says. "I know what my artistic intentions were, but I always think it's important for people to take what they *need* from the ending."

It was the same with *Baby Reindeer*. Some guessed Gadd's Donny became a stalker himself by the end of that Netflix miniseries. Others took a different approach.

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"People have said even more different takes about the *Half Man* ending," he says. "I would never want to rob people of that. There were many thoughts I had, but in a show where you have to fill in the gaps between the episodes, it felt only right that the people had to, to a certain degree, fill in some gaps to the ending, as well."

All episodes of *Half Man* are now available to watch on HBO or stream on HBO Max.

*—Reporting by Gerrad Hall.*

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