Warning: This article contains spoilers for Under the Bridge.

The ending of Under the Bridge episode 7 begins bringing the story to a close by covering Warren Glowatski’s trial and sentencing. Based on the book by Rebecca Godfrey, Under the Bridge tells the story of the attack and murder of a 14-year-old named Reena Virk by her peers. The Hulu series has followed the aftermath as well as the investigation leading to the arrests. Rather than opening up many big questions, Under the Bridge episode 7 begins to wrap up the miniseries, which only has one episode left.

The story focuses primarily on three individuals – Rebecca Godfrey (a fictional version of the author) and Reena’s two killers, Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski. The Under the Bridge characters’ internal journeys become much more relevant throughout the trial of Warren. The end of the episode finished one part of the story while preparing Under the Bridge episode 8 to focus on the multiple trials of Kelly Ellard, which undoubtedly include many of the real-life dramatic moments.

Warren Is Found Guilty Of Second Degree Murder & Sentenced To Life In Prison

Warren Goes To Prison For Reena Virk’s Murder

Throughout Under the Bridge, Rebecca Godfrey and the defense lawyers tried to paint Warren Glowatski as an innocent kid who made a mistake. He and Kelly Ellard were both tried as adults, though, due to the heinous nature of the crime. His own testimony and that of others doomed him in the trial. He came across as unreliable and a liar on the stand, protecting himself rather than telling the truth. This character arc makes sense because in Under the Bridge’s true story, he only admits to his full involvement after getting involved in the restorative justice program.

In interrogations and during the testimony at his trial, he minimized his involvement in the violence he and Kelly perpetrated against Reena prior to her drowning. He also lied about telling Kelly to stop. This stays consistent in both Rebecca Godfrey’s book and the Hulu miniseries. Maintaining this part of the storyline was important for two reasons. Firstly, the show is based on a true story, so crucial details about the characters based on real people must stay accurate. Secondly, the initial lying helps show the change in Warren later after receiving the rehabilitative benefits of restorative justice while in prison.

Ultimately, like in the true story, Warren is found guilty of second-degree murder and gets sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He is sentenced upon the standard that he intended to cause Reena Virk bodily harm, knowing his actions could cause death, and he was reckless with regard to whether death occurred. The judge’s statements in Hulu’s Under the Bridge largely mirror the judge’s sentiments in real life, as outlined in Godfrey’s book – with only minor changes to make the phrasing clearer to audiences and less legalistic.

At the end of Under the Bridge episode 7, the judge states that Warren’s eligibility date will be determined at a later date. In real life, his earliest parole date is set for November, according to CTV News. This sentence didn’t mean he would get out at that time. It only meant that he could apply for parole and receive it if a parole board found him safe and appropriate to reintegrate into society. While the practice of trying children as adults is dubious, his spending at least seven years in prison for the murder feels appropriate if he engaged in the rehabilitative systems available.

How Kelly Ellard Got Out Of Jail (& Does She Really Help Get Jo Out?)

Kelly Ellard Proves Her Disloyalty To Jo In Under The Bridge Episode 7

In Under the Bridge episode 7, “Three and Seven,” Kelly Ellard shows off her manipulative side once again in the way that she gets out of jail. When speaking with her parents and lawyer, she gets upset about the note someone wrote telling everyone to stay away from her. Her lawyer asks whether she feels like she’s in danger. Because the scene cuts off at this point, it’s unclear whether the lawyer directly told her that she could possibly get out if she were in danger or if she picked up on this information from context clues.

After this appointment, she sends a note to Jo saying that she has a plan to get the two of them out of juvie. This plan is shown in action when two of the shoreline six go up to Kelly, telling her that Jo said Kelly is going to blame the murder on them. Kelly confirms this, baiting them multiple times to hit her. Once one of them finally smacks her in the face, she pretends to fall to the floor and laughs, which turns into fake crying. Kelly then tells the guard who comes running that they hurt her.

Kelly’s lawyer then uses the incident as proof that his client’s life is in danger while in juvie. As such, she’s released on bail. Unfortunately, she proves her lack of loyalty to Josephine in that the plan only benefits Kelly. While Under the Bridge made a major change to Kelly and Jo’s true story by erasing Kelly’s blaming Josephine for the murder, this reaffirms the fact that Kelly put her own well-being ahead of others. This isn’t to say she had no real attachment to Josephine because only Kelly could know this, but her desires clearly superseded the friendship.

Does Rebecca Godfrey Change Her Book To Include More Of Reena?

The Fictional Rebecca Godfrey Resists The Idea Of Including Reena Virk

One of the biggest issues with the character Rebecca throughout Under the Bridge is the fact that she knows a ton about the attackers of Reena Virk, but she isn’t giving that same time and attention to understanding the victim. She empathizes with the teens involved, especially Warren, but she hasn’t gotten to know Reena. Her father finally calls this out in Under the Bridge episode 7 after reading a selection about Warren. She goes to speak with Reena Virk’s parents, and they once again point out the fact that she doesn’t seem to know anything about their daughter.

After Warren’s testimony, Suman Virk and Rebecca accidentally meet in the bathroom, where Suman says that Warren seeing her daughter as an animal is what Rebecca needs to understand Reena’s murder. Still, after the sentencing, she hugs Warren and says she will make sure everyone knows his heart. This indicates that she might not be inclined to include more of Reena’s perspective in the book. While it’s unknown whether this conversation happened in real life, it somewhat reflects the issues with source material for Hulu’s Under the Bridge.

Rebecca Godfrey’s Under the Bridge pays much more attention to the perpetrators than it does to the victim, albeit it includes Reena more than the fictional Godfrey does in the show. Unfortunately, only the first of three sections focuses on Reena, but half of that is still about the teens who attacked her. However, Godfrey’s emphasis on the perpetrator over the victim is also reflective of a widespread issue, and the criticisms of Godfrey’s writing should also be applied to the larger true crime genre as well, not just Under the Bridge.

Source: Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey and CTV News