Secrets We Keep Ending Explained: Who Killed Ruby, What Happened to Oscar & why Justice Fails

Netflix’s Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) ends not with a bang, but with a suffocating silence—a silence built by privilege, denial, and complicity. Set in a wealthy Danish suburb, the six-episode crime thriller unpacks the haunting disappearance and death of Ruby Tan, a young Filipino au pair whose tragic fate exposes the rot behind the walls of affluence. As the final episode unspools, viewers are left not with a clean resolution, but with a chilling portrait of how systems fail the vulnerable—and protect the powerful.

Who Killed Ruby Tan?

Ruby’s body is found near a marina, brutally beaten and pregnant. While suicide is floated as a possibility, Detective Aicha quickly rejects it, noting Ruby’s deep Catholic faith. Initially, suspicion falls on Rasmus Hoffmann, the patriarch of the family Ruby worked for, and Mike Jensen, Cecilie’s husband, who has a past conviction for sexual assault. But DNA tests clear both men as the unborn baby’s father.

The truth is more horrifying. The DNA points to a 24.1% match with Rasmus, identifying Oscar Hoffmann—Rasmus and Katarina’s teenage son—as the father. Oscar had r*ped Ruby, filmed it using a hidden nanny cam, and shared the footage in a disturbing group chat among his friends, including Cecilie’s son Viggo.

Ruby, likely trying to confront Oscar or his parents, ended up dead. Whether she was murdered, fell, or took her own life remains deliberately unclear—but the show heavily implies that Oscar’s assault and Katarina’s response pushed her over the edge.

Katarina’s Cover-Up

When Cecilie begins uncovering the truth, Katarina quickly moves to destroy the evidence. She deletes the video from Oscar’s devices and gaslights anyone who questions her son’s innocence. Her protective instinct doesn’t stem from love—it comes from fear of losing social standing. She even lashes out at teachers and friends, refusing to believe or accept what her son has done.

Kat’s silence becomes deadly. When Ruby confided in her before vanishing, Kat didn’t help—she suppressed it. When Cecilie later confronts her, Kat doesn’t deny her role in the cover-up. Instead, she justifies it, blaming everyone but herself.

Does Oscar face Justice?

Oscar never faces legal consequences. Despite Viggo’s testimony and damning DNA evidence, the police can’t prosecute without the video, which Kat destroyed. Oscar’s expulsion from school is his only punishment, and even that feels like a polite exile rather than real accountability. Rasmus and Mike even try to reframe the case—arguing that Ruby, an adult, “r*ped” Oscar, a minor, twisting the power dynamic with cruel irony.

Meanwhile, Cecilie—once passive and complicit—emerges as the show’s moral center. She reports Oscar, confronts her husband’s betrayal, and supports Viggo. But it’s too little, too late. Ruby is dead. Oscar is shielded and the toxic system remains untouched.

Mike’s Final Betrayal

The most gutting twist comes from Mike, Cecilie’s husband. Rather than support her, he sides with Rasmus, choosing to lie in court to protect Oscar. Mike—a man with his own dark past—proves that his allegiance lies not with truth, but with the old boys' club that has always shielded men like him. His betrayal fractures Cecilie’s world for good.

Is The Secrets We Keep Based on a true Story?

No, Secrets We Keep, the Netflix series, isn't based on a true story. However, Denmark does have an au pair culture, and reportedly, most of them are from the Philippines.

The Real Villain: A Broken System

Secrets We Keep doesn’t end with a courtroom victory or an arrest. It ends with Cecilie—once a passive bystander—finally seeing her community for what it is: a fortress of silence, privilege, and rot. Ruby, a poor immigrant woman, is dead. Her killer walks free. The rapist is shipped off quietly and those who protected them sleep soundly behind their manicured hedges.

This ending is not just tragic—it’s a scathing indictment of the systems that let predators thrive. It asks viewers a haunting question: when justice is so easily erased by wealth and status, what’s left for those without either?

Secrets We Keep is now streaming on Netflix.