Where every character ends up on 'Nine Perfect Strangers'

In the "Nine Perfect Strangers" finale, Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) goes from being the Tranquillum House protector to one of the retreat's participants.

While prodding the Marconi family to take an elevated dose of hallucinogens to reconnect with their late family member, she agrees to trip with them.

It becomes clear that Masha brought the Marconis to Tranquillum House to test this new protocol, which, if successful, can help her feel closer to her late daughter Tatiana (Alyla Browne).

Just as Masha hopes, the drugs cause her to hallucinate Tatiana, who died in a car accident when she was 7 years old. The police eventually arrive at Tranquillum House, separating the mother and her hallucinated daughter, and whisk Masha away to the station for questioning.

In the final scene, which jumps ahead to an undesignated time in the future, Masha appears to have kept herself out of prison, in part thanks to the Tranquillum House guests that covered for her illegal actions during police interviews.

She's also snagged the keys to Ben Chandler's yellow Lamborghini and takes it for a joyride down the coastal highway, with Tatiana sitting directly beside her in the passenger seat.

Of course, her daughter is dead and the car seat is actually empty, so it appears Masha has continued dosing the hallucinogens to feel closer to the deceased, even after she left Tranquillum House. She didn't exactly abide by laws at the retreat, so it's not out of the question that she would be driving under the influence.

Director Jonathan Levine told Insider that Masha's ending stands out as his favorite. Because while all of the other guests took the drugs to heal and move on with their lives, Masha is still using them to grip onto the past.

"Maybe she's gotten away with it, but she is in a prison of her own making by the end of this," Levine said.

The two wellness consultants' relationship hits a rough patch toward the end of "Nine Perfect Strangers."

Delilah (Tiffany Boone) flees Tranquillum House as the on-the-ground situation gets out of control, while Yao (Manny Jacinto) feels obligated to stay and watch over the guests. He later apologizes to Delilah when she returns to the retreat with the police.

After they leave Tranquillum House, Yao and Delilah join the Peace Corps as a couple. Levine told Insider that their resolution makes sense given their shared desire to care for others.

"They are people who want to help people. I think that finding a healthier way to help people was always what we hoped for them," he said.

The show's writers did grapple with alternative endings for the couple before landing on the Peace Corps. At one point, they debated putting Yao and Delilah in another throuple, Levine said.

Ben Chandler (Melvin Gregg) and Jessica Chandler (Samara Weaving) finally have a direct conversation about their marriage in the series' penultimate episode. They remain committed to each other and decide to renew their vows, but their story is far from over.

In episode eight, the couple accompanies Tony Hogburn (Bobby Cannavale) and Frances Welty (Melissa McCarthy) as they try to leave Tranquillum House, only to find that all the guests' cars are missing. Ben, who worships his Lamborghini, predictably panics.

As they deliberate their next move, the two young lottery winners follow Carmel Schneider's screams into a windowless room, where Masha traps them with several other guests.

Believing they are about to die in a fire due to the smoke and heat entering the room, Ben and Jessica both make vulnerable confessions: Jessica wants to be a confident boss, while Ben feels ready to go back to work and rediscover his purpose.

They don't perish in the fire (it's a simulation controlled by wellness consultant Glory), but Ben and Jessica are both so profoundly affected by their stay at Tranquillum House that they decide to take over the retreat.

Just like Masha did when they arrived on the first day, the new leaders welcome their own guests in all-white attire.

Napoleon (Michael Shannon), Heather (Asher Keddie), and their daughter Zoe (Grace Van Patten) spend the majority of episode eight on elevated doses of hallucinogens.

While tripping, they have a shared vision of Zac, Zoe's late twin that died by suicide three years prior. The Marconis are able to have an extended conversation with him about his death, each apologizing for their past mistakes.

Zac relieves his parents and sister of their lingering guilt, and they say a final heart-wrenching goodbye to him.

The police arrive at Tranquillum House to interview the guests about Masha's behavior soon thereafter, and the Marconis cover for the wellness guru.

Zoe tells them that she "gave me my brother back, even if just for a little bit so that I could say goodbye," and Napoleon quotes Nick Bottom from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as his official statement to the authorities.

The Marconis leave the retreat with what closure they can, ready to move forward together.

Lars Lee (Luke Evans) tries to stop the Marconi family from taking the increased amounts of hallucinogens out of concern for their safety, knowing that the last guest that tested the protocol died.

He ultimately fails, so the investigative journalist resolves to keep a close eye on them throughout their trip.

He puts down his camera, however, when the Marconis begin interacting with their vision of Zac. After leaving the forest, Lars reunites with the other guests and tells them that the Marconis' experience is none of his business.

Much to his dismay, he ends up in the simulated fire as well. In what he believes to be the final moments of his life, Lars declares that he wishes he had been nicer to others, particularly his ex Ray.

"If this place is on fire, if I am about to die, I do love Ray," he says, calling it a "waste" to have passed up an opportunity to start a family with him.

Lars, along with the rest of the captive group, emerges from the room grateful to be alive. And in the scene from his post-Tranquillum House future, he cradles his and Ray's baby.

On the table beside him sits a copy of The New Yorker featuring Masha's face. The cover story is titled "Psychedelics to the Rescue," and it's written by Lars.

In the series finale, Carmel (Regina Hall) reveals herself as the person that shot Masha years ago. She also admits that she's been sending Masha threatening text messages from within the retreat.

Carmel says she didn't mean to actually pull the trigger on Masha, solely intending to invoke fear in the then-business executive as punishment for having an affair with her husband.

However, she recalls losing control and firing the gun after she felt dismissed by Masha.

Rather than calling the police and reporting Carmel, Masha forgives her guest and lulls her to sleep.

Carmel awakens in a light-proof, sound-proof sensory deprivation tank and realizes she's trapped in a windowless room. Masha shuts the other guests in the confined area as well after they hear Carmel screaming for help, and Glory kicks off the fire simulation.

As the group goes around declaring their biggest regrets and confessions, Carmel says she wishes she would have let go of her past much earlier. When she exits the room, she has the opportunity to do so.

In the glimpse at her post-retreat life, Carmel hosts a women's group aimed at teaching the participants to forgive themselves as she had.

After a bout of tension between Tony and Frances, the once foes rekindle their flirtation in episode eight. Tony suggests that they ditch Tranquillum House for the Four Seasons Hotel nearby.

To his disappointment, he discovers that his car is missing from the garage, meaning he's stuck at the retreat. Tony and Frances then follow Carmel's screams into the fire-simulation room.

When they finally get out, the two guests have their Four Seasons Hotel dinner — ordering the burgers, Titos, and dessert they so craved at Tranquillum House.

Tony takes a moment to step away from the table to call his daughters, the beginning of a patched-up relationship with his offspring. And in the scene showing Tony's life after his time at the retreat, he welcomes Frances to his home to spend time with his family.

Early in episode eight, Frances amends her relationship with Tony before they both become trapped in the fire-simulation room with the other guests.

Fearing her life is ending, Frances expresses gratitude for having met the former football player at Tranquillum House.

They leave Tranquillum House together, and Frances suddenly feels ready to write again. She's so inspired, in fact, that she asks the waitress at the Four Seasons for a piece of paper to jot down her thoughts.

Eventually, her musings turn into a book titled "Nine Perfect Strangers." Viewers get a glimpse of the cover, which matches Liane Moriarty's actual book, on the dashboard of Masha's Lamborghini.

Frances finds love off the pages, as well, and continues dating Tony after the retreat.