The Beatles: Get Back - Ending Explained

The documentary "spoils" the myth of a hateful breakup by showing that the end was actually quite tender. The major twist is the revelation that George Harrison quit the band mid-session, a fact glossed over in the original 1970 film. The series also reveals that the "villain" of the piece isn't any single band member, but the crushing weight of their own legend. The finale—the rooftop concert—functions as a beautiful but tragic last hurrah; though they would go on to record Abbey Road after these sessions, the "Get Back" project was the moment they collectively realized they were finished touring and living as a unit. The hidden "flowerpot" conversation reveals that John and Paul were fully aware of George's pain, yet felt powerless to change the band's dynamic.

While many see the series as a correction of history, some critics argue it is a form of revisionist hagiography, curated by the surviving members and the Lennon/Harrison estates to present a "sunnier" version of the truth. Another interpretation views the entire 8-hour experience as a meta-documentary about filmmaking itself, where the true antagonist is not Yoko or Paul, but director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, whose insistence on a "story" and a "climax" forced the band into a confrontation with their own mortality as a group.