Let’s Talk About What the Billionaires’ Bunker Finale Is Saying About Extreme Wealth

by

This article discusses, in depth, the season finale of the Netflix series Billionaires’ Bunker.

These days, preparing for the end of the world feels like a privilege reserved for the ultra-wealthy. With frequent news stories about billionaires building underground bunkers, expecting a major catastrophe, this trend is showing up in popular culture. In the past year, we’ve seen a rise in shows and movies – like Hulu’s *Paradise*, Jesse Armstrong’s *Mountainhead*, and Joshua Oppenheimer’s *The End* – that feature extremely wealthy characters isolating themselves in luxury while the world faces disasters, whether it’s fire, flooding, or a pandemic.

As a big fan of shows like *Money Heist*, I was really intrigued by Netflix’s new Spanish series, *Billionaires’ Bunker* (originally titled *The Fallout Shelter*). It definitely delivers on the suspense we’ve come to expect from creators Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, but also throws some interesting twists into the mix. The story kicks off with a super wealthy clientele paying huge sums to secure their families’ safety in high-tech bunkers deep underground. They’re all expecting just a temporary stay due to rising global tensions, but things quickly escalate to a full-blown nuclear disaster – and they’re stuck down there!

Just when you think the show is about a post-apocalyptic world, a shocking twist is revealed: it was all a carefully planned hoax by Kimera. The wealthy clients believe they are among the last people on Earth, but this belief is a facade. *Billionaires’ Bunker* cleverly uses this deception to explore how wealth can create an artificial reality, culminating in a thrilling and satisfying ending.

While *Money Heist* touched on anti-establishment ideas that resonated with some, its popularity likely stems from its thrilling and fast-paced storyline – making it one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English shows ever. The creators’ latest series follows a similar pattern. At its core is the story of Kimera, a cunning leader named Minerva, and her elaborate plan for what she calls “the biggest embezzlement scam in history.” However, the series also features a dramatic family saga involving two families who are unexpectedly linked through a shared, and troubled, past and an unusual, long-term underground retreat.

As is common in shows by Pina and Martínez Lobato, the series quickly establishes the dramatic life of 22-year-old Max Varela (Pau Simón) within the first six minutes. His close, romantic relationship with Ane, the daughter of family friends who shares his privileged background, ends in tragedy when Max accidentally kills her in a drunk driving accident. While in prison for manslaughter, Max learns that wealth can’t protect him, and after experiencing violence he’d always avoided, he fights to defend himself and earn the respect of other inmates. He narrates that he felt ‘already dead’ before prison, realizing his life had lacked genuine risk or responsibility. The series then follows his transformation as he enters a new world – one where survival is a daily challenge and every action carries weight – a world most people know all too well.

After a dramatic change, this troubled man unexpectedly becomes the hero of a secure underground bunker. His father, Rafa, rushes him there right after his surprising release from prison. Inside, he’s forced to live alongside the extremely wealthy – including the father and sister of a woman he knows – who haven’t learned the hard lessons he did in prison. He also doesn’t trust the company that built the bunker. His journey becomes a search for the truth within a shelter founded on illusions and filled with deceit.

A collision of artificial realities

The show, *Billionaires’ Bunker*, is a bit of a rollercoaster. It’s gripping and captivating when the story moves quickly, but it can become slow and ridiculous, especially in the middle episodes. During these slower parts, characters spend too much time explaining things, and there’s not enough action. It hits all the classic drama tropes – hidden desires, long-held resentments, shocking revelations, and intense arguments, plus some steamy scenes. The more we find out about the Kimera scheme, the more unbelievable and complicated it becomes. (Honestly, figuring out the mess that happens when Kimera’s AI, Roxan, starts pretending to be Guillermo and takes over his company is a job for the internet sleuths on Reddit.)

The show’s various plotlines ultimately support the idea that the super-rich live in a self-created, detached world. Deception is central, beginning when Max meets Guillermo, who initially blamed him for Ane’s death but then pretends to forgive him. As things worsen underground, the lies that Max and Ane’s parents have told for years – to protect their reputations and comfortable lives – begin to fall apart, impacting their luxurious lifestyles. Guillermo admits to his wife, Mimi, that their marriage was a mistake. Max’s mother, Frida, confesses to Rafa that she never loved him. And, as many viewers likely guessed, Frida and Guillermo have been having an affair for decades. Meanwhile, Frida’s ailing mother, Victoria, copes with her illness through pleasure-seeking behavior, demanding attitudes, and relationships with people of all genders.

The show’s elaborate plot feels a bit shaky, and the villain, Minerva, is so clearly unstable in her quest to join the ultra-rich that it’s hard to believe her. This suggests the wealthy clients are so protected from reality that they’ll readily accept any comforting lie. The series uses flashbacks to reveal how Minerva and her team carried out their fraud. These scenes, from a supposedly fatal mission to a lavish party in Bangkok, are filmed with a big-budget, Hollywood style. (It’s best not to dwell on how they could have predicted events with such accuracy months in advance.) The show also offers a knowing commentary on similar stories, with the conspirators openly discussing how they manipulate their victims, much like a TV writing team crafting a dramatic storyline.

Max’s emergence into the light

It’s understandable that Max is difficult to deceive, given his experiences. Prison taught him to be highly perceptive, and he quickly realizes Roxan is more than she seems and that his new home isn’t simply secure – it’s a form of control. Every encounter with the Kimera staff deepens his suspicions. He soon learns his entire family is a fabrication. Frida reveals she had a 28-year affair with Guillermo, and shockingly admits she avoided visiting her son in prison because she couldn’t face the pain Max caused by killing her daughter. While she does care for Max, she confesses she’s always prioritized romance over motherhood, and feels liberated to finally be honest. She says she’s spent her life pretending, but now she’s ready to tell the truth. Max, however, sees through her, accusing her of being even more dishonest and self-centered – and less appealing – than the mother she claims to dislike.

After abruptly leaving, he confesses to Asia that everything feels deceptive. Asia, initially furious to find her sister’s killer, has come to realize-after secretly watching old videos of Max on her sister’s phone-that she’s been denying her true feelings for years. She admits she’s always been in love with him. Now, she’s the only one-as far as he knows, the only person anywhere-who understands his desperate need for the truth. She explains it’s like looking back and realizing things weren’t what you believed, not because of reality, but because you didn’t *want* to see them. She insists he must choose between living in a comforting lie or facing the truth. Her words send Max into a deep thought, forcing him to re-examine his past in light of his parents’ deception.

He insists they need to face reality, and immediately tells Rafa about Frida and Guillermo. Max and Asia then put a dangerous plan into action: getting Max to the surface to find a dialysis machine for Mimi, who is critically ill with a liver condition Asia diagnosed after collapsing earlier. As Max prepares to leave, Asia is called to try and revive Mimi, but she’s unable to help, having partied with Victoria and, like her, avoided facing her own mortality. This costs Mimi her life, as her condition prevented her body from processing toxins. When Asia tells Max over the radio that Mimi is gone, he decides to leave the bunker anyway. He clarifies he’s not doing it for the machine or for Mimi, but for himself, believing he has a better chance at life outside. Before leaving, Asia confesses her love for Max, and he returns the sentiment, promising to return for her if he survives.

In the season’s final scene, Max emerges from the bunker. The bright daylight obscures his view, but we know from what happened with Oswaldo that a real nuclear disaster didn’t occur – even though that would have been a surprising twist! The important thing is that Max thought he might be walking into certain death. Instead of relying on the staff to keep him safe, he took a chance to uncover the truth. He now likely understands that the apocalypse was just another deception, added to the web of lies brought in by Kimera’s clients. If prison offered a chance to start over, and going into the bunker symbolized a kind of death, then this moment represents his rebirth.

I have to say, *Billionaires’ Bunker* is a really fun show, even if it doesn’t always feel super serious. The finale, with Oswaldo playing guitar in a made-up Bangkok nightclub to “American Idiot,” was especially wild! But beyond the entertainment, it really made me think about how incredibly selfish you’d have to be to build your own escape plan from, like, the end of the world. And how much you’d have to convince yourself that your money somehow makes you *deserving* of being saved. It’s a surprisingly deep thought, even with all the fun stuff happening.

Read More

2025-09-19 18:07