Franklin Ending Explained: Is Adam Dead or Alive?

Netflix’s ‘Franklin’ ends with Adam taking some drastic measures to ensure his daughter Yara’s survival, putting him directly in the line of the crossfire by the authorities. The tense affair becomes all the more complicated because of Yulia’s involvement, who tries her best to balance her loyalties towards Adam alongside her duties to her father. At the same time, matters get increasingly difficult for Zein, who makes a life-changing discovery that alters his relationship with Adam. While the two might be on opposite sides of the law, their situations are somewhat identical, leaving them with no choice but to carry out what they think is right. It leads to a climactic showdown with life-and-death stakes on both sides, forcing Adam into a corner as he tries to save his daughter, even though it may cost him his life. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Franklin Plot Recap

The show opens with a brief introduction from Adam, who explains his predicament by delving into his past relationship with Yulia. They used to date one another years ago until she vanished from his life one day. While he misses her, one of his last souvenirs of their relationship is a replica $100 note he forged while they were still together. It could have been easily used to start a criminal operation that disrupts the balance of the global economy. However, Adam chose not to go down that path. Meanwhile, Yulia signed the note to remember what they shared. In the present day, Adam is faced with mounting financial issues because of the expensive treatment of his young daughter Yara’s serious illness and his father’s deteriorating health. As such, he decides to forge the $100 note again, this time with the plan of using it for his family’s benefit.

Although Adam is determined to make the best of his situation, his forging talents attract the attention of a known criminal, Abu Malhab, who puts him in contact with Al-Hashem. These connections are also relevant because Adam’s father, Mounir, used to be an expert forger named “Hyena,” whose work was often utilized by these dubious gangsters for their own benefit. Mounir hopes that his son does not go down the same path as him. However, he suspects that Adam is already printing money and working with his old associates to gather cash for the family’s treatment. In the meantime, Yulia, working on dangerous missions for her equally ruthless and cutthroat father, Edward, finds herself back in Adam’s orbit. The change happens after Edward makes her accountable for forging the same dollar notes being manufactured by her ex-lover.

Adam and Yulia directly cross paths in the narrative, which leaves them both struggling to make sense of their previous ups and downs and the chaotic manner of their breakup. Adam is particularly distrustful of Yulia because of how she left him completely broken and desperate to plug a hole in his heart. Elsewhere, a financial crimes investigator named Zein Eddin gets wind of the forged $100 notes and starts probing into their origins. In his efforts to uncover the truth, he spends more time on the job, which adversely affects his family life and his relationship with his pregnant wife, Nada. We eventually learn that Zein is the son of Mounir and Adam’s biological brother, an information unknown to everyone except Nasmeh, the woman who raised him as her child. It changes the entire dynamic of Adam and Zein’s cat-and-mouse game.

Franklin Ending: Is Adam Dead or Alive? Does He Escape?

By the end of ‘Franklin,’ Adam successfully forges the perfect $100 note with help from Yulia and his workers. While the effort is meaningful, it only amounts to failure when his business partners double-cross him, leaving him with a bullet wound in his leg. Subsequently, he realizes that he has no time to save his daughter, who is in a critical situation and needs a heart transplant immediately. Desperate to save her no matter what, he takes the entire hospital floor hostage, with Zein’s wife and son among the group. It leads to a national emergency situation, where Zein tries to negotiate with his brother to surrender before he does something regrettable. However, it only resolves itself when Raquel shoots Adam in the back, leaving him bleeding on the hospital floor while the other patients look relieved.

Judging by Adam’s injury in the hospital hostage scene, it seems inevitable that he passes away shortly after the scene. However, this turns out to be a false assumption as, later, Zein is told by a superior in the police department that Adam is being housed in a maximum security cell within the prison. Thus, despite suffering a seemingly fatal bullet wound, the protagonist is still alive and survives his brush with death. It is interesting to note that during the hostage situation, Adam is already recovering from a nasty wound in his thigh that has sapped him off most of his strength. However, he forges on with the injury through a combination of adrenaline and sheer will because Yara’s life is on the line. To that end, the second bullet wound would have been even worse than the first, yet he survived, proving that he is a fighter like no other.

In the last scene, we see Zein walk through a collection of prison cells as he heads over to Adam’s to speak with him. As the door opens, we see a giant drawing of one-half of a $100 bill, a reference to an earlier scene when Zein discovered something similar in Adam’s secret workshop. However, there is no sign of Adam anywhere inside the cell. While it is hard to tell with any certainty, it seems as if Adam has escaped from the prison and made it out somehow. This makes sense because Zein has a slight smile on his face as he sees the inside of the cell, indicating that he may be glad to see his brother escape the place. Additionally, it connects back to the drawing of one-half of the $100 note. It could be some sort of message left behind by Adam before thwarting the authorities, leaving the door open for future exploration in a potential second season.

What Happens to Yara’s Heart Transplant? Who Takes Her Custody?

While the show mainly focuses on Adam and Yulia navigating the criminal lifestyle, the show’s main emotional anchor lies in Adam’s love for his daughter, Yara. Saving her life is the foremost concern in the protagonist’s mind, even making him resolute in his decision to break the law if necessary to achieve those goals. Adam cannot bear the thought of losing her or seeing her suffer because of her illness. As such, he tries his best to arrange a heart donor for his daughter once it becomes evident that a transplant is the only way to save her. However, his requests are constantly denied at the last second, leaving him with no choice but to make a statement by taking the entire hospital wing hostage. When he gets shot, Adam sees Yara sit next to him before he loses consciousness, which, at the time, seems like a hallucination of his mind.

Moments later, we learn that Yara’s heart transplant was a successful operation, and she is definitely alive. The confirmation would have reached Adam while he was swiftly taken to prison, thereby making his ultimate goal of saving his daughter’s life from her illness come true in the end. As the catalyst behind the entire story kicking into gear, Yara is the single most important determining factor in the narrative. Without her sickness, it is unlikely that Adam would have gone down the path of criminality to achieve his objectives. For the most part, he is a smart guy who understands how to do things without hurting others. However, because of the mounting financial burdens and his fear that he may not be able to rescue his daughter, he tries everything in his power to save her, which is the prerogative of every parent.

During the closing moments, we see an enthusiastic Yara converse with Yulia before entering a car. The scene highlights Yara’s recovery and how much she has regained her childhood energy. In the meantime, it is evident that Yulia has taken over her custody while Adam spends his time in prison. It is the logical solution to their problem, as Yara has no immediate relative who might be able to take care of her. With Mounir dead and Adam in prison, Yulia is the only one who can care for the girl as her own. Additionally, considering Yulia’s financial inheritance from her dad, it is likely that the young girl will have a fantastic future ahead of her, including access to education, proper healthcare, and a guardian who is extremely invested in her.

Why Does Yulia Leave a Stash?

The final moments of ‘Franklin’ make it evident that both Yulia and Yara are headed for Italy. However, in the prior scene, we witness Yulia tinkering with a vent inside Adam’s house, where she leaves behind a massive stash of the counterfeited $100 notes they printed. She then hides it behind the vent cover before walking out. While her reasons for hiding the stash may seem cryptic at first glance, it is likely that Yulia has left the money for a particular recipient – Adam. Once the latter serves his sentence and is released from prison, he is likely to have nothing of significant value that might help him kickstart his life once more. Thus, the stash of money left behind by Yulia could be a starting point for Adam to find his footing. However, there might be another hidden angle to the stash.

As the final scene shows Zein walking into Adam’s cell to find it empty, it is likely that the protagonist had an escape plan in mind and was biding his time in prison. Therefore, he may have asked Yulia to leave behind the stash before going to Italy with his daughter. He may have conspired to collect it once he was out of prison, using the fortune to buy a flight out of the country and join Yulia and Yara in Italy. Thus, Yulia’s move to leave a stash of money could be part of a larger conspiracy to help Adam escape the authorities and reunite with his ex-lover and daughter in the idyllic countryside of Italy. The theory makes sense from a logical standpoint as both Adam and Yulia are shown to be clever operators who try to find ways to circumnavigate any obstacles in their path.