Spoilers ahead for The Shards Episode 8 "Hamlet."
The latest Ryan Murphy show to hit FX (and streaming with a Hulu subscription) is The Shards. The book to screen adaptation just aired its penultimate episode, and brought a huge payoff that I'd been waiting for the entire season. And while I was hyped, it turns out this twist wasn't in Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same name. Let's break it all down.
While it remains to be seen if The Shards sticks the landing and joins the ranks of TV shows that actually ended well, I was over the moon when Igby Rigney's Bret and Homer Gere's Robert Mallory finally hooked up in the final moments of Episode 8. I felt their sexual tension throughout the entire season, and was worried it was never going to happen. Apparently this is a big change from the book, where their hookup never actually happened.
Robert And Bret Finally Had Sex
I've been watching The Shards with my fiancé, who actually read Bret Easton Ellis' novel. I've been so jealous that he knew every twist and turn coming, although the TV adaptation has made a number of departures from the source material. And none is quite as significant as Bret and Robert's roll in the hay.
Early into Episode 8 "Hamlet", I was lamenting that I was going to lose my mind if these two characters didn't hook up, given how many knowing glances they shared throughout the season. My fiancé told me I was going to be disappointed, which is why we were both so shocked when these two frenemies ended up kissing and later having sex in Bret's bed. The scene was tense and steamy, although it didn't happen in the novel.
In the final moments of "Hamlet" Bret wakes up alone, leaving more questions about the state of his relationship with Robert. Namely, did he actually imagine it all? We've seen Ellis' other works pull this move before; American Psycho's ending revealed that Patrick Bateman's murder spree seemingly didn't happen at all. So we'll have to see what happens in The Shards' forthcoming finale, and if it confirms whether or not Bret and Robert actually had sex as shown in the penultimate episode.
Of course, the forthcoming season finale has a bigger mystery to wrap up. Namely, the identity of The Trawler I assume this won't be changed from the novel, but since I haven't read it myself I'm able to watch the show's conclusion with an open mind. Hopefully the final episode is satisfying, and Ryan Murphy and company manage to land the plane.
New episodes of The Shards air Wednesdays on FX and streaming the next day on Hulu as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Hopefully we get an epic conclusion for the book to screen adaptation.
