Marked season 1 is a South African thriller series that premiered on Netflix on July 31, 2025. Created by Steven Pillemer, Sydney Dire, and Akin Omotoso, the show explores how systemic failure pushes a committed ex-cop, Babalwa, into crime to rescue her daughter. Palesa is battling a life-threatening illness, and her only chance at survival lies in a surgery that comes with a staggering $1.2 million price tag. To save her daughter, Babalwa organizes a heist to steal money from her employer, Zechariah.Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for the series. Reader's discretion is advised.The official synopsis, as per Netflix, reads:"A religious former police officer plans a bold robbery with a sinister ally to fund her daughter's crucial operation."At the end of Marked season 1, Babalwa murders Zechariah, her employer and unwitting benefactor of her daughter's surgery, when he accuses her of pulling a heist and stealing his money. Earlier in the series, when Babalwa had pleaded with Zechariah for financial help, he coldly dismissed her. That refusal became a turning point, pushing her further into desperation and ultimately into crime.Although Babalwa had donated the stolen funds in his name, Zechariah's discovery had the potential to destroy everything she worked for. In that instant, she prefers silence to redemption and fires a bullet, killing her boss. The act closes her evolution from pious mother to merciless survivor, showing the final price of living in a corrupt world.Why does Babalwa fire the shot at the end of Marked season 1? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostZechariah's death is not merely the death of a man, but the culmination of Babalwa's evolution. What begins as a desperate mother's action, stealing to rescue her daughter, snowballs into something sinister. Zechariah's attack at the church is not a physical one, but the mere fact that he realizes Babalwa was behind the heist makes him dangerous.In pulling the trigger, Babalwa not only defends herself; she cuts the final cord to the version of herself that exists no more. The fact that it happens within a church makes it all the more symbolic as the holy ground is violated. This moment isn't bathed in triumph or regret but in the inevitability of certain actions.While shooting Zechariah, Babalwa's expression isn't one of rage or panic but of determination. Marked season 1 doesn't glorify the act, but indicates that Babalwa's come to terms with being the bad guy. The true suspense isn't the shot but the silence that follows, revealing the type of person she's had to become just to survive.Read more: Hightown season 3 ending explained: How does Frankie die?Did Babalwa get away with murder in Marked season 1? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe finale of Marked season 1 shows Babalwa hiding Zechariah's corpse underground, but she's hardly in the clear. Her most important accomplice, Tebza, knows too much and has been videotaped by the CCTV. Even when he assures her that he'll be fine, his last words carry a fatalistic undertone. He's a man resigned to being caught.Babalwa's husband thinks the money was due to a miracle, a gift from Zechariah. That might protect her for the moment, but it is based on a lie that could come tumbling down at any time. Zechariah's daughter Nellisa was the insider who assisted with the vault codes; however, her next move is unclear. These loose ends imply a future of paranoia, not tranquility. Marked season 1 concludes with physical liberation for Babalwa, but the emotional and legal tension still waits to be resolved. She's not apprehended, but she's hardly safe, and that tension is the series's last lingering note.Also read: Tyler Perry's Straw (2025) ending explained: Did Janiyah survive?Was faith fulfilled or betrayed at the end of Marked season 1? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostBabalwa always had faith that she would save her daughter throughout the series. Her husband relied heavily on it, praying and fund-raising openly, as she sinned secretly in the dark. The show doesn't satirize faith; instead, it compares its force to the pragmatic constraints of the world.When Palesa nearly overdoses, it's a moment of spiritual abandonment. Her friend assists her in finding faith again, not in sermons but in friendship. While Babalwa subverts faith, in the end, she succumbs to moral decay amid signs of sanctity.In one of the finale's most stark contrasts, her husband attributes the saving of Palesa to God and Zechariah, unaware that the donation was the result of a heist and the donor was killed. It's a twisted solution to answered prayers.The series does not judge or support faith; it merely offers its vulnerability when challenged by desperation. Babalwa has lost all claim to spiritual sanity by the end. She hasn’t lost her daughter, but her soul in the process of saving her.Marked season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.