Merv Finale Explained: The Moment Russ’s Mother MJ Changes Everything

I watched 'Merv' expecting a cozy rom-com with cute-dog energy. What I did not expect was a dog so emotionally tuned in he basically forces a relationship postmortem. Yes, I was into it.

Spoilers ahead for Prime Video's 'Merv'.

The setup

Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel play Russ and Anna, an ex-couple trying to co-parent their dog, Merv. After the breakup, Merv gets visibly depressed. Their fix: take him to Florida's dog beach over Christmas. While they are there, they drop in on Russ's parents, Jack and MJ, who recently relocated after Jack had a heart attack.

The Florida detour (and yes, it is very Florida)

MJ comes in cold toward Anna at first, then cracks and admits she has missed her badly, especially over Thanksgiving. She ropes them into staying the night and sets up a family movie evening, old-times style. Then MJ and Jack do the most sitcom-parent move possible: they pretend to fall asleep so Russ and Anna can slip out together.

Which they do. They hit a salsa party, dance, and reminisce about when they used to take classes. Later, in a hot tub, Russ lays out the truth about his proposal back when they were together: he did not ask because Anna was struggling and he wanted to patch things up; he asked because he genuinely wanted a life with her. It is honest and vulnerable... and it does not magically resolve anything. They call it a night. On the drive back to the hotel the next day, they sing along to music and even hold hands for a moment, muscle memory kicking in.

Why they actually broke up

At the end of the trip, they finally stop dodging the core issue. Anna keeps skirting the hard talk, so Russ says it straight: he did not walk away because Anna cannot have children. Things started unraveling after they learned about her infertility. Anna withdrew and stopped communicating, weighed down by guilt and feeling like it was her fault. Russ tried to stay relentlessly positive and keep her afloat, which only made her feel worse. In a desperate show of love, he proposed; she read it as a pity proposal. They both handled the fallout poorly, drifted further apart, and split. Through all of it, Merv kept pulling them back into each other's orbit.

After that beach conversation, Anna asks to try again. Russ, still hurt and unsure that they can weather future problems without repeating old patterns, turns her down. They go their separate ways.

So... is there a happy ending?

• Back home, Russ says he cannot move on if they keep co-parenting. He tells Anna to keep Merv and says goodbye.
• He gets his life in order: finally cleans his apartment, gets his eyes checked (the glasses Anna used to nag him about), and starts wearing prescription lenses.
• Still feels empty, so he adopts a new dog, Angelina, from the Save A Furry Friend Foundation.
• It does not fill the Anna-shaped gap. One day in the park, while walking Angelina, he runs into Anna and Merv.
• They talk. Russ admits he has been missing her even with everything else straightened out.
• They kiss, reconcile, move in together, and this time Anna is the one who proposes.

It is a sweet, tidy ending that fits the movie's gentle vibe: the dog gets his people back together, the people do the work, and everybody goes home happy.

'Merv' is now streaming on Prime Video.