Playing Gracie Darling: What was Ivy’s real identity? Details explored

Playing Gracie Darling has plenty of unsettling moments, but Ivy is the one who gets under your skin before you even realise why. It's that one enigma on the show that fans have chased for the longest time, details of which are finally out in the open. For a show that thrives on mystery and slow burn tension, Ivy Moon became the biggest mystery of all.

The season finale answers some of the biggest questions of the show, including the truth behind Ivy's identity. Here's everything you need to know about Ivy Moon, and how she fits into the finale of Playing Gracie Darling.

Who is Ivy in Playing Gracie Darling?

Playing Gracie Darling follows psychologist Joni Gray, played by Morgana O’Reilly. Joni returns to her quiet hometown decades after her friend Gracie Darling vanished during a séance gone wrong. When another girl disappears, Joni’s guilt resurfaces and she is drawn back into the buried history she once tried to outrun. Over six episodes, she attempts to piece together what happened to both the friend she lost as a teenager and the new missing girl whose case echoes the earlier tragedy.

Ivy enters the story immediately. Her first appearance comes in Episode 1, during a visit Joni makes to a psychiatric ward. The teen is in custody and in a visibly unstable state. During their encounter, Ivy attempts to stab herself and lashes out toward Joni as well. Joni intervenes and prevents the act, momentarily feeling as if she has eased the weight she has carried since Gracie’s disappearance years earlier.

Ivy becomes a kind of emotional mirror for her, a symbolic stand-in for the friend Joni could not protect. From that point forward, Joni thinks of Ivy frequently, hoping the girl might find stability and imagining that Ivy’s recovery could signal her own path forward.

How Ivy Moon's identity gets a revelation in the season finale

As the season moves forward, Joni returns to her hometown to look into a new missing persons case, only to uncover buried truths tied to Gracie and her family. The investigation reveals that the girls who came too close to the family’s secret were deliberately silenced. Through all of this, Ivy remains on Joni’s mind as a symbol of the young life she hoped might still be saved.

In the finale, Ivy appears in Joni’s backyard, sitting silently. As Joni tries to interact, she suddenly disappears. Brief moments later, Joni receives a call from her collague, telling her about Ivy's death. She took her life in her ward, which makes the encounter even more complicated.

Now the question remains, did Joni see Ivy Moon's ghost? Or is it an indication at her visons growing deeper. The show doesn't address this question properly, but we do know that in future plotlines, we could get to know more about Joni's powers. It's an indication that something darker is at play.

Although it is not yet known if the show will be renewed for further seasons, Ivy's arc does shadow a cliffhanger and more things to explore which might come in the coming seasons.

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Playing Gracie Darling is streaming on Netflix.

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