The the Final Destination franchise kicked off with the movie of the same name, directed by James Wong. Final Destination was a critical failure but a box-office success, spawning a franchise with four sequels and one more in development, all of them following the same premise of a group of people connected by being saved from a major disaster that would have killed them.

Alex, Kim, Wendy, Nick, and Sam all had a premonition at the beginning of each movie that they, their friends, and others would die in a plane crash, a multiple-car crash, a roller coaster accident, an accident on a racetrack, and a collapsing bridge, respectively. In each movie, Death’s design is explained as those who saved themselves from the initial disaster are killed in the order they would have died, but the origin of the premonitions isn’t explained – but a theory gives a sinister reason to it that changes Death's design as it’s currently known.

Final Destination Theory Suggests The Premonitions Are Part Of Death’s Design

Death’s Design Might Be A Lot More Ruthless Than Previously Believed

As the origin of the premonitions in the Final Destination movies is never revealed, it’s generally assumed that the above-mentioned characters had some psychic ability that was triggered by the deadly situation they were about to face. Despite saving themselves and others thanks to the premonitions, this only triggers a series of horrible and most times inexplicable events, as Death must claim their lives after they skipped what should have been the event that killed them. Simply put: the premonitions are only the beginning of something bigger, more complex, and deadlier, but that might have been part of Death’s design.

In every Final Destination movie, Death’s design is a topic covered by the characters, usually with the help of the mysterious William Bludworth (Tony Todd), the owner of a funeral home who knows too much about Death. Death’s design refers to the chain of events that leads to the deaths of those who save themselves from the initial disaster. Death’s design has an order of death, usually the same one from the initial event that should’ve killed them, though, in Final Destination 2, it went in reverse.

A theory shared on Reddit explains that the premonitions are all part of Death’s design, and it gives them to these characters to allow them (and others close to them) to escape. This allows Death to chase them down, and in the process, it also claims the lives of other people. This way, Death not only takes the lives of those who can’t save themselves from the original disaster, but by letting some of them escape, it has to create another big disaster to kill them along with many more.

The premonitions being part of Death’s design makes the latter even more terrifying, as it would all be a game created by Death.

This results in the subway crash at the end of Final Destination 3, the coffee shop crash at the end of The Final Destination, and Flight 180 in Final Destination 5, which directly ties into the first movie. The premonitions being part of Death’s design makes the latter even more terrifying, as it would all be a game created by Death.

This Final Destination Theory Solves Some Of The Saga’s Plot Holes

The Final Destination Saga Is Full Of Plot Holes

The Final Destination saga has a lot of plot holes, but this theory can solve some of them. Final Destination 3, in particular, has two plot holes at the beginning as the accident shouldn’t happen after Wendy’s premonition, and she takes the photos before the accident. In Wendy’s vision, the roller coaster accident happens when one of her friends drops a camcorder during the ride, but said friend is saved after she has the premonition. If the visions are part of Death’s design, then the roller coaster accident was going to happen no matter what.

The photos taken before the accident, which end up foreshadowing how some of them would die, are taken before the roller coaster incident, but with this theory in mind, they would be Death’s way of taunting Wendy. The photos further show that Death planned to kill them in gruesome ways anyway, and giving them a chance to skip the roller coaster accident was just part of its game to make them suffer a bit more.

By giving Sam and the rest a chance to escape from the bridge, it gave Death the chance to put Molly (and Sam) on Flight 180 and kill them.

One of the biggest plot holes in the Final Destination saga is why Molly died in Final Destination 5 if she was the only one of the group who wasn’t killed in the vision of the bridge’s collapse. The theory solves this by simply explaining that Molly was always meant to die in a tragic way, but by giving Sam and the rest a chance to escape from the bridge, it gave Death the chance to put Molly (and Sam) on Flight 180 and kill them and many others.

How This Theory Could Connect All Characters Who Had Premonitions In Final Destination

There Might Have Been A Reason For Them Getting Those Visions

This theory also connects to another one that links all the characters who have premonitions in the Final Destination movies. The theory, which can be found in different forums and more, says that the premonitions are “ed on” to others in proximity when their time to die finally comes. Final Destination 5 has the big twist of not being a sequel but a prequel, set before the events of the first movie and featuring the explosion of Flight 180 at the end.

As Sam is about to die on the plane, he es on the premonition to Alex, but Sam (and Molly) don’t have a chance to escape. Alex might have been close to Final Destination 2’s Kim when he died, thus ing the premonition to her, same with Kim and Final Destination 3’s Wendy. The latter might have been close to Nick at some point, but it’s unknown who ed the premonition to Sam in Final Destination 5.

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This, connected to the theory of the premonitions being part of Death’s design, creates a seemingly never-ending chain of deaths and explains why Molly didn’t die on the bridge and why Sam had to survive with her, as had they died, Flight 180 would have never exploded.

Final Destination Theory Proves There’s No Way To Cheat Death

The Final Destination Saga Has Given Some Possible Ways To Cheat Death

The premonitions being the first part of Death’s design give no hope for any of the characters in Final Destination to cheat death. Throughout the saga, different ways to possibly cheat death are given, but they are all proven to be false at the end of each movie or in the next one. It seems like Death always finds a way (very much like life, but that’s another movie franchise), and if the premonitions are part of its design, then there really is no way to cheat it, as it has everything planned, with variations and all.

The Final Destination saga will expand with a sixth movie, titled Final Destination: Bloodlines, projected for a 2025 release. It’s to be seen how Final Destination: Bloodlines will test the rules and Death’s design one more time, but if this theory is true, then no one will be able to escape a horrible end.