What happened to the goat in 2020 Hulu movie incorporates quantum mechanics for its time loop premise, but the narrative details have left viewers uncertain about the specifics. Based on the available evidence, there's reason to believe that a version of Palm Springs' goat remained in the vortex, especially when factoring in statements made by one of the cast .
In Palm Springs, the goat appears during the opening sequence as Demis Roussos' "Forever and Ever" plays. There's no context for the exact moment in time; however, it's clear that either an earthquake or some type of underworld event causes a burst of energy to open up the Earth. The Hulu movie then properly begins with Nyles (Andy Samberg) waking up during a weekend in Palm Springs, California. As it turns out, he's been reliving the same day over and over. On this particular Sarah Wilder (Cristin Milioti) to get stuck in the same time loop. Palm Springs is fundamentally about Nyles' wish to remain in his ideal alternative universe, and also about Sarah's attempts to return to the real world, even after forming a strong bond (and sexual relationship) with her time loop pal.
Sarah uses a goat as a test subject in Palm Springs, but many audiences remain unclear about the truth of her experiments. It's shown that Milioti's character does spend a good amount of time researching quantum mechanics in the loop, mostly by Googling information and watching YouTube videos. Sarah eventually conducts preliminary tests in the cave and reaches the conclusion that an "observer" could gain access to the "indeterministic universe on the other side of the Cauchy horizon" (a concept that impresses physicist Clifford V. Johnson during a video chat). She then uses a goat owned by Spuds (Brian Duffy) to test her theory that an explosion within the cave's vortex can propel someone, or something, outside the box of energy during the 3.2-second timeframe that it takes to travel through the time loop. Sarah claims that her test goat disappeared ("I don't know where she went, but she is not here anymore"), but later deflects Nyles' question about the goat's fate prior to their escape attempt, stating "It's too late, you've already committed." Based on Samberg's comments during a July 2020 interview (via Vulture), Palms Springs may include small clues about the goat's fate:
"I’d say everything is there for a reason, from our costume design and wardrobe choice, and production design and props, the choice of drinks and things on the tables in the background. And then there are specific lines of dialogue … If you want to crack it, maybe the clues are there. But maybe not though, too."
Palm Springs' after-credits scene appears to confuse people the most when analyzing the goat's fate. Roy Schlieffen (J.K. Simmons), who has been trapped in the loop all along, realizes that Nyles' plan succeeded when a version of him shows up at a wedding reception and acts like a stranger. Theoretically, a version of Duffy's goat should also be there too, and that does seem to be the case: Moments after Sarah tells Nyles not to worry about the goat's fate, the sound of a goat can be briefly heard while Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" plays. The noise may simply be clever sound design — a comedic complement to the goat dialogue — but it's definitely there to tease the audience. So, why would Sarah lie about the goat but still want to move forward with the escape?
In Palm Springs, Sarah most likely discovered that Spuds' goat did actually disappear but another goat remained in the loop, just like a version of Nyles stays in the loop while speaking to Roy at the end. Rather than explaining the science of it all to Nyles, Sarah probably just wanted him to relax and move forward with their plan. Palm Springs could've used one more scene to properly explain the goat's journey and Sarah's research methods, but the main takeaway seems to be her ability to convince Nyles to choose reality over a false existence.
