Long Story Short season 1 ending explained: Are the Schwoopers reunited in the end?

Long Story Short season 1 is Netflix's latest animated comedy series from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It follows the story of generations of the Schwooper family, from their parents Naomi and Elliot, their kids Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, and a couple of grandchildren.

Each episode of the series, told in a nonlinear storytelling, grips the audience's attention with the family's story of childhood, adulthood, and all the messy family drama and bickering in between. Each of the kids has their own issues, especially with their mom's controlling and judgmental nature. But in the wake of her passing, the family learns to live with loss and remember their core values.

Long Story Short season 1 ends with a Schwooper family reunion with a hope and promise of reuniting with each other more often. Even with conflict, misunderstanding, and each of their lives getting in the way, the Schwoopers remind everyone that forgiveness, care, and love in the family can still exist.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Long Story Short season 1. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Are the Schwoopers reunited at the end of Long Story Short season 1?

The Schwoopers (Image via Netflix)

The funny, messy story of the Schwoopers in Long Story Short season 1 concludes in Las Vegas for the funeral of their Uncle Barry Klein, the widower of Naomi's mother's sister. The Schwoopers don't want to go because the Kleins didn't attend their mother's funeral years ago, although they all end up going anyway.

At this point, Elliot and his three kids, Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, are already living their separate lives in different cities. And while they sometimes get in contact with one another, they can barely remember the last time they were together. The chaos of each of their own lives, plus generational trauma, has gotten in the way, causing the siblings to grow apart.

Elliot lives alone and is happy to seize any moment that he would be reunited with all his kids, so he's eager to go to the funeral. Avi is navigating co-parenting with Jen and is trying to build a better relationship with their daughter, Hannah. Shira and Kendra are dealing with their own family life, and Yoshi is focused on his newfound faith.

Uncle Barry's funeral would be their grand reunion, but Yoshi misses the funeral proper after getting lost in the charm and chaos of Las Vegas. But in his defense, he doesn't really want to go to the funeral anyway because he's not ready to deal with another dead family member following their mother's death.

But while the funeral doesn't become the grand family reunion they are hoping for, an unexpected turn of events gives them another chance to spend time together and catch up. Yoshi gets stranded while on the way home, and the rest of the Schwoopers decide that spending time with family is the most important thing.

Naomi's spirit appears (Image via Netflix)

At the end of Long Story Short season 1, they decide to put family first despite their differences and understanding. They end up spending Shabbat with Yoshi, trading stories about their mom, and making promises to reunite with the family more often, not only during funerals. The reunion ends up as a chance for the family to process Naomi's death two years prior.

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Do the Schwoopers get the brooch at the end of Long Story Short season 1?

After Naomi's mother dies, there's something of her mother's that she wants, a brooch. When Uncle Barry leaves town for Las Vegas, he calls Naomi to take some of the family heirlooms, but refuses to give her the brooch. During his funeral at the end of Long Story Short season 1, the Shwoopers see the brooch in Barry's girlfriend Vivian's possession.

They try to steal it from her, planning an entire scenario, from spilling liquid on Vivian's clothes and forcing her to change upstairs. Meanwhile, Hannah is hiding in the closet waiting to grab the brooch, but she's found out after she sneezes. They end up talking and bonding after Hannah pretends she's in grief.

They are not able to steal the brooch in the end because they decide to go to Yoshi instead. It would have been what their mother wanted more than the brooch, for them to spend time together.

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Long Story Short season 1: Are Avi and Jen still together?

By the end of Long Story Short season 1, it's established that Avi and Jen are no longer together. Their marriage story unfolds throughout the nonlinear storytelling of the show, from when they were still dating, with Naomi being a big fan of Jen, to when they are navigating their co-parenting dynamic.

Avi and Jen (Image via Netflix)

While there is no massive blowout, the series shows the slow death of their marriage. There are snide remarks about how Jen has followed Avi to a new city, causing her to sacrifice her career as an actor and try to find her place in the family. There are arguments about how to deal with Hannah, and moments when Jen couldn't seem to speak her mind when Avi is blabbering around.

Their marriage hits a breaking point shortly after Naomi's death. And by the end of Long Story Short season 1, they are already divorced and sharing custody of Hannah. Jen ends the series in Big Sur with a new boyfriend, although it's not serious enough to let Hannah meet the guy yet.

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Long Story Short season 1: Is Hannah going to have a bar mitzvah?

Hannah is considering having a bar mitzvah earlier in Long Story Short season 1, but with Avi having complex feelings towards his Jewish faith and heritage, he talks her out of it. Hannah isn't keen on having it either because she doesn't have any friends, so who would be coming to her bar mitzvah anyway?

However, the story develops, and each character's arc is unpacked to show how their upbringing and past choices have influenced the people they have become. The end of Long Story Short season 1 brings Avi and Hannah back to his car in another conversation about her possible bar mitzvah. But this time, Avi has a much different opinion.

Instead of projecting his complicated relationship with his faith and heritage onto his daughter, he realizes how it's been affecting Hannah and ends up being a supportive dad. He tells her that she can have a bar mitzvah if she wants to, and when she tells him all the reasons why she couldn't, like the fact that she's not Jewish, Avid reassures her that there's no Jewish police to say otherwise.

Moments like these in the animated series quietly yet powerfully touch on family issues and help define what a family is.

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Catch all ten episodes of Long Story Short season 1 streaming on Netflix.