The shocking twist was revealed in episode 4, but the reason why Kate kept it secret wasn't revealed until the very end of the limited series.
Warning! The following contains mentions of sexual assault and spoilers for Anatomy of A Scandal.
The twist at the end of Anatomy of A Scandal episode 4 exposing lawyer Kate Woodcroft (Michelle Dockery) as Sophie Whitehouse’s (Sienna Miller) former university classmate Holly was foreshadowed by Kate’s struggles with the case. The limited series functions both as a political thriller and a courtroom drama, as it simultaneously focuses on what the attention of the press causes to James Whitehouse’s (Rupert Friend) family and the trial where Whitehouse stands accused of rape by his aide with whom he had an affair, Olivia Lytton (Naomi Scott). Anatomy of A Scandal was released on Netflix on April 15.
Compared to Sarah Vaughan’s original book, Anatomy of A Scandal gives a bigger role to Sophie. While at first steadfastly believing her husband, Sophie starts to question if he ever told her the truth when an Oxford university administrator comes forward to accuse James of having assaulted another student named Holly Berry 20 years prior. While that accusation never informs the trial James is on, Sophie tries to piece together the events of the night the Oxford administrator mentioned to the police, and she never stops until she uncovers the truth about her husband and Holly Berry, who seemingly disappeared right after that night.
The reason for Holly Berry’s disappearance from university two weeks before graduation is explained to everyone as Holly having wanted to move abroad. The real reason why, though, is only revealed when Sophie finally meets with Kate to tell her that James and Prime Minister Southern (Geoffrey Streatfeild) will be prosecuted for their involvement in their fellow Libertines club member’s death at Oxford. During their meeting, Kate unequivocally tells Sophie that James had raped her at university and that she didn’t go to the police because she thought nobody would have believed her; as it turns out, she is Holly.
Rather than choosing a made-up name, Kate explained that her name is a mix of her middle name and her ex-husband’s surname, shining a light not only on why, throughout the series, she talks about Holly and Kate’s lives as if they were two different ones, but also on how she came to be what she is now. While the meeting uncovers the telling signs that made Sophie recognize Holly in Kate’s behavior, it also better explains Kate’s relationship with her job, which some characters define as a workaholic in some instances, especially when the Whitehouse trial throws her off her game. In choosing not to accuse James when he raped her at university, Anatomy of A Scandal’s Kate has a chance to prosecute him for what he did to Olivia, making that trial a higher stakes one for her, especially as she wants to do right by Olivia.
The Kate/Holly twist was criticized by some critics for being unbelievable, and, in a way, it slightly resembled the thriller genre’s implausible twists parodied by fellow Netflix Original spoof The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window. While the limited series’ ending was painfully realistic regarding the trial outcome, as James Whitehouse was found not guilty of rape despite being clearly depicted as having assaulted women by the show, which reflected the UK Crown Prosecution Service’s 2020-21 statistics that showed how in reality only 1.3 percent of rape cases lead to charges against a suspect (via the BBC), the series also portrayed a different kind of solidarity among women, made possible by the twist. Anatomy of A Scandal depicted Kate and Sophie as being supportive of each other despite being painted as antagonistic to each other from the start of the series, and while women's solidarity among friends is often portrayed in media, female solidarity among foes or women who aren't friends isn't that common. Despite sounding far-fetched, the Mary/Holly twist made that possible, making Anatomy of A Scandal one of the more nuanced takes possible by a TV series tackling sexual violence.
