Inside Out 2's Post-Credits Scene Resolves The Movie's Biggest Secret (Sort Of)

Beware, this article contains spoilers for "Inside Out 2."

"Inside Out 2" arrives in theaters this weekend, taking us on another coming-of-age journey for the now-teenage Riley, as she figures out how to navigate the complexities of growing up and shaping her identity. The film finds Riley suddenly entering puberty and experiencing new emotions as she heads off to a weekend hockey camp that could set the stage for her high school athletic career, which includes making some new, older friends. But in order to impress them, Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) begins to drive Riley's mind, pushing her into uncharted and worrisome territory. 

Thankfully, by the time the movie is over, the core emotions have stopped Anxiety from derailing Riley's identity, and the young girl begins to control her own emotions, instead of letting the emotions control her. It's a beautiful story that evolves the original movie by illustrating that all sorts of complicated emotions define who we are and how we live our life. But the end of the movie also leaves a dangling mystery on the table.

The first act of "Inside Out 2" finds the core emotions literally bottled up by Anxiety and sent to a vault where Riley keeps her secrets. Among them are two scene-stealing characters, a 2D animated dog from a kids show that Riley still secretly likes and a pixelated video game character that she still has a crush on. But there's also a big, gray secret who looks like a black and white version of Hulk wearing a hoodie. We learn that this is Riley's Deep, Dark Secret, but it's not revealed what the secret actually is. By the time the core emotions escape the vault and embark on their mission to save Riley from Anxiety, we're left without any clarification. However, the film's post-credits scene solves the mystery. 

"Inside Out 2" has two bonus scenes for those who stick around for the credits. The mid-credits scene offers a moment between Riley and her parents where she plays it cool about making the Firehawks hockey team in high school, and we catch a glimpse inside of all their minds as they react to the conversation in questions. But the post-credits scene explains what that "deep, dark secret" was all about from earlier in the movie (seen above in concept art from "The Art of Inside Out 2").

Joy pays a visit back to the vault where Riley's deep, dark secret resides, because she's curious about why it's been locked up securely. What secret could a 13-year old girl have that is so concerning? Well, it turns out that it's not much of a secret at all, but it's exactly the kind of thing that a kid would be worried about their parents discovering. When Joy asks the secret itself to explain, he blubbers a bit and says, "We burnt the hole in the rug!"

Not only is that a silly secret that only a kid could worry about, but it may even be a reference to "Back to the Future." You might remember that before Marty leaves his recently united parents at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance before going back to the future, he says, "Uh, listen, if you guys ever have kids, and one of them, when he's eight years old, accidentally sets fire to the living room rug ... please, go easy on him."

Frankly, we're just glad that Riley hasn't murdered anyone ... yet. Pixar is undoubtedly saving that along with Procrastination Land for "Inside Out 3."

"Inside Out 2" is playing in theaters everywhere now.