Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for A Murder at the End of the World.Episode 6 of the new Hulu whodunitA Murder at the End of the World, “Crime Seen,” has dropped this week, and the events that unfolded have made us rethink our rankings of who is most likely to have killed artist/hacker/activist Bill Farrah (Harris Dickinson) and now several others at billionaire Andy Ronson’s (Clive Owen) Icelandic retreat (or is it an apocalyptic timeshare for millionaires?).Darby Hart(Emma Corrin) is our indefatigable amateur sleuth and more than halfway through the season, she’s starting to narrow her list of possible suspects.
We left off on a cliffhanger ending to Episode 5, “The Crypt,“and now fully understand whyco-creatorsBrit MarlingandZatBatmanglijdecided on that title as Darby is lured to the pool house and, after deciding to slip in for a quick dip in the heated pool, becomes trapped underneath its heavy, fiberglass-like cover. She is seconds away from drowning when a blurry figure appears from nowhere with an ax to break through the barrier and rescue her. The next sequence we see is of her being laid down and viewing who initially looks like Lee (Marling), but, as she focuses, is clearly David (Raul Esparza), only to be replaced again by Lee, who fetches warm blankets for the freezing detective. Even more bizarre, Lee and David embrace and exchange information that we hear from Darby’s point of view, so it is muffled as she is still recovering from her near-death experience. This is the first time we’ve seen these two even speak to one another, and now they are in each other’s company whispering cautionary words?
The trio wonders aloud if the mechanical pool cover is on the retreat’s grid, which means it could easily have been hacked.The underlying theme of this series continues to be artificial intelligence run amuck, but the human element is still in control to an even greater extent.Hopefully, the final two episodes will flesh out some of the characters who have remained relatively quiet thus far, leading to the identity of the real killer finally taking shape.
A Murder at the End of the World
Darby Hart, a Gen Z amateur sleuth, attempts to solve a murder at a secluded retreat.
6Lee Andersen (The Legendary Hacker)
Lee has a disturbing tale to tell about her husband Andy, claiming that he is a possessive, obsessed father who is hell-bent on finding a way to protect Zoomer (Kellan Tetlow) from the effects of his condition known as ACHOO syndrome. She claims that he is also abusive towards her and that she has no money. Lee also shares with Darby that she once tried to escape her husband with Zoomer, only to end up back in Andy’s control. Is she telling the truth? The evidence could still point to Lee, with her various “go-bags” and penchant for showing up at just the right time to either kill Darby or conveniently save her life. She also admits that Darby was the bait to lure Billto the dangerously reclusive retreat.It all comes down to whether you believe Lee is an abused wife looking out for the safety of her son and an escape, or weaving a tale to throw Andy further under the bus.
5David (The Architect)
We would love to see more of some of the other players, including the famous director Martin (Jermaine Fowler) or Lu Mei (Joan Chen) so we could finally scratch the itch that isRaul Esparza’s David from the rankings. There are just a handful of episodes left, and we haven’t gotten to know Martin or Lu Mei all that well yet.David doesn’t seem like a serious candidate, but at the same time, he always finds a way to be physically close to each of the murder victims when they die.Not to mention he was nearby when someone tried to kill Darby in the covered pool. His ubiquitous nature keeps him on the list until Darby is convinced that he shouldn’t be. We almost considered dropping him from our rankings when he appeared to have been beaten within an eyelash of his life in the last scene of Episode 6, but he stays for now.
4Oliver (The Robotics Expert)
Oliver (Ryan J. Haddad) isstill lurking. Seemingly always just around the corner when you least expect it. In this episode, we see him on his feet after having admitted that he can walk short distances.He meets Darby and Lee after Lee’s confessional and asks if they will keep him company in his room, tired of being alone. He has been holding onto his phone when everyone else has been forced by Todd (Louis Cancelmi) to surrender all electronic equipment. Suspicious? A little. Darby doesn’t appear to have him high on her suspect list, but that doesn’t mean we have dismissed Oliver just yet.
3Ray (The Artificial Intelligence Assistant)
When Darby asks Lee if the mechanized pool cover is on the grid, she nods. Well, Ray (Edoardo Ballerini), the “Alternative Intelligence,“is the grid. So when something like that happens and almost kills our dedicated detective, we take notice. Again,the underlying theme ofA Murder at the End of the Worldis the hacking of artificial intelligence, and the lack of firewalls and cybersecurity that we seem to have so much faith in is inevitable. It feels likea nod to the theory of Occam’s Razor(that which is most likely is typically correct) and could just as easily apply here with Ray and the whole rogue A.I. aspect. There is no way Ray is going to get off this list until Darby has definitively proven otherwise.
We are pairing the husband and wife duo as one entity as of this week. Todd and Eva (Britian Seibert) are now inexorably tied, as the two have both the means and opportunity to carry out all the murders and Darby’s attempted murder. Darby, Oliver, and Lee are convinced that if Andy were going to have another person or people carry out the murders, these two would be prime suspects. Eva has access to morphine and pacemaker electronics, among other things. Meanwhile, Todd shows up at Oliver’s door with a roughed-up David standing beside an ominous-looking Andy.These two are peas in a pod, and their close relationship with their boss has earned them tag team status as very suspicious possibilities.
1Andy Ronson (The Host and Tech Billionaire)
We are going solely on what we heard and saw in Episode 6 to formulate our most likely suspects. This means that if it’s an “ipso facto” truth — that if Darby, with all her smarts and cunning, believes Lee to be telling the truth — then how can we not also keep Andy Ronson here at the very top spot? As we have previously stated,Andy was never going to move around a whole lot in the rankings, seeing how he is the man pulling all the strings.It would be downright inexcusable to not have Andy in the top position after Darby posits that he “has the biggest motive to kill Bill” and that it would be wise to get Lee and Zoomer away from him as quickly as possible. We are mindful, however, that we have yet to hear from Andy about all these accusations. Even so, he stays atop our rankings for another week after Lee’s story, especially once he shows up at the very end of the episode with a beaten David in tow.
A Murder at the End of the Worldis available to stream on Hulu, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday.
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