A Murder at the End of the World Episode 4: Until last week, “A Murder at the End of the World” was constantly going back and forth between two timelines while developing a very exciting “whodunit” mystery in the present, as well as adding an intriguing layer in the past. In this week’s stellar episode, the show boldly tweaks the format, and as a result, we get an episode where half of it works like an icy-cold Nordic noir, and the other half comes off as a sublime hard-boiled detective story with a very cute romantic angle thrown in it. Speaking of which, Emma Corrin and Harris Dickinson have fantastic chemistry between them; which makes the romance really believable and genuinely sad, considering we already know the fate of Dickinson’s character.
A Murder at the End of the World (Miniseries) Episode 4 Recap:
An Investigation at the End of the World
Following Rohan’s shocking death, Darby and the other guests are taken into a safe room by Todd and his wife, Eva. Lee and Zoomer are also there, but Andy’s absence is very noticeable, and it doesn’t take much for the guests to figure out that Andy is most likely staying away for the sake of his own safety (from everyone else, given the killer is one amongst them). Thanks to Darby’s expertise, they also manage to decode the cause of Rohan’s death- which happens to be his pacemaker getting hacked. This was a nice touch, considering the people we are watching are supposed to be superior to regular human beings.
When Darby proposes to see Rohan’s body, David mocks her as a know-it-all millennial, and Todd dismisses the idea. Upon getting security clearance, Todd escorts everyone to their room and orders them to remain locked inside. He also takes away all kinds of electronic devices as a safety measure. However, Darby soon finds Sian in her room, and after applying her trick of vetting, she reaches the conclusion that Sian is not a hacker, hence not the killer.
Sian apologizes to Darby for not believing her in the first place when she warned everybody about foul play after Bill’s death. She suggests that Darby and herself should look at Rohan’s body on their own. With her newfound ally, Darby has it quite easy to get to Rohan’s body and find an incision on it, which only confirms the theory of the pacemaker getting hacked.
Upon knowing about Darby’s expedition from the other night when she followed Rohan through the canyon and made that morse-coding discovery, Sian suggests they should visit the place. The only hitch is a severe snowstorm that is approaching fast. However, Sian is confident enough to make it back before the storm hits. What appears to be further helpful is the availability of a snowmobile and special suits for the extreme conditions, developed by none other than Andy. When they reach the location, they find a waterbody and an inflatable boat tied to a pole, and the name “Last Chance” on it confirms that it belonged to Rohan. Darby and Sian land on the theory that Rohan and Bill both were onto something, and despite Bill’s death, Rohan was asked to continue, whatever his mission was.
Racing against time to beat the blizzard, Sian and Darby find themselves in a spot of bother when their snowmobile suddenly malfunctions. They’re lucky enough to find a car after walking a little, but the problem is, they’re unable to find a key to start it. To Darby’s surprise, Sian manages to start the car by hacking it. On their way back, Sian tells Darby about Andy having financial trouble with the tech business, and he has chosen the extreme location to do something significant. Unfortunately, due to Sian’s desperate rash driving to get to the hotel safely, the car skids and crashes. After the accident, Darby remains unconscious.
In a vicious world full of misery, there was a good man named Bill
One of the greatest aspects of “A Murder at the End of the World” is the underlying social commentary. In this week’s past timeline, not much happens storywise, but we do get to see a new development in Bill and Darby’s relationship in a very cinematic fashion. Bill, Darby, and one of their online crime enthusiast friends, Sue, a rather older woman, visit a coroner and match a Jane Doe with a name, which takes them another step closer to the Silver Doe killer.
Sue takes off, and Darby and Bill end up at a pretty cool hotel. They don’t have the money to pay for it, but Bill is smart enough to find a way to get in. During that night, Darby makes a sexual move, which only seems logical considering the clear-as-a-day vibe between the two. But to her surprise, Bill rejects her advances. In the morning, though, he clarifies the reason behind his action. It’s not that he doesn’t feel the same as what Darby feels for him.
But all these investigations regarding twisted, vile men have worked him up so much that he is questioning his own worthiness. A self-reflecting man is probably the rarest of rare things, and Darby, being a smart young woman herself, realizes that. The two do hook up eventually, and while in the past Darby and Bill are making love, we are waltzing back into the cold present, where a bloodied Darby finally wakes up.
A Murder at the End of the World (Miniseries) Episode 4 Ending, Explained
Is Zoomer Bill’s son?
In the past, Bill randomly sneezes after coming out from the morgue. When Sue asks if he has a cold, Bill explains he has this genetic issue which makes him sneeze whenever he gets exposed to sunlight after staying in the darkness.
In the present day, Darby wakes up and finds out that she has been brought back to the resort. She sees Andy, Todd, Eva, and Sian, who is still wearing her helmet. Around her; the people are concerned and worried. She soon realizes that there’s a situation: Sian’s helmet somehow malfunctioned (or hacked, right?), and she is unable to take it off. Andy is trying his best to get through the code and free Sian, but there’s not much time, and Sian is running out of oxygen.
Andy and the rest do manage to get Sian out of the danger while Darby, still having a severe concussion, falls senseless on the floor again. When she wakes up, she finds Lee in company, who assures her Sian is alright. Darby falls into sleep again, and after finally waking up from the slumber, she sees Zoomer playing close to her. Seeing the room is a bit dark, Darby opens the curtains, and the moment she does it, Sunlight fills up the room, and Zoomer sneezes heavily.
Some notes:
- Let us address the obvious first. Lee probably lied to Darby about her relationship with Bill, as Zoomer having the same genetic issue as Bill is too much of a coincidence. This only indicates Zoomer is not Andy but Bill’s son, and that’s the secret both Bill and Rohan wanted to share with Darby.
- Sian is probably lying, and she is not only a hacker but also knows how to get past Darby’s vetting technique and fool her. However, we still aren’t aware of a proper motive in this case.
- Andy might be the one who is the killer, but Zoomer, being Bill’s son, can’t just be the reason behind that. There has to be something more.