The Crowded Room Episode 7: Until now, ‘The Crowded Room’ followed several characters that came into Danny Sullivan’s life. The previous episode titled ‘Rya’ showed how Rya Goodwin deduced Danny’s bewildering mental state. It took a trip back through all the interviews she took regarding Danny’s relationship with all the people he said to have come across. It gave an insight into a past trauma that may have possibly led to his state.
Now the latest episode explores how all the people were supporting figures in his life. In the end, Danny finally faces the truth about his condition and his misdeed.
*Spoilers Ahead*
The Crowded Room Episode 7 Recap:
Episode 7: The Crowded Room
The episode begins with a few shots of citizens looking up at the sky. Rya (Amanda Seyfried) also looks up from her room. Afterward, we see her meet Danny (Tom Holland) to interview him. They seem to have developed a genial relationship by then. But unlike their previous discussion (her dialogue with Jack), Danny shows no sign of knowledge about Freud or Jung. Rya shows him Jack’s glasses. He gets surprised since, according to him, Jack is in London. How can she get the glasses, then?
Dissecting Danny Sullivan’s Mind
After showing Jack’s glasses, Rya tells Danny that Jack only wants what is best for him. She eventually shows Danny a tape of his crime. The camera footage shows Danny shooting at random civilians in the city center. Danny cannot believe he could do such a thing. Then, Rya tells him that Ariana did not come with him – and that he shot people, not Ariana. Danny gets even more perplexed by what is happening. Suddenly, Yitzhak (Lior Raz) appears next to Danny, wanting to protect him.
Afterward, Danny finds himself outside a country house like the one that Marlin (Will Chase) used to take him and Adam to. Danny slowly walks inside and finds himself in a maze-like structure. Whether it is the writing team’s intention to show Danny’s complex mind or not, we get a sense of Danny’s utter confusion about what is happening in his life. Suddenly, Danny hears some whispers. He walks toward the sounds to find Jack, Yitzhak, Jonny (Levon Hawke), and Mike (Sam Vartholomeos).
All of this is going in Danny’s head while, in reality, all these voices in his head start confronting and attacking Rya at the station. In that wooden house, Yitzak gets angry. In the police station, Danny starts intimidating Rya as Yitzak. The police officers soon arrive to save Rya. She tries to stop them from taking Danny. But he gives himself to the officers. He says he knows that Rya is trying to help him.
Danny’s Prison Life
We get a look into Danny’s prison life at Rikers. The events show a direct correlation between him acting according to these characters’ instincts. Meanwhile, in Danny’s head, Jack says that Rya is becoming dangerous for him. Yitzak begs to differ. Jack plans to keep Danny asleep in this house. He worries that curing Danny of his psychiatric condition would mean getting rid of them all. He and Yitzak consider themselves protectors of this troubled kid.
In the prison, Danny acts like Jonny, unlike his usual, rattled self. He had asked a fellow inmate for some art supplies. That man gives him some crayons that do not satisfy him. He refuses to take them. So, the man spits in his food. Danny only manically smiles. He then goes to meet another inmate asking for some drugs.
Suddenly, someone else walks up to Danny/Jonny and starts attacking him. Seeing him getting beat up, Yitzak takes control and starts fighting them. Since the guards arrive in that cafeteria, Jack takes charge of the situation and calms things down. But Danny still gets confined to another cell as a punishment.
Rya & Stan’s Case for Danny
On the other hand, Rya and Stan (Christopher Abbott) go meet Judge. Rya wants to ask him to get Danny out and put him in a hospital. Stan is not so hopeful since he believes that convicts like Danny usually get a plea bargain. He is also not optimistic because the condition Danny has was not accepted by the medical community at the time. He still helps Rya because he wants to give it a shot.
Rya tells Stan that she showed Danny the footage of the incident. Stan does not think it was a good idea. But Rya believes she needed to do so to prepare him beforehand. If Danny was shown the footage on the day of his trial, he would have freaked out. She accepts that Danny may now have gotten a hint that he is more than one person.
Rya and Stan eventually get into a meeting with the Judge, where Dr. Whitman (David Duffield) and DA Patricia Richards (Carmen Ejogo) joins them. Whitman dismisses Rya’s analysis of Danny’s condition because he believes it does not exist. Rya defends herself, but he refuses to take her seriously. The judge also stops her from interrupting the male doctor. Soon after, Danny joins the discussion. Rya gets worried, seeing a bruise on his face. Despite her concern, he does not explain how he got it.
Patricia asks Danny basic details about himself. Danny gives all the right answers, which Rya understands will be interpreted as Danny being well aware of his reality. Afterward, Stan starts questioning Danny about the Rockefeller Centre incident. Danny speaks in a British accent and says that he was not with anyone. While Rya understands that it is not Danny speaking, the Judge does not let her speak. She tries to explain that Jack is one of Danny’s alter egos. But Danny does not help make that case and worsens his situation.
The Crowded Room Episode 7 Ending, Explained:
Danny Facing the Truth
Once Danny leaves, the Judge remains confident that Danny should be in prison. So later on, Stan meets Patricia and tries to convince her that Danny deserves the benefit of the doubt. Danny needs to be in a hospital instead of a jail. But Patricia cannot forgive Danny, who shot unarmed civilians. She refuses to give Danny a pass.
Danny still believes that his formed family can protect him. Jonny firmly supports that side of him, who wants to not let them go. But Yitzak believes that Danny finally needs to face the truth. However, it would mean they will not be with Danny anymore, which Jack cannot tolerate. Since Yitzak becomes contrarian to his vision (that Danny cannot survive without them), Jack shoots him.
The next moment, we see Danny awake. Ariana (Sasha Lane) arrives next to him and gently explains his situation. She elaborates on how they all (she, Jack, and Jonny, among others) come to join him whenever he needs support or comfort. She takes him to a room filled with water up to a foot and shows others like Yitzhak, who needed to be sacrificed since they had already served their purpose for him.
After that dialogue, Jack tells Danny that he should plead guilty so that they can continue being with him. He also tries to convince Danny to consider prison time over being in a hospital. Later on, when Rya arrives to speak with Danny. She is annoyed that he lied to the judge during their previous discussion. Danny suddenly breaks down and asks her to help him. He accepts that he hears other voices in his head.
