A Murder At the End of the World – Season 1 Episode 5 “Crypt” Recap & Review

Crypt

Episode 5 of A Murder At the End of the World begins with Darby realizing Zoomer is Bill’s son. She instantly hugs him, knowing that he carries a part of Bill inside him. Eva walks in to check in on Darby and sends Zoomer down the elevator to his parents. First things first; Sian is alright…at least that’s what Eva tells Darby. She confronts Eva about the medical room, which in and of itself seems to be excessively stacked. Darby specifically refers to the cabinet containing morphine. Eva becomes nervous when Darby accuses “someone” of having used it to overdose Bill.

She demands that Eva take her to Andy and Lee, who are having dinner on a private floor with Zoomer. Lee realizes that Darby will talk about the murders and takes Zoomer inside. She is quite straightforward and accuses Andy of killing Bill because he learned about Zoomer’s lineage. Andy remains calm and invites her to sit down. He reveals that he is sterile and that he has known it for a long time. Andy also claims to know that Zoomer isn’t his biological child because of this. Darby is sceptical and brings up the morphine question.

Andy believes it was stolen from the room. Someone close to him is the killer. When Darby asks him about his whereabouts when Bill died, Andy alludes to an illness that he carries (later, he reveals that he is undergoing “life extension” therapy), explaining that he was at the medical bay, receiving treatment. Andy’s inherent narcissism – or perhaps foresight – emerges when he says that Bill’s death is incidental to a plan aimed at bringing him down. He offers Darby a partnership  – work together to figure out who is the murderer.

This way, Darby can redeem the love of her life and Andy can find out who is trying to sabotage him. In another one of the show’s sci-fi visualizations, we see a LIDAR scan of the hotel. Andy’s hi-tech software makes it possible for them to look around the hotel for possible clues. The killer struck exactly at 11.59 PM, which means he is surely an insider. Andy and Darby try to work through available data and logic to screen the guests. David emerges as a prime suspect. They call him in to inquire what he was doing in the hallway outside Bill’s room when Sian was trying to revive him.

David is hesitant to accept that he was physically engaging with Oliver, who does indeed confirm the notion. Oliver explains that David was angry with Lu Mei about something. It is also revealed by him that he isn’t fully paralyzed, and can walk a short distance when required. Lu, part of the group that was playing poker till 1 AM, says that Lee only left the room once. She also admits to hacking through the firewall after Rohan died to request an evacuation. Ray goes through phone records to reveal that David received a call from Bill at 11.07. 

Before they can think more, Marius brings the phone to Andy. He gets flustered and shouts angrily when he learns it is the WSJ on the other side. They know what’s going on at the hotel. When he exits the room, Darby ventures into Zoomer’s room. Lee is sleeping with him on the bed but invites her inside. 

She brings up Zoomer’s paternity issue. Lee is taken aback. She didn’t know this before and runs out of the room to gather herself. Darby goes through her purse and finds a credit card and passport under the name “Marie Larsen.” Lee’s photo is on the latter. Darby tries to exit the room but is sandwiched between Lee and Andy, who insists that she stays in the room. However, Lee convinces him to let her go back. Darby’s concussion weighs heavily on her ability to focus but she soldiers through it. 

Darby’s heightened state compels her to call David and ask about Bill’s call. But the man remains quiet and doesn’t offer an answer. Ray keeps interrupting Darby’s flow and reminding her that she might be in serious danger due to her concussion worsening. In an outburst, she rips off his system from the room. Tomas shows up and Darby asks him to leave some food for her. But she is strangely attacked by a masked man in black, who asks her to stop poking her nose into Bill’s death. 

In a sweet flashback moment, Bill and Darby talk about their feelings for each other during a car ride. However, when it is Darby’s turn to tell Bill how he fell for her, she diverts the conversation to the case of the silver doe. Bill abruptly stops the car and laments how phones are destroying people’s identities. Ironically, Darby remarks that she fell in love with him while on her phone. We jump back to the present where Darby collects herself and storms into Sian’s room.

Sian’s throat had to be opened to make it possible for her to breathe. Sian alleviates Darby’s forced guilt about whatever has gone down. It is a sign of the difference in their maturity levels, in a way. Sian asks Eva to step out of the room, allowing Darby to tell her about the attack. Sian tells Darby not to stop investigating and asks for some water. Before Darby can bring it, something happens and Sian flatlines. Eva rushes in but she can’t be saved. When she tells Andy about Lee’s fake name, he brushes off her allegations and proposes that she rest in her room until the police show up. 

Darby and Martin join Ziba and Lu in the courtyard around a bonfire. Darby suggests that Andy is building another one of these hotels nearby. They’re not hotels but bunkers for apocalyptic realities that might take shape in the future. Oliver joins the chat and they discuss if Andy’s plan is a good thing. Marius tries to call them in but is shooed away. Ziba’s Qashqai roots prompt her to “name the dead” and “bless them to join the wind.” Others join in as well and it is a great, shared spiritual connection.

In another flashback, we see Darby waking up Bill to inform she has figured out the killer’s identity. He is a cop and Eunice Bell’s grandson. Bill is surprised to see everything she has uncovered in a single night. He questions her mental state and what she aims to achieve from following this killer, prompting her to lash out. Darby gets a panic attack in the present and is taken back to her room. She reconnects with Ray and breaks down when she confides in him that she doesn’t want to be “awake anymore.”

Ray’s lack of emotional intelligence means Darby isn’t getting any comforting response. She notices the lamp in the room going off and on. Darby immediately grabs a pen to write down the message delivered in Morse code. She is asked to meet with this person near the pool to learn why Bill called David. She follows the instructions but doesn’t find anyone there. Darby takes a dip in the freezing water. She is terrified when the pool cover is shut by someone who stands over her and watches her drown. 

The Episode Review

Episode 5 is arguably the best episode of the show. And I have probably thought this about the other episodes as well. It proves why the show is so special and has created such a buzz among fans. The episode is constantly engaging and relentless in progression. Darby’s instigations and observations are precise, smart, and seamless. The opening half-hour is frenetic as we move from one lead to the other. 

All fingers are right now pointing toward Lee. The evidence is piling up against her. Now that Andy is more or less vindicated, Darby can breathe a little easy. One small detail, although insignificant, demonstrates the fine-tuned details in the script. When Darby asked Ray about personal info, he denied it. But at the second time of asking for a different question, he responded to her. This is the true nature of AI and how quickly it can adapt. 

Episode 5 is noticeably funnier than previous episodes. The humour is razor-sharp and brief and doesn’t spoil the momentum of the narrative building. The creators also afford a lot of time for other guests to weigh in on the discourse and shore up the show’s underlying social commentary. I am very impressed with how the road trip flashback has helped in Darby and Bill’s character development, although it makes the episodes a little bulky.