The Crowded Room – Season 1 Episode 5 “Savior” Recap & Review

Savior

Episode 5 of The Crowded Room begins with Danny’s narration of “happy memories.” We go back in time to when Adam was still alive. Both of them were third graders and Candy, their mother, was the sole breadwinner of the house. She worked two jobs, one as a nurse and the other as a bartender to make ends meet.

Adam is going away for some time to his father’s place and Danny will be left behind. I am increasingly convinced that this is just before Adam’s death and that incident triggered Danny’s first traces of a dissociative personality. This theory can be wrong but let’s get back to the recap now.

In Adam’s absence, Danny faces bullying at school. The principal writes a note for Candy but Danny doesn’t give it to her. He pleads with Candy to take him to work that night as he doesn’t want to be alone. After a lot of convincing, she finally agrees to take him. Danny is surprised to reach the bar as he thought Candy was just a nurse. Mario, the owner, rules out his presence in the bar as State law doesn’t allow children inside. But cleverly, the mother-son duo win him over.

The night gets terrifying for Adam as a few Black folks walk into the bar. A bigoted racist challenges their right to be there and a fight breaks out. For Danny, it is traumatic as blood hits his face. An adult Danny confesses to Rya that blood has historically meant something ominous in works of literature and art. Everything that followed in his life after that incident cannot be a coincidence. They desperately need a “saviour” and in walks Marlin. At the time, he wasn’t half as cantankerous and actually helped children at a juvenile facility. He was a senior counsellor and we get to see him in action firsthand as he talks to Christopher, a young Black kid admitted to the facility.

Danny explains that Marlin walked into the bar and was instantly charmed by Candy. That night, they drank and talked together until her shift was over. That is how they fell in love. But Danny had mixed feelings about him. He saw them having sex one night, which traumatized him. Danny was excited to see Adam back and instantly got his confidence. Mr Jones, his guidance counsellor, gets inappropriately close to Danny after all the kids have left the classroom. He says Danny needs a friend. It is clear he is a paedophile but Marlin interrupts them and picks Danny up from school.

On the drive back home, it is clear that Adam was just a part of Danny’s imagination. How could Marlin only talk to Danny and not Adam? Moreover, not even look at him? Marlin asks Danny if Jones touched him but he doesn’t say anything. Marlin reveals that he is thinking of proposing to Candy but Danny has mixed feelings. They abruptly stop and go off-road as Marlin asks Danny to “make a pact” with him. He tries to take him into a barn. Danny can feel Adam right behind him. And to protect him, Adam goes with Marlin instead.

An adult Danny tells Rya that Marloin kept on raping and physically abusing “Adam” even after he married Candy. That is how Adam became Danny’s saviour.

The Episode Review

Danny’s tale gets more and more tragic with each new episode. The more we learn just how troubled he has been since childhood, the more empathy we feel for him. It is so unfair for a little child to go through experiences like those. The trauma of bullying, rape, and the burden of keeping all of this inside for the sake of his mother’s happiness just makes it difficult to continue watching The Crowded Room. Zachary Golinger, who played the younger Danny in this episode, did a terrific job.

By not referencing his portrayal of emotions and feelings around Holland’s adult version, Golinger brought us closer to how it must have felt going through all that as a child. One suspects that the show will become only darker from here on in. Now that we know there is no central mystery to unpack, perhaps a change of mindset while watching The Crowded Room will help us absorb better the scale of the project and the true intentions behind it.