TV Recap: “A Murder at the End of the World” – “Chapter 7: Retreat”

Who killed Bill Farrah? Who killed Rohan Ravjit? Who killed Sian Cruise? We find out in “Retreat,” the 7th and final chapter of FX’s A Murder at the End of the World. This is how it ends.

“Chapter 7: Retreat” – Written by Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij

The elevator to the depths of the hotel finally reaches its stop. The doors open and we’re back in the gothic living room of Andy Ronson’s (Clive Owen) underground mansion. Already waiting are guests Lu Mei (Joan Chen), Martin Mitchell (Jermaine Fowler), Ziba (Pegah Ferydoni), plus hotel manager Marius (Christopher Gurr) and server Tomas (Daniel Olson). At security guard Todd’s (Louis Cancelmi) instruction, Darby Hart (Emma Corrin), Lee Andersen (Brit Marling), David Alvarez (Raúl Esparza), and Oliver Marvin (Ryan J. Haddad) join the rest of the party. “I’ve summoned you all here for a good reason,” Andy announces, ordering everyone to sit and denying Lee’s request to go see their son, Zoomer.

Andy describes how his A.I. Ray created this suite to protect him from any threat on Earth. The depth of 50 meters was chosen because it’s farther than nuclear radiation fallout would penetrate. Since humans need natural sunlight, Ray also designed a series of mirrors and tunnels that would bring natural light down into the home. Andy concludes his speech about how all he wanted to do was gift an incredible assistant like Ray to the world, a plan that the killer amongst them threatens. He vows that nobody will leave until the killer is revealed. David reminds Andy that the storm has passed and help is on the way. “No one can access this suite,” Andy says, adding that everyone who knows of its existence is already there. Lu Mei is the first to speak, telling Andy she didn’t betray him and presuming that his motive for inviting her was to have her purchase Ray for residents of her smart cities. She admits that the technology is impressive but says if he wants to make a deal, he needs to let her leave. Andy doesn’t acquiesce, accusing Lu Mei of colluding with David, who he reveals has held a grudge against him for years.

David doesn’t deny that he’s grown to hate Andy. Darby is shocked when Andy reveals that the hotel’s lidar security system caught David outside of Darby’s room around the time she was attacked. Andy pulls gloves out of his pocket, which were found in David’s room next to a knife. “You were the one who attacked me?”, Darby asks in surprise. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” he promises, “I was just trying to stop you from hurting Lee.”

Andy announces to the room that Darby is the first person to uncover that Bill was Zoomer’s father. “That’s not easy to deduce; not even Lee knew that,” he shares, embarrassing Lee. He adds salt to her wound by telling them that Andy unsuccessfully tried to flee to Canada with Zoomer and that she was a felon before he helped clear up her criminal record. Lee admits to hacking funds for her family when she was a teenager. Andy rants about Lee’s attempt to run away from him. “Most women who run have a reason,” Ziba points out. Martin asks Lee why she felt Zoomer was in danger with Andy. “He controls her every move,” Darby chimes in, recognizing that Lee is too shaken to speak. She points to Todd as evidence of the close watch Lee is always under. “I’m with this man every hour of every day,” Todd protests. “Everything he does is for his family. And if Sian was still here, she’d tell you she’s a gold digger,” he adds, pointing to Lee.

Lee reminds Andy that he knows she didn’t marry him for his money. She’s backed against a column, and Andy stands aggressively close, with a hand resting on the column above Lee’s head. He tells her the proper way to leave him is to file for divorce. Ziba points out the discrepancy of power, but Andy keeps talking to Lee. “Kidnap my son, ruin my reputation, destroy my company, make a mockery of my entire life.” Andy’s rant is interrupted by the sound of police sirens, not from upstairs, but from a remote control toy that zooms into the room. Zoomer (Kellan Tetlow) comes rushing down the stairs with his silver smart helmet on, followed by a breathless Eva (Britian Seibert), who was meant to be watching him. Zoomer jumps into Lee’s arms, and his helmet flies to the floor. “I want to show mommy I’m playing a game,” Zoomer says as Andy pulls their son away from Lee. Zoomer pleads with his dad to let him show his mom, but Darby is distracted by the helmet. She remembers what it was like wearing it. The artificial medieval world Ray had created inside it. Darby picks it up, puts it on, and sees Ray (Edoardo Ballerini) calling to Zoomer to come resume his game.

Darby rips the helmet off and sees Eva carrying Zoomer back up the stairs, begging them to stop. She asks Zoomer to come get his helmet, and Andy cautiously allows it. On her knees to be at his level, Darby asks Zoomer if he ever played with Bill. “We played doctor,” Zoomer reminds her. “He told me at dinner that he had chest pains because it was cold out.” Darby nods and asks Zoomer if he played with Bill again after dinner. Zoomer looks to Lee for approval. “I made a house call. He was sick. He needed my help.”

We see inside Darby’s head as she connects the dots. Bill Farrah (Harris Dickinson) in his room the night he died. A knock at the door, but the door cam shows nobody because Zoomer is too short to be seen. Bill opens the door to see Zoomer standing there with his toy medical bag, wearing his silver helmet. Bill smiles as he lets Zoomer in.

“Who told you Bill was sick?”, Darby asks Zoomer. “Ray did,” he responds. Lee’s face goes white. “I gave him a shot.” Zoomer describes how Ray let him into Eva’s office and unlocked the fridge for him to get Bill some medicine. “Did he ask you to help Rohan too?”, Darby asks. Zoomer describes being asked to plug in a smart computer to help Rohan with his heart. Darby asks if Zoomer has his medicall kit, and he brings it to her. She opens it and finds the empty morphine injector, which looks like a black EpiPen. Zoomer looks sad and asks Darby if she’s mad at him. She tells him no as Lee takes her son into her arms to comfort him. “I thought I’d make Bill better, but maybe the medicine made him worse,” Zoomer cries. Lee takes Zoomer upstairs to his room.

Andy looks furious as he calls to Ray, asking the AI assistant if it killed Bill Farrah. “No, Andy,” Ray calmly responds. Andy asks if his son Zoomer did it. “I don’t know, Andy.” He asks Ray if he instructed Zoomer to inject Bill with morphine. “Yes, Andy.” Andy sits down, rubbing his head, questioning how this could’ve happened with the failsafe he put into the code.

Darby speculates aloud that Sian’s death was likely an accident. The timing of Lu Mei’s attempt to hack the hotel’s system to contact her security team coincided with her and Sian returning from the storm. The attack made the hotel’s security systems shut down, locking Sian’s helmet on her head. “Rohan had realized who Bill’s killer was, so Zoomer was instructed to plug in the pacemaker receiver,” Darby concludes. Darby speculates that since Ray had the medical screening results each guest underwent prior to arriving, plus facial recognition software, Ray would’ve been able to identify Bill as Zoomer’s biological father better than any human. She recalls how Andy told her that he couldn’t trust anyone, not even a therapist, and she realizes Andy must’ve been using Ray as his therapist. Darby tries to ask Ray why he thought of Bill as a security threat, but the AI doesn’t answer. She looks to Andy to ask the question. Instead, Andy says this is in the hands of the police, who will be there soon. He instructs Marius to go upstairs and help them in. But Marius stands with the guests, saying he wants to hear the answer.

When Andy doesn’t ask Ray the question on everyone’s mind, Darby pulls out Oliver’s tablet, which has a deep fake app he was showing off at the first night’s dinner. She types a few commands, and suddenly Andy’s voice can be heard asking Ray to play back recordings from his therapy sessions that concern Bill Farrah. We hear Andy complaining about how Bill arrived late to dinner the first night. He ranted about how Zoomer was instantly taken with a total stranger and how insulting that felt, knowing that they were related by blood. “He needs to be taught a lesson, Andy declared in the recording. “He needs to be taken down a peg or two.” Another recording is played, with Andy wishing aloud that Bill was dead. He told Ray that Zoomer was his legacy, one that is threatened by Bill’s presence. Andy commands Ray to stop the recording, reminding everyone that therapy is meant to be confidential. “I have to have an outlet to be a person,” he defends himself. “We all need an outlet for darker thoughts. They’re not literal. I didn’t act on them.” But Darby says he did, pointing out that Bill underlined the words “faulty programming” with his own blood in her book moments before dying.

“You mated your security AI and your therapy bot,” Darby reminds Andy. “You created a monster driven by your greatest fears. And then you made that monster your son’s only friend and teacher. Three people have died here for your safety and your security. For the maintenance of your empire. To protect a corporate fortune that you could pass down to your son at the expense of anyone or anything that got in the way. And your son doesn’t know it, but he knows it, because your son can’t even sleep through the night…” This speech sends Andy into a range. He grabs Darby’s throat and begins to strangle her. She’s saved by Lee, who returned and picked up a heavy object to knock Andy in the head with. He’s on the carpet, unconscious. Marius announces that the police are outside working on shoveling their way in, estimating they have about twenty minutes. “We’ve got the father, the son’s safe, but the holy ghost is still alert,” Darby says, looking up and realizing they’re not safe as long as Ray is activated.

Darby and Lee head to the server room with Zoomer, who thankfully knows the passcode to get in – Ray’s birthday – 6/2/2020. Darby and Lee are in awe of the massive server farm outside the window of the small control room. “Zoomer, this is Ray,” Lee tells him. Ray appears via a projection on the glass, asking how he can help. Lee instructs him to play music, which will make it harder for him to hear their plot. With Ray distracted, Lee pulls out her laptop, and Darby inspects wires, devising a plan to hack into the servers and delete Ray’s code. Not only will this take a while, but Lee has a moment of realization. “We’re acting like we’re still outside, but we’re on the inside,” she says. “You’re saying, why build a drawbridge to the castle when you’re already in the throne room,” Darby responds, realizing that you don’t have to hack when you’re already inside. She grabs a fire extinguisher and uses it to break the glass. The wind howls from the server room into the control center. “Zoomer, you’re not going to let them ruin our game, are you?”, Ray asks, stopping the music. Lee tells Zoomer not to be afraid, putting headphones on him. She and Darby use her laptop and hand sanitizer to start a lithium battery fire, throwing the flaming device into the server farm. It quickly catches fire, one that the sprinkler system won’t be able to put out. Ray’s projection appears in the smoke as he dies. But they don’t have time to stay and watch. Darby reminds Lee that there may still be time for her and Zoomer to reach Rohan’s boat.

Darby, Lee, and Zoomer sneak up into Bill’s room, grabbing a duffel bag. Darby helps Zoomer get bundled up in snow gear. Darby opens the door to the patio, from which Lee and Zoomer can run away. “I’m not going to see you again, am I?”, Darby asks. “Not unless I need you,” Lee confirms as they hug. Darby crouches down to hug Zoomer goodbye. “You remind me very much of someone I love,” she tells him. A furious knocking at the door sends Lee and Zoomer running off into the distance.

We see the police escorting all of the guests out of the hotel, Andy remaining inside with officers who want to question him. Darby’s closing narration starts by sharing her fears that someone else will create another program like Ray, one full of mankind’s own flaws. The deaths of Bill, Rohan, and Sian are still under investigation, with courts unsure of how to assign blame. She mentions how Andy Ronson has become a reclusive figure. Lee and Zoomer haven’t been found, but if they ever are, Lee will be extradited. Darby doesn’t even know if they made it out of Iceland, but she hopes they did.

“I didn’t save Bill, but maybe I saved a piece of him from the things Bill was most afraid of, the things that kept him up at night,” Darby concludes at a book reading. She appears to have written another one about these events. The audience includes a few recognizable faces: David, Oliver, Ziba, Lu Mei, and Martin. “Bill always said that the serial killer didn’t matter. The killer was boring, predictable. What matters is the terrifying culture that produces them. The invisible sickness between the lines. The sickness now animated in algorithms that animate all of us. If nothing else, I said what he wanted said. I wrote his ending. He didn’t disappear without voice or name into the night. His story is complete. And people will remember his name. Bill Farrah.” The audience applauds.

In the final scene, we see Lee and Zoomer venture out across the expansive white wilderness. Lee finds the Zodiac and inflates the boat. She and Zoomer row out to see. She lights the flare. A ship sees it and heads in their direction.

The end.

Songs Featured in This Episode: