The episode opens with Darby Hart (Emma Corrin) approaching a bookstore, with “The End” by The Doors playing in the background. When Darby’s name and book, “The Silver Doe” are announced, the reception is poor. As she begins to explain her past, patrons get up and leave. She tells the remaining patrons about the 40,000 deaths marked as unidentified in the U.S. She says it is believed that half are accidental and the other half unsolved murders. As more patrons arrive, she talks about the unidentified death of a female in Lost Nation, Iowa, her hometown. She called Jane Doe “The Silver Doe” because she was wearing silver earrings. She claims to have hacked a government database of unidentified deaths to discover more are females than males. Believing many of the female victims were murdered by the same killer, she and Bill’s investigation may have turned up the killer’s address. The scene switches to a hotel where Bill Farrah/FANGS (Harris Dickinson) and Darby cannot agree on whether or not to break into the potential killer’s house.

Upon arrival at the killer’s address, Darby forces open the garage door while telling Bill about a missing female hacker, Lee Anderson (Brit Marling). The garage door opens as well as every garage door in the subdivision. Bill pulls into the garage before Darby closes the door. Grabbing their equipment, they head into the house, more specifically, the garage where they discover the concrete floor has been redone. After cutting through the concrete floor, they fall asleep. Upon waking, Darby notices something strange about the spandrel. Breaking down the stairs, they find an area of the floor that is nothing but dirt, with human remains. She places a ring from an evidence bag on a finger bone. They believe the remains are the killer’s wife, Patricia Bell. An armed man opens the garage door. Darby and Bill call off the names of missing women when the man fires a shot in their direction.

The scene switches back to the bookstore where Darby answers her readers’ questions. Todd (Louis Cancelmi) questions why she dedicated her book to Lee Anderson. Darby tells him that Lee was a coder who married the “King of Tech,” Andy Ronson (Clive Owen). Gloria (Alexandra Seal) asks what happened to Bill. The scene switches to Darby in a room looking at photos of a South Carolina crime scene. Ray (Edoardo Ballerini) sends her a link claiming it is from Andy Ronson. After speaking with social media friends, she opens the link to hear Ray calling her name from outside. Looking out the window, she sees the parking lot empty but Ray appears in the footage on her phone. Several knocks are followed by the doorbell ringing. Darby opens the door to find no one there but Ray appears in front of her in the footage on her phone. He says Andy invites her to his 2023 retreat two weeks from now. She reluctantly accepts. Later, Darby calls her dad (Neal Huff) to tell him about Andy’s invitation. She emerges from her apartment to find a Tesla driver (Boris Granolic) waiting. The driver drops her off at the airport where an attendant (Asha Etchison) waits to take her bag. She undergoes a health check and mouth swab before boarding the plane.

Aboard the plane, Darby meets “Gen Z’s Sherlock Holmes,” Lu Mei (Joan Chen), film producer, Martin Mitchell (Jermaine Fowler), Astronaut Sian Cruise (Alice Braga), and David Alvarez (Raul Esparza). The attendant collects their phones. Darby tells Martin that it is has been six years since she spoke to Bill. After taking pills, she falls asleep to dream about Bill in a tub of bloody water. He admits to believing they were going to die. Waking up later, she finds Bill gone. Back to the present, the plane lands in Iceland. The pilot (Jackson Loo) announces that their driver will take them to Fljot Valley. Upon arrival, Darby receives a ring key from Marius (Christopher Gurr). In her room, she dyes her hair. At dinner, Andy, Lee, and Zoomer (Kellan Tetlow) greet the the guests. Andy talks about his alternative intelligence-generated assistant, Ray, and the impact of climate change by 2070. Andy introduces Oliver (Ryan J. Haddad) and Ziba (Pegah Rerydoni). Darby watches as Bill takes a seat across from her at the table. She nearly chokes on her food. He greets her. Bill takes to Zoomer as Andy and Lee watch.

Darby joins the others in the hot spring. Martin believes the retreat is an audition for something Andy is planning. He tells Ziba that “The Silver Doe” is about FANGS and Darby’s road trip. Darby admits to knowing FANGS when he was known as Bill. Out for a walk, Bill describes Darby’s book as “art”.  She asks why he accepted Andy’s invitation. He claims to have come for Lee. She asks why he left her at the motel. He says probably fear. He confesses to loving her before returning to his room. Back in her room, Darby finds multiple images online of FANG and Lee together. Outside Bill’s room, she hears his moaning. As she walks away, she hears what sounds like him falling. He continues to moan. She walks outside to get a look inside his room. Covered in blood, Bill falls against the window. He asks her to not leave him before going unconscious.

 

A Murder At The End Of The World Cast

• Darby Hart (Emma Corrin)
• Bill Farrah/FANGS (Harris Dickinson)
• Lee Anderson (Brit Marling)
• Andy Ronson (Clive Owen)
• Ray (Edoardo Ballerini)
• Lu Mei (Joan Chen)
• Martin Mitchell (Jermaine Fowler)
• David Alvarez (Raul Esparza)
• Sian Cruise (Alice Braga)
• Zoomer (Kellan Tetlow)
• Ziba (Pegah Rerydoni)
• Oliver (Ryan J. Haddad)
• Tomas (Daniel Olson)
• Eva (Britian Selbert)
• Marius (Christopher Gurr)
• Todd (Louis Cancelmi)

A Murder At The End Of The World Review

The first 15 minutes of the episode has a “found footage” feel. Bill and Darby find human remains in a house that they believe belongs to a serial killer. Bill is already apprehensive about visiting the house but when he and Darby find themselves face-to-face with the killer, something in him changes. He leaves her and they don’t see each other again until six years later at Andy Ronson’s resort in Fljot Valley in Iceland.

Darby is helpless as she watches Bill, who is now FANG, collapse in his room. None of the guests know why Andy invited them to his retreat. Martin believes it is an audition for Andy’s next big project. Darby learns that Bill has a close relationship with Lee. The nature of the relationship is yet to be revealed.

The plot is interesting enough but the execution is a total flop. The show is tediously boring. Within an hour and 10 minutes, the story progresses at a snail’s pace. Many of the scenes add little to nothing to the story. These are nothing but filler scenes to drag out the episode.

The acting is hit-and-miss. The cinematography is decent for the most part. The writing insults the viewer’s intelligence at every turn. Even the least non-tech-savvy individual is familiar with AI, which the show refers to as “alternative intelligence”. Ray is nothing more than an AI-generated hologram with voice recognition capabilities.

I question what role climate change plays in the story. The social media aspect of the show is silly and cringeworthy. There is still time for improvement but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The pilot episode deserves a 5.5. Get more A Murder At The End Of The World recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our onsite advertising builds brand awareness click the link to learn more. Join our newly established forum to discuss the latest TV shows and films.