Is the Twist in 'The Crowded Room' Supposed To Be This Obvious?

By Dustin Rowles | TV | June 13, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | June 13, 2023 |

Over the weekend, I watched the initial three episodes of The Crowded Room, Tom Holland’s latest Apple TV+ series. While Holland (and Amanda Seyfried) deliver commendable performances, there’s something about the murder mystery that doesn’t quite sit right. After pondering it for about 45 seconds, it all became painfully, shockingly, ridiculously clear. An obvious twist is on the horizon — a vexing, frustrating, series-ruining twist — and what remains uncertain after three episodes is whether we, as viewers, are meant to know the twist and appreciate the forthcoming seven episodes despite it, or if The Crowded Room intends to withhold the twist until the climactic end to surprise us.

For those who haven’t yet viewed the first three episodes, let me briefly outline the unfolding events. At what point does the twist become apparent to you?

Set in Manhattan in 1979, Danny (Tom Holland) and Ariana (Sasha Lane) encounter a mysterious individual. Danny, gripping a gun, takes aim but finds himself unable to pull the trigger. Ariana snatches the weapon away, pursues the figure, and fatally shoots him. Danny is subsequently arrested. The series revolves around Detective Rya Goodwin’s (Amanda Seyfriend) interrogation of Danny, as she seeks to locate Ariana. Danny is clueless about her whereabouts and begins to unveil the chain of events that led to his arrest.

Had I been more attentive, I might have figured out the twist within the first 20 minutes. However, to be frank, the series fails to captivate fully. My focus waned.

The backstory unfolds as follows: Danny resides with his mother Candy (Emmy Rossum) and his asshole stepfather Marlin Reid (Will Chase). At home, Danny endures bullying from his stepfather, and at school, he faces torment from his peers. He also develops feelings for Annabelle (Emma Laird, arguably the highlight of both The Crowded Room and Mayor of Kingstown). He expresses his interest in her. However, Annabelle’s boyfriend and his gang pursue Danny, resulting in a vicious beatdown. In the midst of the assault, a mysterious figure named Yitzhak (Lior Raz) intervenes and drives away the assailants. Yitzhak not only offers Danny shelter to clean up but also invites him to live in his house alongside another wayward teenager, Ariana.

Yitzhak is seldom present, yet Danny and Ariana forge a friendship based on shared trauma. A couple of years later, Danny reconnects with Annabelle, who returns to the house. Passion ensues between Annabelle and Danny, but Ariana swiftly interrupts. It morphs into a sort of threesome, albeit with Danny mostly observing while Ariana and Annabelle engage. The next morning, however, Danny is bewildered by Annabelle’s apparent exclusive interest in him, as though she hadn’t spent the previous night with Ariana.

Once again, this is another place where the twist should have been evident had I been more focused. However, it truly crystallizes by the end of the third episode. In that particular episode, Danny procures a gun for Ariana to help her to cope with the unnamed man who had sexually abused her. Ultimately, we discover that the man whom Ariana shot and killed is none other than Danny’s stepfather, Marlin. The detective asks why Ariana would want to murder Danny’s stepfather.

Ah.

At that moment, everything becomes clear. However, what remains uncertain is whether the viewer is supposed to possess this understanding, which most of you have probably already deduced. Spoiler: Ariana is an alter ego of Danny’s, a fragmented personality he created to grapple with the trauma of his own sexual abuse. Yitzhak is likely another alter as well. Ariana deals with Danny’s experiences of sexual abuse, while Yitzhak harbors his rage. There may be other personalities present, or there might be in the future. After all, it’s called The Crowded Room; the room likely refers to Danny’s mind.

Am I absolutely certain about this revelation? No, but also yes: The series is loosely based on the book The Minds of Billy Milligan.

With seven episodes left, will this be akin to that season of Dexter featuring the Doomsday Killer (Colin Hanks), where viewers deduced that Edward James Olmos was his Dark Passenger several episodes before they were meant to realize it? Are we intended to watch the subsequent seven episodes, oblivious to the obvious twist, until its revelation in the finale? Or are we meant to already possess knowledge of the twist and derive our enjoyment not from the mystery but from the performances of Amanda Seyfried, Tom Holland, and Emmy Rossum?

I have a nagging suspicion that it’s the latter, which suggests that The Crowded Room is not merely a mediocre character study but a laughably poor murder mystery. And this is the series that prompted Holland to take a year-long break from acting?