Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | May 31, 2023
I had a number of reservations about Paramount+’s Fatal Attraction, but it intrigued me enough to keep watching. What I appreciated about the series was that it provided a deeper understanding of Alex (Lizzy Caplan) and her mental illness compared to the movie. It also portrayed privilege accurately, particularly that of Dan Gallagher’s (Joshua Jackson) character. While he is not the hero of Fatal Attraction — as Michael Douglas is in the movie — neither is Alex. It’s true that Dan did not deserve to go to prison for a murder he didn’t commit, but Alex did not deserve to be killed because of her mental illness (although she deserved to be in prison for killing Beth’s mother).
In the TV series, Alex is murdered, and unlike the movie, the series creates a mystery surrounding her killer’s identity. Was it Dan, who served 15 years for the murder but dedicated himself to clearing his name after being released from prison? Was it Dan’s wife, Beth (Amanda Peet), who killed Alex in the movie but acted in self-defense? Or was it someone else entirely?
The final episode, which takes place after Dan is found guilty in the past timeline and denied a rehearing in the present timeline, strongly suggests that Beth is responsible for Alex’s murder. However, it almost feels as if the showrunners initially intended for Beth to be the murderer but changed their minds at the last minute to avoid being too predictable based on the movie.
Instead, we learn that Arthur (Brian Goodman) killed Alex. Arthur was a family friend of the Gallaghers, and his wife was dying of cancer. He believed he needed to protect his friends from the danger posed by Alex, so he made the decision to kill her. This choice was likely influenced by his grief for his wife and his feelings of helplessness. He couldn’t save his wife, but he could save Beth and Dan.
Unfortunately, Dan took the blame. After Dan’s conviction, Arthur sought legal advice to turn himself in but was told that no one would believe him, which seems… unlikely. Nevertheless, Arthur found another way to help Beth: He became her romantic partner and moved in while Dan was in prison.
The revelation felt somewhat unexpected, but also anticlimactic. Beth may have appeared to be the obvious culprit, but her being the murderer would have been more satisfying, especially if it had been revealed — as the penultimate episode briefly suggested — that Beth and Alex were working together to frame Dan. However, the final episode quickly dismissed that possibility and shifted the focus to Arthur after emphasizing Beth’s frustration and helplessness.
The big twist — or at least the twist the show wanted us to perceive as significant — came in the last scene when we discover that Dan and Beth’s daughter, Ellen (Alyssa Jirrels), has developed stalker-like behavior similar to Alex based on a single conversation she had with Alex when she was 7. The twist felt contrived and more like a setup for a potential second season, which wouldn’t work — it would essentially be a female-centered You. However, the twist did assassinate the character of someone we had little reason to believe was a dangerous stalker.
Grade: The Series: B-. The Ending: D+.
