'Your Friends & Neighbors': Who Framed Andrew for that Murder?

Spoilers for Your Friends & Neighbors

At the end of this week’s episode of Your Friends & Neighbors — the penultimate episode of the season — Andrew Cooper (Jon Hamm), while out on a run after seeing his wife, Mel (Amanda Peete), starts putting the pieces together. He flashes back to moments from the past few months related to the murder of Paul Levitt — and how he was ultimately framed for it — and suddenly, it all clicks.

“So, the question wasn’t ‘how did this happen to me?’” he says in voiceover. “The only real question is: How the f**k did I not see it coming?”

Andrew Cooper now knows who framed him. And while the audience hasn’t been fully let in on the reveal, the picture is beginning to take shape. During the montage, I was reminded of a moment from episode five, when Elena Benavides (Aimee Carrero) — the housekeeper turned reluctant partner — confronted Coop after the art dealer assaulted him: “You just want what they took from you because all you know how to be is rich. You have no idea what a real struggle is. The shit that you complain about? Most people… they would kill for it.”

Yeah. “Most people,” including Elena. It’s all starting to make sense now, isn’t it?

“I’ve been cleaning houses for 10 years. I’ve seen some women do it into their 70s. Sometimes, it feels like not taking the shortcut is the bigger crime,” Elena said to Coop back in episode four when she agreed to team up with him. Elena’s desperate — she needs cash to help her brother out of trouble and bring her parents to the U.S.

So, she orchestrates the Birkin bag theft — along with Hector — knowing another dog would sniff it out. She saves Coop from the cops, gains his trust, and links up with Lou. Together, they coordinate the setup with Christian, the art dealer. We haven’t seen the full play yet, but I’d bet Elena came up with the plan to steal and sell the art. While working with Christian, Coop conveniently catches him roughing up Elena, throws a punch, and blows up the deal. Who ends up with the art? Christian, Lou, and Elena — no doubt. Remember, Lou ran a background check on Coop: she knew everything about him, including where he lived and who he was stealing from.

Next move: Elena, Lou, and Christian plot the murder of Paul Levitt. Elena likely knew Coop would be there that night — he needed the money, and Samantha was out of town. Not long after Coop and Mel’s Princeton trip, Coop goes to his trunk for an umbrella and gets jumped by Christian’s guys. Then he’s arrested, and a gun is found in his car. Is it the same gun Elena pointed at him at Nick’s place — the one she said was hers? Maybe. Or maybe it’s the one Lou pulled on him at her pawn shop. (Those guns looked suspiciously similar.)

Before the police even served the warrant on Coop’s house, Elena had already stolen the cash hidden in his wall — the same money she used to pay off Chiva’s debts. And she still has the proceeds from the stolen painting to help her parents.

Coop walked right into the trap. Because even after confronting the hollowness of his wealth, he still underestimated people like Elena — people who aren’t just what they seem.

“Be careful how you speak to me,” Felix warned Elena after she handed him the money from Coop’s stash.

“This is me being careful,” she replied, cool as ever. Because she’s been pulling the strings all along.