FX’s A Murder at the End of the World episode two dips into the past, filling in details about Darby and Bill’s relationship. The second episode, “The Silver Doe,” also reveals the death that’s at the heart of this murder mystery.
After looking through Bill’s (Harris Dickinson) window and seeing him bloody and collapsing on the ground, Darby (Emma Corrin) runs to get help from Sian (Alice Braga). That leads into a flashback of Darby as a young girl going to a crime scene with her father (Neal Huff). Her father tells her to wait in the car, but she gets out anyway and sees a body in a pond.
Back in the present, Sian attempts CPR on Bill.
Andy (Clive Owens) arrives and asks what happened, and Sian informs him she performed CPR but it was too late. Sian believes Bill overdosed on drugs and that the blood is the result of him hitting his head while having a seizure. Darby knows this can’t be right, but when she objects, Andy’s security ushers her from the room.
Andy assures Darby that he’ll contact the authorities and the US embassy.
Eva, the head of security’s wife, brings Darby back to her room, comforting her with soothing words – and sleeping pills – so she can rest. She drifts off, and we’re back in the past at another crime scene with her father where bones are discovered. Darby finds a pair of earrings and then back at the coroner’s office, she attempts to figure out who could have killed their Jane Doe.
Darby wants to continue to comb through the clues, but her dad tells her not to. He instructs her to bag up the earrings and put them in a box. “No ID, no case,” he says.
Darby can’t let it go and secretly continues to work on the case at home. She swiped the earrings and researches them online. Darby comes across “The Jane Doe Files” forum and leaves a post about finding a young woman’s skeletal remains with silver earrings.
Darby receives a message right away from Bill (who she doesn’t yet know) asking more about the earrings and why she believes they don’t actually belong to the skeleton they were found with. After Bill probes her for more information, Darby types “the dead talk to me.” Clearly, that snags his attention because he sends her a link to video chat.
In the present day, Darby wakes up after the horrendous night and finds out the other patrons are clearly unaware of what happened. Lee (Brit Marling) hugs Darby and offers her condolences. Andy joins his guests and tells them about Bill’s death, describing it as an overdose. Darby doesn’t seem convinced and Andy confirms the police will be coming to investigate.
Darby reveals she was at Bill’s window when he died and he was scared – like he was fighting for his life. As she tries to stand her ground, Sian and Lu Mei (Joan Chen) swoop in to convince her otherwise. The guests assume they will all be departing because of recent events. Andy reacts to their desire to leave by delivering a speech, warning them they’ll be quitters if they go home now. They shouldn’t give up so quickly.
The guests agree to stay.
Darby returns to her room and comes up with a plan. After clogging her toilet, she heads down to the concierge and tells him about her broken toilet. Once he leaves his desk, she uses his computer to access the security system.
Next, she visits Bill’s room to investigate his death further. Darby discovers he was injected in his dominant arm and Ray, the virtual assistant, confirms that statistics indicate people don’t usually do that. She searches his body and concludes someone killed him.
Darby discovers the used needle and uses baby powder to dust for prints. There aren’t any, which means whoever injected Bill with drugs was wearing gloves. Darby’s investigation is cut short when she’s forced to hide as Lee enters Bill’s room. Lee goes through his room, and it’s obvious she’s looking for something in particular.
Lee’s search abruptly ends when she realizes Martin (Jermaine Fowler) is delivering his presentation. Darby also joins the presentation, taking a seat next to Lee and confessing she believes Bill was killed. Darby tells her the killer is probably someone in this room.
Darby questions Lee about why she was going through Bill’s room and Lee replies that she just needed to see him with her own eyes. As they whisper to each other, Andy spots them huddled together. Lee claims she was trying to find evidence as well because she didn’t believe he died of an overdose.
Lee fills Darby in on how the security cameras work. She hints at how to hack the system.
Darby can’t figure it out, and a flashback shows her and Bill on a video call trying to work through how they can find the serial killer. Bill seems to be occupying all her time; she even talks to him during school. Darby decides to hack police records and believes she found something on a woman who survived an abduction.
When she shares what she discovered with Bill, he suggests that he should come get her and they should talk to the victim in person. Darby gets flustered by his suggestion and hangs up on him.
Later, Darby’s helping her dad when Bill calls and reveals he has something he wants her to see. He gives her directions that lead to streetlights. Darby realizes he hacked the lights as they blink in Morse code that reads, “Happy birthday Darby.”
That flashback sparked an idea and Darby takes apart an LED light, using parts to hack into the SSND system. She asks Ray if any particular numbers have any meaning to Andy and learns Andy uses his son’s birthday. Darby brings up footage of the doorbell cam outside Bill’s room and watches as other guests appear in the footage. Suddenly, she’s startled when a masked figure appears on the camera.
Darby’s investigation is interrupted when an ambulance arrives to retrieve Bill’s body. Episode two ends with a flashback to the night Darby and Bill finally met in person.
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 1 “Homme Fatal” Recap
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 3 “Survivors” Recap
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 4 “Family Secrets” Recap
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 5 “Crypt” Recap
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 6 “Crime Seen” Recap
- A Murder at the End of the World Episode 7 “Retreat” Finale Recap
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
New episodes of FX’s A Murder at the End of the World air on Tuesdays on Hulu.
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (The OA) created the series and serve as writers, directors, and executive producers. Andrea Sperling, Melanie Marnich, and Nicki Paluga also executive produce.
