The Intriguing Mystery of A Murder At The End Of The World

Unveiling the Enigma

A Murder at the End of the World's opening moments reveal how Bill and Darby track a serial killer, but the killer's real identity remains a mystery. Since the FX series goes back and forth between Darby's past and present timelines, it is hard not to wonder whether the 'silver doe' murders have something to do with Andy Ronson's retreat. Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij are known for creating mind-bending shows like Netflix's The OA that cleverly connect the dots between their seemingly unrelated story threads. Owing to this, there may be more to the 'silver doe' murders in Darby's past timeline than meets the eye.

Emma Corrin as Darby & Harris Dickinson in A Murder At The End Of The World

In A Murder at the End of the World's opening arc, Darby (played by Emma Corrin of The Crown's fame) reads the ending of her book, recalling the turning point of her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Bill. She recounts how the two of them found the address of a serial killer they had been chasing for a long time. According to the account in Darby's book, they even found a dead body in the killer's basement and confronted a man who showed up in the basement with a gun. However, before Darby can reveal more about the killer, A Murder at the End of the World returns to its present timeline, leaving viewers curious about the killer's identity.

Harris Dickinson as Bill and Emma Corrin as Darby in A Murder at the End of the World

A Murder at the End of the World's initial episodes do not reveal how Darby and Bill found the Silver Doe killer's address. However, they highlight how the two found one of his victim's bodies in his basement and confronted him when he pointed his gun at them. As the show progresses, it removes the tapestry surrounding the killer's identity, revealing how his first victim was Patricia Bell, his wife. When Darby reports the crime to the killer's neighbor in A Murder at the End of the World's episode 6, she learns that his name was Frank Bell and that he was a policeman.

Emma Corrin as Darby, Clive Owen as Andy Ronson, and Brit Marling as Lee in A Murder at the End of the World

The Unraveling Truth

Frank Bell somehow figures out there is someone in the basement of his old home. Although Darby later believes that he was likely following their online investigation, she has no evidence to back her suspicion. After spotting Bill and Darby in the basement, Frank Bell's first reaction is to point his gun at them. However, when Darby and Bill start reciting the names of his victims, he realizes that he has finally been caught. Therefore, instead of firing his gun at Darby or Bill, he shoots himself, likely due to the fear of suffering the legal consequences of his horrible actions.

Darby seems unaffected by her encounter with the killer, but Bill gets traumatized by their brush with doom. Even when Bill tries to discuss how he feels about the incident, Darby seems too fixated on the killer's motives and how he might have tracked them. Infuriated by Darby's obsession with the killer, Bill says that his motives do not matter because he was likely 'the result of faulty programming.' By calling the killer a consequence of 'faulty programming,' Bill seems to metaphorically imply that he was likely hardwired by several environmental and psychological factors.

In A Murder at the End of the World's present timeline, Darby reads the final arc from Bill's copy of her book and recalls the day they came face to face with the Silver Doe killer. When she is done reading, Oliver notices that Bill specifically highlighted 'the result of faulty programming' in the book. Considering A Murder at the End of the World's criticism of unchecked technological developments, it seems like Bill was not being metaphorical when he marked that line. This could mean that Bill's murder in A Murder at the End of the World likely had something to do with Andy Ronson's AI assistant, Ray, and the discrepancies in his programming.