I don’t know what to say.
What was that? No, but seriously, what was it?
This formerly great series ended abruptly withIn The Dark Season 4 Episode 13. It genuinely pains me to my core to say that it was unequivocally one of the worst finales I’ve ever witnessed.
In the Dark has always been a series that has dabbled into so many different realms that it never knew fully what it wanted to be. And the cabin sequence of events felt like something pulled from a two-bit horror flick.
It genuinely sucks to see this series fizzle away into this. In hindsight, the longer the season progressed, the easier it was to accept that the series had to end.
After a finale like that, I don’t know if this series had any more gas in the tank to pull off another season that would be remotely watchable. The series had already lost much of its appeal and luster over the past couple of seasons because of some questionable storylines, content, and execution.
Frankly, with the events of this installment that managed to fly by quickly, I truly wish the series had ended with In the Dark Season 4 Episode 12.
It would’ve been a tragic ending with Max’s death, but we would’ve had all the characters involved in the installment. Murphy would’ve earned her freedom but at the high cost of losing Josh, and it was a visually stunning, emotional hour.
I don’t know what to say about this one. The opening moments with a depressed Murphy were great. Murphy’s speech at Max’s funeral elicited the emotions you’d expect from the scene.
Perry Mattfeld exemplified the vengeful, grieving woman who lost her purpose. The emotions she conveyed in those scenes were enthralling, so much so that it was misleading.
Her performance during the funeral made me excited about what the rest of the hour would entail because she was delivering on the emotions. However, not even Mattfeld’s skill could salvage the insipid writing that took over the rest of the finale.
By now, I’m just looking forward to Mattfeld and Krantz’s next projects, so I can thoroughly enjoy them in things that rise to their skillset and talent. It’s what they and their fans deserve.
In a series that has likely gotten accused of jumping the shark dozens of times for some of its batshit crazy storylines and zany plots, none of those compare to Murphy stabbing Josh to death in a deserted cabin like some scene out of a Z-list horror movie.
It’s not that we didn’t want Josh to die or face some form of consequence for his actions, but this wasn’t the way at all. Unfortunately, there was nothing remotely satisfying about it.
For context, it was tough when the series got word that they were not getting renewed amid filming the season. However, it still feels like there was enough time to entertain something suitable to the characters or appealing to the viewers.
I was just told that I need to find a reason, I need to find a purpose, well I’ve found one. I’ve found one. I am going to find the person who did this, and I am going to make them pay for what they’ve done.
Murphy
As far as finales go, this hasn’t achieved either of those goals, and it’s incredibly disappointing. It feels like a disservice to the fans who have devoted four years of their life to this show and these characters.
It feels like it lets down the actors who have worked so hard to bring these characters and stories to life. Honestly, it feels like somewhere along the way, the writers or whoever threw in the towel upon news of cancellation and didn’t even try to give us something satisfactory.
More than anything, that’s what probably hurts the most. A good series finale will make you want to relive the entire series again. You’ll feel the urge to start from the beginning to enjoy the storytelling trajectory and the characters’ journey.
As much as these characters will stick in one’s mind and hold a special place in our hearts, it’s doubtful many will want to revisit this. It’ll only serve as a reminder of how a unique series went off the rails and then crashed and burned with its ending.
If anything, I’m left mourning the loss of potential and what could’ve been, and that’s never a fun place to be after four years of devotion. After Max’s death, Murphy only had vengeance on her mind. The idea of Josh getting his comeuppance has fueled the fandom for most of the season.
Her steely delivery about getting payback was enough to wipe the disturbing smirk off of Josh’s face and send him hightailing out of Max’s funeral as he arranged his escape.
Josh was unhinged, disturbing, and despicable. Naturally, whenever you thought he’d reach a new low, he’d find a trap door and dive through it.
It takes a terrible person to show up at the funeral of someone you got killed to gloat and smirk the whole time. Seeing his facial expressions during such a somber occasion was sickening, and his lack of remorse was enough to enrage anyone.
Murphy needed a reason for living, and she settled on vengeance. It was perfectly normal for her to fixate on revenge.
I know we’ve done some very bad things in our lives, and I know you’ve seen more death than the average Joe, but you’ve never actually killed someone. Murphy, Max loved you. He loved you so much. He would not want you to spend the rest of your life behind bars on his account. He’d want you to live your life.
Felix
However, her steps toward it were concerning. She used that rage and got Josh’s identity as the caller from McKay. But Murphy wanted blood instead of going to the police about that — something that McKay should’ve shared amid all of this.
But she didn’t even have a feasible, realistic plan. Yes, Murphy was acting on emotion rather than rationale. Still, the storyline would’ve had more teeth to it if she had taken a more calculated approach to execute her vengeance.
Of course, the problem was that they spent this final hour trying to cram things in and simply make plots happen whether they made sense or not.
Murphy waking up and heading to Josh’s apartment with a butcher knife was ridiculous. She couldn’t even see, so how did she expect to get the jump on Josh and stab him to death in his sleep?
The butcher knife serving as her weapon of choice all the way to the end was absurd. But, of course, if the idea was never to show Murphy shooting a gun at a person because it gave credence to how insane it was that people thought she killed Nia, then something should’ve at least come from that.
We got all the way to the end, and Josh, the police, people who seemingly mattered, still never found out the truth about Jess shooting Nia instead of Murphy doing it.
Josh grew too unhinged for the truth to ever matter to him, but given that one of the things viewers held out for was Josh actually learning the truth and having to eat his words, not getting that was incredibly disappointing.
Murphy stated that she didn’t use to be a killer until Josh made her one. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. But by then, Josh was scrambling for his life and not paying attention, so it didn’t matter.
And Murphy bringing a butcher knife to a gunfight highlighted how stupid this whole thing was. If not for Felix’s presence, however contrived they made it for this situation, Josh would’ve shot Murphy right then and there.
Felix is Murphy’s ride or die until the end, and that’s something the series stayed true to even when objectively, Felix didn’t have any reason to be still loyal to a fault to Murphy.
However, it was ludicrous that he drove Murphy all the way to the cabin under the guise that she had regained some sanity and simply wanted to talk to him.
Felix isn’t an idiot, so it’s frustrating that they made him that way “for plot.” His attempt to get Josh to go along with things was on brand for him.
Felix: I know I’m not Max, but, you have me. I need you. You’re kind of like my everything. Not like, you’re my best friend. You’re my only friend.
Murphy: And what has that gotten you?
However, it was also absurdly contrived and clunky to have Felix begging Murphy not to kill Josh and then walking out of the cabin, leaving her with someone who could do anything to fight for his life as she killed him.
Of course, it was an attempt to protect and shelter Felix. He has spent the entire series with some version of innocence and purity, as much as a character can possess in this series.
Allowing Felix to escape the whole situation meant he was unsullied by it. However, it simply didn’t make any sense or feel authentic.
Felix is an enabler, but he left her alone in a cabin with no phone service and a psychopath. In what universe would that make any sense?
Instead, he was there to pick her up at the dumpster, a callback to the beginning of the series, as Murphy smoked a cigarette and tossed out her trademark coat.
And then he acted as if he wasn’t sure if Murphy actually did anything or not. They moved on from that and rode off into the sunset together as best friends and each other’s person.
Maybe it’s a semi-fitting ending for Murphy, who will always have the love and support of Felix. But it’s not exactly the most ideal one for Felix. Although, they attempted to give more credence to why this ending worked for them when Felix made his plea to Murphy to live for him.
He contextualized his relationship with Murphy and what he actually gets from their friendship. Sadly, they never spent enough time throughout the series digging into why Felix values this friendship so much and gains something from it.
Lip service at the end doesn’t compensate for not exploring that deeper beyond “pathetic Felix helplessly in love with Murphy to his detriment.”
In fact, Felix’s hopeless crush on Murphy seemed to evaporate into thin air.
Leslie, who spent the past two seasons stepping into the role that Jess left, also disappeared into thin air for most of the finale.
We didn’t get any reaction from her about Max, which felt odd. And she was gone outside of supporting Murphy briefly and reminding her brother not to enable Murphy’s vengeance. It feels like there are many loose ends with her character that we’ll just never know.
You turned me into the psychopath that you thought I was.
Murphy
It was a relief that nothing came from Sarah’s boastful response to Trey, and Darnell survived the finale. However, we only saw him for two seconds, and that was it. Again, it was an unsatisfying end for such a fan-favorite character.
Gene and Sarah didn’t even really show up, which was bizarre. Instead of Murphy going psycho on Josh in a cabin, it would’ve been nice if Gene and CPD got to arrest Josh.
They’ve enabled him for so long, and they were largely the reason that he went off the deep end. It would’ve been satisfying if they took accountability for him and were forced to do their jobs and rein in the monster they created.
Ironically, they should’ve already known or figured out that Josh was the one who tipped McKay off. Murphy’s speech at the funeral was outright threatening.
Now Josh is dead at his cabin, and surely, Murphy’s fingerprints are all over the place. It feels like all roads lead to Murphy killing Josh.
The moment they find his body, she should be the primary suspect, but Murphy and Felix are driving into the sunset as if they don’t have a care in the world.
With an installment that excluded many prominent characters, it’s not a surprise that Jess simply never reappeared again. But it remains disappointing how incomplete her story feels.
As for Murphy, after all this time of people assuming the worst in her, it seems she’s leaned into it. It’s something poetic about that, for sure.
We also know that she doesn’t open up to people, and Max brought out something in her that no one else could. With him gone, so is that part of her. We can already see her slipping into her poor vices, and they squeezed in a few callbacks in that regard.
Maybe, in its own way, this finale was meant to be full circle for Murphy. Perhaps, she’s right back where she started, or worse off even.
She knows what love is now, but she lost it and is actually a killer. But I can’t in good conscience say anything is satisfying about that ending.
Instead, what used to be a unique, fun, interesting series, went out with a whimper rather than a bang.
Over to you, In the Dark Fanatics. What are your thoughts on this finale? Sound off below.
You can watch In The Dark online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.