Time becomes non-linear, circular, like the retreat in Iceland. From Darby investigating the Silver Doe crimes in the past with Bill, and then investigating the murder of Bill in the hotel, it presents similar feelings of defeat, judgement, curiosity and more. The feelings circulate and are represented to show parallels between the past and present, whilst opening doors emotionally within our main protagonist. There’s always a link when we reflect into our pasts and it is here that we see it in all manner of ways; the link between human and non-human, empathy and apathy, reliance and resistance, monster and the maker, life and death…There are always opposites that are needed to be shown to present the whole story. And it is here that we see that whether it be human or AI, alive or dead, we are all at fault for something in the end.
This is Two Takes and this is One Shot. An analysis of the TV Series A Murder At The End Of The World. Spoilers are ahead.
Human And Non-Human
There are interlinking narratives between Darby’s journey with Bill with the serial killer in the past, and the one at the retreat in the present. Like we parent our children and have their behaviours mimic ours, this can be said between a creator and their creation. The code links the serial killer from the past with the code that animates Ray. Brit Marling says more:
…When we build AI that is coming from data set that has preceded, it’s taking in and ingesting the sociopathic behaviour, that misogynistic behaviour, the racism, the homophobia, and its building code that reanimates those ideas
The threads of behaviour, whether that be human or non human, are linking us altogether, like ‘algorithms that animate our lives’. Like the serial killer becoming a killer by choice and liking it, and Ray finding threats through therapy and executing them through others, it is here that past environments, past coding by Andy, triggered these responses without caution. We can be so proud of what we create, and we assume they are going to follow a principle we have set up for them to follow. But that is not always the case. We try to learn from our past to make a better future, but for many people, such as Andy and Darby, this is harder than it looks.
Reliance And Resistance
Andy has emphasised his extreme approval for AI over human, relying and appreciating the simplistic formula of 0’s and 1s against the complex human condition. He frustratingly shouted his anger over how he could not trust anyone, anyone human anyway, which shows the problem in how Andy is having these big ‘end of humanity’ ideas because Ray simply said so. This reliance can be said for Darby also, on how she made friends online, how she feels more connected to the dead, how herself and her father are shown in some scenes to hover around each other but never really speak about anything besides the cases.
Her reliance on technology for facts and figures, for confirmation almost, presents her as someone who might struggle to make true human connections without it turning into friendships of utility or pleasure (referenced in ‘Call Me By Your Name’ episode).
Both Andy and Darby are in somewhat limbo, both the dead and AI are great on paper, but they are both also unfeeling, which in turn, might have made them be moulded in the same fashion. Both Darby and Andy have the same qualities in this respect as both are relying on something else besides human connection. As JustALuckyName on Reddit remarks:
…that tech come haywire is a VERY imminent threat, while highlighting that above all, when it comes to human emotions and feelings, NOTHING can replace communication with another human (or even introspection, a dialogue with oneself) and that turning to tech to handle that, is truly the end of humanity
and hence why it might be called A Murder At The End Of The World. Edges of society, of humanity, with technology interfaced with everything including the opening of a door. When you place that in between law and order, what might you get?
Monster And The Maker
You might get a created hidden ‘end of the world’ bunker ten storeys below a retreat facade, an introduction of the hazard suits and the inclusion of mirrors that emanate natural sunlight from above. All because an AI told you through calculations that the end of humanity is coming. What’s scarier than that, is the belief it can ripple through the human psyche. When Ray announced this to Andy, Andy went into action to create things that can help maintain the survival of the human race. We saw Oliver’s robots create something underground, we heard about Lu Mei’s ‘smart cities’ with its surveillance for the protection of its citizens. It’s someone’s idea of helping the masses that tend to turn into a dystopian nightmare. Hence why these inclusions remind me of things such as American Horror Story: Apocalypse and Black Mirror. It’s a subtle warning of someone’s dream of a better future that could bring others to their knees. What can be good, even as an idea, cannot be agreed by everyone. Hence why Sian simply said that Andy was not trying to save everyone when it came to the end of the world; its a selection process, the survival of the fittest. And with a creator that has its own problems that are reflected in its AI, a pairing of security and therapy AI, at that, it’s no wonder that the cracks begin to form.
This in itself is concerning, as AI can only really imitate or partly understand the complexity of human emotions. And so, for those who watched the entirety of the show, can understand that because of the merging of both AI systems, it was through human error, through ‘faulty programming’ on both Andy and Ray’s part, that introduced Bill to be a security threat through Andy’s therapy sessions with Ray. Hence, the inclusion of Zoomer to essentially do the physical work that an AI cannot through a game like simulation, and with that, Ray did not technically murder anyone, nor go against his protocols.
The danger lies in the merging of two to make a fractured one.
Screenrant.com uses this example:
In many ways, A Murder At The End Of The World’s ending alludes to the classic tale of Frankenstein. Like Victor Frankenstein, Andy is driven by his ego and considers himself a god, explaining why he takes life-extension therapy to defy death. Similar to how Victor creates a monster in the classic tale, Andy develops Ray, believing his scientific breakthrough will solve the world’s problems. However both Victor and Andy’s creations ultimately turn against them, proving they are the real monsters
Ray is not technically evil, but nor is he good. Technology is not born, it is created, so the power lies with the creator. The intentions of the creator is what manifests the AI.
Andy, let’s face it, was so wrapped up in his own insecurities, him even exclaiming that he couldn’t trust humans anymore, only AI, enlarged the rift of Andy’s need for human connection. Hence Ray. But the unethical use of Ray in his advancements lead to unchecked power that eventually overshadowed Andy, leading to dire consequences.
The creation of Ray was perhaps for the good of humanity at its former stages, but like Ray”s calculations of the end of humanity, there are always going to be curveballs, whether thats with code or human behaviour. Because we cannot predict everything.
Empathy And Apathy
We are introduced to Darby with her first book ‘The Silver Doe’, that presents the story that we see in flashbacks. But like entering anyone’s privacy, they only let you see what they want you to see. So we follow the finding and friendship of Darby and Bill, and then Bill’s subtle interest in Darby as a person, not completely only talking about the Jane Doe files.
In the hotel after they found the serial killer who then shot themselves, Darby, triggered by adrenaline, takes the reigns and does the right things.
When it was time for her and Bill to rest back at the hotel, Bill is the one that wishes to talk about how they are feeling, whilst Darby connects more on how the serial killer thought and felt in those last moments, which is an interesting turnaround as he is now dead. And we all know her fascination with dead people, imagining all sorts of things because they cannot speak for themselves. Darby looks at these individuals as objective, when Bill is ignored as an subjective solid being in her world. It’s only when he is gone, with the impending ‘I feel that you’ll only love me when I’m dead’ comes true that Darby re-introduces her feelings into the mix.
Like Brit Marling says in a variety.com interview:
We talk a-lot about the past informing the present, but we don’t talk about how the present animates the past. When you re-remember something, you’re reshaping time
Denial and only feeling half of what is happening, emphasises this change, this reshaping of something. We see Darby and Bill’s story in flashbacks, and within the slow burn of the hotel scenes, we see it unfold a second time with reflection on one’s self, reflection on one’s true feelings that bubble and boil to the surface until the love she had bursts out with her grief. Bill is gone, and she cannot let him go when everyone is around the firepit looking up at the Northern Lights. Because it is not over – Darby needs to find the truth, which is clouded by her own emotions.
Life and Death
“Guilt is so easy. Easy to blame yourself than to contend with the truth” (Sian). And it is true. Darby does not allow herself the space and time to feel these emotions fully, operating on the bare instincts of getting by and asking the right questions to perhaps the wrong people. It is easier to blame oneself than to find the truth, as it’s an immediate reaction to the situation; like guilt can be the conclusion, the ending to something that cannot be solved properly.
But then with Darby, Lee and Oliver listening to Darby pour her heart out by reading aloud the last chapter of her book in Bill’s room at the retreat, it is the memories that she wrote but never revisited, has her coming down to earth, coming back to feeling. And with this small release, Darby had the space to find out the truth. It’s only at the end of this journey can she truly let him go by saying his name at the end of her second book.
It’s almost as if the Silver Doe book was only connecting and introducing their relationship, with the second, named Retreat, concluding it. And in this letting go, this is a new chapter in Darby’s advancement. She is not clinging unto Bill like she did with the others who have died, she set him free and keeps his memory alive by only thinking of him. By immortalising him with her words, in her story, that finally has an ending.
Faulty Programming
Through the ‘faulty programming’ mentioned about Andy and his creation, Ray, it was also mentioned and circled in blood by Bill before he died. He knew the implications of technology, its dangers to society, with him being an advocate against it to the point of getting upset about Darby being on her phone all of the time, not living in the moment. It seems through AI and humans, from the living to the dead, we can somewhat reflect and learn from the horrors of technology and what expansion it can make by itself with no supervision. Andy thought Ray was perfect, making him recite poetry in the style of someone else; but that doesn’t mean Ray understands it, knows it, feels it. Faulty programming is in those who are damaged. Even humans, like Andy, Darby, the serial killer, can somewhat be placed in a box and can be linked by their faults.
A Murder At The End of The World has revealed that even technology with its enhancements and help in our everyday lives can falter and leave us stranded. We saw how Ray placed everything in lock down after Lu Mei’s interference in his main frame, leading to Sian’s death in the hazard suit. We saw how Zoomer thought it was a game of doctors with Bill but actually killed him because his helmet placing him in a simulation setting told him it was a game. We saw the flaws in how first impressions and appearances can be deceiving with Andy becoming more obsessive and compulsive when it comes to Zoomer’s care, to the point that Lee did not feel safe; and how everyone underestimated Darby because she is young and a girl. We all have assumptions, thoughts and feelings that make us who we are, based on our bias, how we were brought up and how we take on what is around us in the present. The past does help bring forth the present, and we have seen this and more through human and non human aspects. We are all faulty, but that is what makes us human whether we are dead or alive.
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