In DTF St. Louis, meteorologist Clark Forrest was arrested for the murder of his friend and colleague, Floyd Smernitch. According to the toxicology report, someone had laced Floyd's canned beverage with doses of pharmaceutical-grade amphetamine, triggering cardiac arrest and causing his death. Over the course of the investigation, Detectives Homer and Plumb uncovered security camera footage confirming that Clark was at the crime scene at the time of the murder; furthermore, his phone records revealed that he was having an affair with Floyd's wife, Carol Love—providing him with a motive to commit the crime.
Thus, armed with compelling evidence, Detective Homer arrested Clark at his own news station and took him into custody to face trial. However, the second episode turned the investigation completely on its head, as Detective Plumb discovered that it was not Clark who had initiated the affair. On the contrary, it was Floyd's wife, Carol, who may have set a "honey trap" for Clark, seeking a way to escape her unhappy marriage. But if that were the case, why didn't she simply ask Floyd for a divorce? Why go to such extremes and murder him? Well, the episode didn't answer that particular question, but it did reveal many other things; so, without further ado, let's dive right in.
Creator: Steve Conrad
Stars: Jason Bateman, David Harbour, Linda Cardellini
One aspect to keep in mind with this type of mystery and suspense series is that a large portion of the details presented to us are nothing more than red herrings. The initial episodes never offer a complete picture of the facts and devote all their time to trying to throw us off the scent; however, unfortunately, that is all the information we have available at the moment, so we must work with it. The second episode suggested that Carol was unhappy in her marriage to Floyd; He had strived enormously to land a decent job, but every job interview he attended turned out worse than the last.
The trouble was, Floyd was an artist. He wasn't cut out for the corporate world, but simply being an artist isn't enough to pay the bills, is it? In the past, Floyd used to pose as a model for an adult magazine, but now that he was a family man, he couldn't continue doing that anymore. He tried his hand at various jobs, but none of them panned out—and it was Carol who had to pay the price for his failure. On top of her day job, Carol had to take on extra work to keep the family afloat; even so, it wasn't enough. She was making too many sacrifices for Floyd—and you could say he appreciated it—but Carol didn't want to spend the rest of her life living that way. That was when Clark entered her life.
A week after Floyd started working at WTGK, he and Carol invited Clark and his wife, Eimy, to a backyard cornhole party. During their first conversation, Clark told Carol that, in addition to delivering the weather forecast, he also owned an underwater demolition company (we don't know if this was true, or if Clark was simply trying to impress Carol). In Carol's eyes, Clark seemed like a man who knew what he wanted out of life and who had it all figured out. He was rich, famous, and successful—everything she wished Floyd could be. But, beyond that, in Clark she saw a man who could be easily manipulated.
Clark had mentioned to Carol that he was a regular customer at Jamba Juice—a spot that, coincidentally, happened to be located right next door to Carol's workplace: the corporate headquarters of Purina. But, you see, Carol wasn't desperate. She liked Clark, but she didn't want to cheat on Floyd—at least not until things got really ugly. Floyd’s fourteen-year-old car finally gave out, and Carol offered to lend him hers—which meant she would have to take the bus to work. I know it was Carol’s decision, and that she was the one willing to make that sacrifice, but Floyd shouldn’t have accepted. I mean, he isn’t the type of person to overthink things, but he should have at least taken into account all the sacrifices Carol was already making to keep the family afloat.
As a husband, Carol expected certain things from him; but when Floyd failed to meet those expectations, Carol decided she needed a change. I suppose that was the only thing on her mind as she sat on the bus on her way to work; and when she spotted Clark’s sign on the street, she couldn’t resist stopping in at Jamba Juice—where she fully expected to run into him. Instead of ordering her usual drink, she ordered the one Clark typically bought for himself; and when he spotted Carol sitting in a corner, he couldn’t help but strike up a conversation. The two of them began seeing each other frequently.
Alright, first things first. The series dropped numerous hints suggesting that Detective Homer was sexist, homophobic, and somewhat old-fashioned. Perhaps he wanted to crack one last high-profile case before retiring—which might explain why he was in such a rush to wrap up the investigation and bring Clark to trial for Floyd's murder. Homer knew he wouldn't be able to handle the wife—or perhaps he simply didn't want to have to deal with a woman—and, consequently, he asked Detective Plumb to interview Carol in his stead. Worst of all, he didn't even remember Plumb's name when making the request, calling her "Twyla" instead.
During the interview, Carol told Plumb that Clark had lied to her about his demolition business. Well, that’s something we haven't been able to confirm yet, but that business was, without a doubt, the element that piqued Carol's curiosity—hence why she brought it up during the conversation. Next, she assured Plumb that it was Clark who had taken the initiative in their relationship. Well: yet another lie. The second episode had already made it clear that it was Carol who initiated the extramarital affair; therefore, she was lying brazenly and doing her utmost to intimidate Plumb.
I suppose Plumb was more accustomed to office work, which would explain why she appeared so nervous during the interview. Carol even lied about the whole incident at Jamba Juice, claiming she had run into Clark by chance, when in reality, the exact opposite had occurred. She was waiting for him there with the drink he occasionally ordered—a detail that served to break the ice and ease the tension between them. Later, Plumb discovered that Carol always ordered the *Watermelon Breeze*—with the exception of that one strange day when she requested the *Go-Getter*. Plumb pieced things together and deduced that Carol had set a trap to initiate an affair with Clark—a realization that left her with a lingering question: *Why?*
Before leaving, Plumb asked if she could take a look at Floyd’s belongings; it was there, specifically, that she found a box filled with old magazines for which Floyd used to model. It turned out that the torn-out page found near Floyd’s body had come from one of those very adult magazines. However, she still couldn't figure out why someone—perhaps Floyd himself—had crossed out his face in the photograph. One might assume that Floyd hated the things he had done in the past, or perhaps despised the person he was on the inside; but surely there was something he could have done to change those feelings? This also raises the possibility that Floyd poisoned himself because he no longer wanted to be a disappointment to his family.
Detective Homer’s investigation revealed that Clark had befriended Floyd—and we use the word friend in the most genuine sense—and had grown close to him after Carol told him that she was still in love with her husband and wanted to end their affair. This provides Clark with another motive for killing Floyd: he wanted to get him out of the way so he could have the girl. However, there is another way to look at things.
During Floyd’s concert, Carol mentioned to Clark that she was concerned about Floyd’s weight and wished he would get back in shape. So, perhaps that was the reason Clark suggested they work out together: so Floyd could lose some weight—something that, indirectly, would have made Carol happy. Or perhaps Clark knew all along that Floyd was attracted to men, which is why he created a profile for him on a dating app—so he could have a little fun and enjoy life. On September 14th, Carol broke up with Clark via text message; Shortly thereafter, Clark sent a message to Floyd inviting him—along with his family—to a social gathering where, finally, he spoke to Floyd about the DTF app.
Homer claimed that this could not be a coincidence. But what if Clark was actually trying to help Floyd come out of the closet? The reason I posit these two scenarios is that Clark had no intention of leaving his wife and daughters; therefore, he knew that his affair with Carol would have to end sooner or later. Furthermore, at the end of the first episode, Floyd himself confessed to Clark that he was aware of his affair with Carol, yet he appeared quite unperturbed by it. Once again, this could be because he was attracted to men and, quite likely, asked Clark to help him arrange a sexual encounter—which would explain why Clark told him about the DTF app and helped him set up his profile.
At the end of the second episode—set hours after Clark’s arrest—we find Eimy watching the news coverage regarding her husband. The police had already revealed the information that Clark was having an affair with the victim's wife. At that very moment, Eimy received a call from the Sheriff's Department; however, she was still processing the news and did not answer. We don't know whether she will decide to help Clark or not, but one thing is certain: Clark is in deep trouble, and the only person capable of saving him from the death penalty is Detective Jodie Plumb. I believe Plumb has a fairly clear idea of what Floyd was going through while he was alive. A rather jovial guy—who hid his true self from the world—stumbled upon an app through which he could, at last, express himself freely. But before this free bird could take his first flight, someone shot him down, for escaping his cage would not prove so simple after all.
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