Death and Other Details is Hulu’s latest foray into the murder mystery genre—and after just a few episodes (the first two dropped on Jan. 15 with the rest airing on a weekly basis), we already have an ever-growing list of suspects.
Now, it’s up to us—and Imogene (God Friended Me’s Violent Beane), Rufus Cotsworth (Mandy Patinkin) and Interpol’s finest Hilde Eriksen (Linda Emond)—to figure out who the killer is.
It’s a tall task considering the plethora of possibilities, with so many people aboard the luxury liner, Varuna, having motives and acting rather suspiciously, in addition to people not being who they say they are. Not to mention that we’re not only solving one murder, we’re trying to solve two in one as Rufus determined that the killer responsible for murdering Imogene’s mother via a car detonator (which she witnessed at just 11 years old) is likely the same person responsible for taking out Keith Trubitsky, whose real identity is Danny Tuner, Rufus’ former assistant who was trying to help him solve the case that he kicked opened 18 years ago, once and for all.
Did Keith get too close to the truth? Was he onto someone? Did he see something that got him killed?
The motive behind Keith/Danny’s deaths is less clear, though he did ruffle a few feathers during his short-lived time on the open seas.
There’s a world of characters on board, all of whom are hiding their fair share of secrets, but there are a few that are looking a lot guiltier than others after just a few episodes. We’ll be updating this post as the series continues with all of our new findings, theories, and eventually, the reveal of the culprit at the end of the season!
For now, there’s a handful of people that we’re getting a suspicious vibe from—so let’s do some investigating, shall we, couch sleuths?
Leila – Pardis Saremi
She’s at the top of the list for a plethora of reasons. She’s jaded and paranoid, and though it initially seems like just a quirk, it turns out she has plenty of reason to be as her accident—she drove her car off a cliff—wasn’t an accident at all. Someone drove her to do that, which is slightly similar to the predicament Imogene’s late mother found herself in. She constantly checks for bugs or secret cameras and sleeps with a knife under the bed, while slashing pillows to make sure that there are no listening devices, which means that she has good reason to believe she was being stalked or spied on. Plus, she’s the only one who even remotely picked up that Keith wasn’t who he said he was by questioning his trust identity. If there’s anyone who knows what’s going on and is keeping it close to their chest—even trying to minimize themselves by saying all she did was write “clickbait”–it’s Leila.
She casts even more suspicion on herself by stealing a handful of knives and rope and sneaking off through a secret passageway somewhere beneath the ship, all while lying to her wife Anna about what she’s been doing all day.
In the fourth episode of the season, Cotsworth finds her hiding spot and Leila admits that she knows more about the killer, which is somehow connected to Viktor Sams. What isn’t she telling everyone?
TOP SUSPECTS
Lawrence Collier – David Marshall Grant
While the head honcho of the Collier family seems too obvious to be the villain, there’s definitely something suspicious about him. He’s the direct connect to Viktor Sams, who Leila mentions is the mastermind behind all of this. Could it be his alternate identity? It would be pretty devious if he’s the one who killed Imogene’s mother…only to cover it up and take Imogene in following the terrible accident, but I wouldn’t put it past anyone with a lot of capital. He’s also the one who charted the SS Varuna, which means that he has access. And he hasn’t been seen since the murder, which is also suspicious for such a wealthy man. There’s a common theme of blackmail throughout the series—and that just seems like it would be Lawrence’s middle name.
Sunil – Rahul Kohli
It’s not lost on me that the scene of Leila warning Cotsworth about Viktor Sams goes hand-in-hand with footage of Imogene next to Sunil, helping him give safe passage to the stowaways. Is the series hinting the he may have something to do with the man who murdered her mom? Sunil hasn’t done much to raise suspicions—aside from having two safes—but maybe it isn’t a coincidence that the Colliers and the Chuns chose his ship to seal the deal, just like might not be a coincidence that he pursued Imogene. Maybe Sunil’s alias is Viktor Sams?
Simon – Leslie Kwan
Simon isn’t a huge character in the grand scheme of things, but he is part of Teddy’s family, meaning she and Winnie would do anything to protect him. He’s also shown up in two crucial moments—when Cotsworth and Hilde pieced together that Jules was using a false name and when Hilde arrested Jules. It’s unclear what his deal is, but there’s something very suspicious about him, so I’m keeping an eye out for him.
Father Toby – Danny Johnson
He hides behind the holy act, but we know that he’s the one pulling all the strings with the donors behind Alexandra’s governor campaign, plus, he’s not so innocent as he’s having a full-blown affair with Katherine, Lawrence Collier’s wife. And that means, he could very easily be hiding under the alias of Viktor Sams because no one ever suspects the priest, right?
Crossing Them Off of the Suspects List
Winnie – Annie Q.
She may have taken the blame, confessing to the murder of Danny/Keith, but while Interpol’s Hilde took the bait, Cotsworth and Imogene weren’t convinced. Winnie delivered a compelling and convincing performance, explaining that she wanted to teach these rich people a lesson, but there’s something much larger at play here, and thus, as Leila pointed out, they likely only caught one of his followers. She’s covering for someone, and we have to find out who it is.
Jules Touissant – Hugo Diego Garcia
He shot up to the list of prime suspects because he provided a false identity to get on the ship and help Ukranian stowaways. And while no one has been officially cleared, Jules does have an alibi for the evening as he spent it with Imogene.
Teddy and Llewellyn Mathers – Angela Zhou and Jere Burns
While many people suspected Llewellyn at first, he has an alibi as he was locked in a closet by his dominatrix, Teddy. Therefore, the two of them are accounted for.
And that means, we’ve got a handful of people who are definitely acting shady, harbor secrets, and can handle their fair share of blackmail, but who haven’t given us an outright reason to suspect them:
- Eleanor Chun and Anna, who had a romantic rendezvous while trying to go through with the deal between their families. Anna also suspects Leila might be the murdered but doesn’t say anything.
- Tripp Collier is a reckless party boy whose lucrative deal with Danny/Keith went south, but who likely doesn’t have it in him to actually kill anyone.
- Celia Chun, a woman of little words who has the dirt on everyone and called out Father Toby for his affair with Katherine.
- Alexandra, though her involvement remains unclear aside from the fact that she’s now being blackmailed to put her “strings back on” with pictures of her raunchy escapades with Tripp. Does strings mean she pulled a lot of them for the Colliers? And if so, this definitely smells like the work of the Chuns!
Plot twist – Keith isn’t really dead and this was all part of his plan with Rufus to snuff out the real killer of Imogene’s mother. It would be extreme, and unlikely since we saw Keith/Danny’s body, but never say never when it comes to a murder mystery.
Who do you think the killer is? Is it the same person who killed Imogene’s mother and Keith/Danny?