By the end of DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 4, the theory of who killed Floyd is as clear as mud.
It’s virtually impossible to see where this story is going, and that makes it a genuine pleasure to watch.
Not only are we in the dark regarding the case, but even understanding character motivations can change on a dime. We don’t know enough yet to make assumptions. But that’s why we’re here. That’s the game we, as viewers, like to play.
We finally saw a different side of Carol, and now it’s easier to understand what was driving her into Clark’s arms.
Before she met Clark, Carol and Floyd were really struggling financially.
They couldn’t even buy household goods or pay for lawn service, let alone get Richard into private school. And you knew as soon as you saw Floyd, while enjoying a bubble bath, promise to cancel the lawn service that he wouldn’t do it.
Carol knows nothing about baseball, so not only does one wonder how it was that there weren’t a bunch of men out there clamoring to be a part of the game, but it also shows how desperate she was to earn extra income.
Why was Floyd so turned off by the “ump thing”? We’ll probably never know, but Carol sure as hell should have been turned off by his inability to do anything other than mope.
She’s battling with cashiers over coupons while he’s off at hip-hop school trying to hone his “craft” for stadium concerts. When you’re counting pennies, there isn’t much you can do to snap out of it. It’s a pervasive feeling that falls over you like a wet blanket.
Yet Floyd seemed like he wasn’t under the same blanket as Carol. Was that because Richard wasn’t his son by birth? Is it easier to be casual about life when you aren’t responsible for someone else?
He was buying her diamond earrings so she’d look more feminine (a dig at her ump uniform), and Carol just wanted plates, bowls, more grown-up furniture for Richard, and to pay for his tuition.
But as soon as I think, well, maybe Floyd didn’t feel responsible for Richard the same way Carol did, I’m taken back to how carefully he’s working with the boy to help him find himself, to be comfortable in his own skin. Nothing is simple in life or on DTF St. Louis.
Richard, though, has more issues than we realized. We already knew he was in therapy and that Floyd was trying to reach him, but splattering milk all over Albertsons is a different level. He knew his mom was struggling, and that’s what he did?
Then there was the teenager ump, Carol’s manager, playing with his phone and demanding that Carol stay for the game rather than head straight to Richard at Albertsons, even though she hadn’t been paid in three weeks.
Suddenly, finding a way out, any way out, must have had a lot more potential for Carol than the status quo.
I can only assume Floyd’s problem with the umpire uniform was that it made him feel inadequate. He was so good with Richard, so how could he not see she was hiding under that gear for a sense of security?
Floyd already couldn’t see her for who she was, so why not shrivel up inside of herself a little more? He saw pieces of himself in Richard, so he understood how to help him. But with Carol, he saw her pushing back at other pieces of himself, so he was unable to see how his actions influenced her behavior.
I swear, when the lawn guys showed up with the MOST ANNOYING THING IN THE WORLD — leaf blowers for those of you blissfully living in ignorance — right after announcing they’re hosting a party, I finally understood Floyd’s so-far well hidden faults.
And, I sided with Carol. But if I were Carol, I would have approached things differently. I would have been firmer in my needs and suggested he move out before taking the leap to sidle up to Floyd’s new friend, Clark, for many reasons.
But it was Floyd’s assets that really worked in Carol’s favor. She managed to appeal to Clark sexually and help him find a friendship that’s almost unheard of once you reach your 50s. I cannot stress enough how hard it is to make new friends, especially one that you connect with like Floyd and Clark did.
Jim O’Rourke’s “Don’t Make Me Over” was the perfect song to highlight what the new friends were experiencing. They began as colleagues, then DTF buddies, and then they’d grown close enough to be comfortable visiting wineries and about Frenching a dude.
It’s unclear how much of it was influenced by Carol at this point. But if we look back at how Clark talked about Floyd during the interrogation on DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 3, it’s hard to believe he didn’t truly care for Floyd.
Even the way Clark spoke to Floyd about helping him hush his bird heart led me to believe this was more than just stuffing pillows under Carol so she’d keep sitting on his face while she searched her phone.
I can’t imagine being as blessed in life as Clark is to be able to help someone like that when they needed it. Even if he was doing it solely to help Carol, it must have been an amazing feeling to ease the pressure for two people he genuinely cared about.
Someone in the comments section last week suggested that Richard killed Floyd. And if the drug wasn’t found in the Bloody Mary can, I might agree. That’s the fly in the Richard ointment. It’s not impossible to get around, but it’s tough.
The reason I could see Richard going after Floyd is if he found the Playgirl and discovered the affair or something. He’s growing closer to Floyd all the time, and with his mental issues, who knows what he’s capable of doing?
I wonder if he discovered Floyd had life insurance, although, unless Floyd told him, I don’t see how. If he had learned that, would he have considered killing Floyd to protect his mother?
Because yes, Clark did help Floyd get life insurance. He helped him get fit enough to pass the physical and purchased the insurance for him.
That really cemented their friendship. I think. It’s not like any of this plays out in an order we understand, so it’s hard to know at what point certain pieces of the puzzle fit into the narrative.
As an aside, who else was singing right along with Clark and Floyd as they rode their recumbent bikes?
“We’re the thunder boys! We’re gonna ace that mother fuckin’ life insurance physical!” Sing it with me, folks! I set my whole life to such songs, so that made me grin.
“B out the B; that’s what we do for each other. Bring out the best,” is what Clark said about his friendship with Floyd. And again, Carol wanted Clark to be “for serious” about not telling her, so she couldn’t clue Floyd in on what she knew, under the guise of making him feel like less than a man.
She said it at the same time she told Clark she wanted to have what she had with him with Floyd in the future. Which, while she’s never hidden that fact from Clark, seems like a slap in the face.
This whole thing is so confusing. They’re kind of having a half-hidden polyamorous relationship. Maybe if they had opened up and shared it across the board, none of this would have ever happened.
But where the hell does Clark’s family fit into any of it? He’s so awkward around his wife. And who the hell is Louise Jean Forrest, the name under which Clark purchased Floyd’s policy?
Is it a pseudonym Clark made for himself to purchase the insurance? In Canada? Why use his own last name? Why the secrecy?
Floyd knew Clark was purchasing it, and so did Carol. So while it was hidden from Eimy, it wasn’t a secret otherwise. They were all aware of it, even if they weren’t aware that the others were aware.
But it did reveal that Clark was mum on that key because he saw how purchasing life insurance for Floyd could paint him as the killer.
That leads me to believe that while Clark has now sussed out the ruse, he had no idea how Carol was playing him before.
Could Floyd have been playing him, too? What if Carol and Floyd saw an opportunity to make their lives better if they pulled one over on nice-guy Clark? And then, out of the blue, Richard killed Floyd?
What if it was Eimy? Surely, her role in this will expand at some point. Is she the wildcard that will emerge, having screwed over everyone BUT Carol, in a strange twist even she didn’t see coming?
Because even detectives Frick and Frack are reconsidering whether Clark could have done it. Homer was set to pin it on Clark because he envisioned Floyd being into guys.
Plumb wanted to revisit Modern Love to see if Clark was telling the truth about how that breakfast unfolded.
That conversation was the first time that Richard was brought into the discussion, too. Modern Love remembered what Floyd said about Richard, even his name. So what he said might have been impactful.
But that was before Modern Love gave them what they needed: the mailbox connection.
Yet even though the “Missouri Mutual Life & Health Insurance Company” discovery should connect Clark to Floyd’s death rather than dismiss him, the mail had piled up in the box. Why didn’t he claim it?
The DFT St. Louis Season 1 Episode 4 cliffhanger revealed that not only did Floyd know about the affair, but he saw Carol and Calrk together at the Quality Inn.
Again, I have absolutely no idea where this is all heading, and I love it.
It’s not often a mystery has so many different avenues and no clear direction. It’s what makes DTF St. Louis so enjoyable.
If it were easy to see where we were being led, we might not be as invested. Despite the desire of so many to want answers right now, the journey is what makes this show sing.
We need the week to mull over possibilities, to consider what we know so far, and to ruminate on where it might take us.
So, what are you thinking? Did this episode help you solidify a theory, or are you still in the data collection phase of our investigation? Is the life insurance a motive or a red herring?
Shoot me a comment below. If you’ve made it this far, now’s your chance to weigh in. Love the characters? The mystery? Don’t keep me in the dark!
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DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Is the Key a Red Herring or the Nail in Clark’s Coffin?
DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 4 continues toying with us by revealing just enough information to keep us on our toes.
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DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 3 Review: The Go Getter and The Fall Guy
DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 3 paints Carol as a nefarious “Go Getter” and Clark as her fall guy. Find out how they did it.
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DTF St Louis Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Snag It (While You Can)
Clark is still fielding questions from a jail cell on DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 2, and suspicion begins swirling around Carol.
The post DTF St. Louis Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Is the Key a Red Herring or the Nail in Clark’s Coffin? appeared first on TV Fanatic.