With the release of final last two episodes, Hulu’s Death and Other Details finally comes to an end. Was the ending shocking? Yes, but was it impactful? No. It is appalling how characters in a series with ten episodes can lack depth. The constant distractions and the need to shock take away any sense of connection that the characters could have built with the audience. We have spent a good deal of time with Imogene, but other than delivering a few quick-witted dialogues, she severely lacks layers. Especially her reaction upon solving the entire case and learning a life-altering truth seemed too superficial. Overall, this whodunit mystery is just another forgettable piece of television content.
Spoiler Alert
Plot Summary: What Is The Series About?
Imogene lost her mother, Kira Scott, at a young age. The fact that her mother’s death was a mystery never stopped bothering her. She wanted to investigate her death, but she never had the right resources to do so. Her childhood memories were triggered when she came across Detective Rufus Cotesworth at the Varuna. She trusted him to find her mother’s murderer, and she never forgave him for giving up on the case. Kira died in a car blast, and it was obvious that there was someone behind her mysterious death. In the course of the series, we came across the name ‘Victor Sams’ over and over again. While investigating Kira’s case, Rufus and his assistant Danny found out that the Colliers paid blackmail to this mysterious man, hinting that the Colliers could have also been responsible for the death.
Rufus and Imogene finally came together to untangle the mystery when Danny was killed suddenly. They found out that the Colliers used Captionem Blue even after the substance was banned. This became key in solving both Kira and Danny’s murders. Imogene replayed the last few days she had spent with her mother over and over again, and upon minutely analyzing every little detail, she realized she always knew why her mother became the target of the Colliers. When Kira Scott learned about the usage of Captionem Blue, he decided to build a case against the Colliers and take them down, and she sought help from her witness, Celia Chun. As it turned out, Celia lost her husband to Captionem Blue. She eventually built an empire to destroy Collier Mills. The reason behind Kira’s murder was solved, but we were yet to find out who Viktor Sams was.
Who is Viktor Sams?
Viktor Sams’ men took over the ship after Katherine Collier’s body was found floating in the swimming pool. Andreas announced that their plan has always been to punish the rich who cause harm to the unprivileged. Every person on the ship was involved in foul play, and Viktor Sams intended to eliminate them by bombing the Varuna. The only way to save their lives was by betting on the nine seats in the helicopter that they had brought along. Celia Chun chose to stay out of the bidding game where only the rich could survive. But her granddaughter, Eleanor, did not hesitate to buy herself a seat. It was not Eleanor who had gone frantic but also Tripp, who considered hijacking the helicopter. While there was chaos all around, Imogene managed to steal Danny’s notebook when she met Andreas personally.
Upon decoding all of Danny’s diary entries, Imogene realized that there was a crew member on the ship Danny had doubts about. Imogene tried to remember all the faces she had seen that day on the ship deck, but it was all a blur. She realized that the only way to find the said crew member was by getting hold of the videos that Toby’s son, Derek, had taken. She was confident that in his video, she could find the person Danny had spoken to the morning of his death. Imogene checked the video and discovered that the extra crew member on board was Agent Hilde Eriksen. She boarded the ship as a crew member, and she had her entire operation planned, but Danny posed a threat to her. He grew suspicious of her, and Hilde had no choice but to remove him before it was too late. It was established that Agent Hilde Eriksen was Viktor Sams, but what was her plan?
Is Kira Scott alive?
Imogene confronted Hilde Eriksen, aka Viktor Sams, once she figured out the truth. Everything that unfolded on the Varuna was carefully planned by her. Half the crew on the ship belonged to her, making it easier to fool the crowd. It also became evident that she left Llewellyn Mathers no choice but to commit suicide. She had confessed to Mathers that she had poisoned his drink, and he barely had three to four days to survive. After Alexandra’s death, Llewellyn knew his time had come. Hilde Eriksen lied about being an Interpol agent, and Viktor Sams was her alias. She planned to destroy the billionaire class, but what about Kira and Danny? It was finally revealed in episode 9 of Death and Other Details that Kira Scotts was Hilde Eriksen, aka Viktor Sams. The biggest twist in the tale was that Kira Scott faked her own death to escape the Colliers.
Kira was attacked by mercenaries appointed by Lawrence Collier, and she realized she had no choice but to run away. Kira explained to Imogene that she wanted to take her along with her, but it would have been a dangerous gamble. She sought help from Andreas to fake her death and disappear into thin air. Lying to Imogene was the hardest part, but Kira believed she had no choice. She was carefully instructed by Andreas never to contact her loved ones, and she restrained herself from allowing her emotions to get the better of her. She missed Imogene dearly, and her heart ached to watch her from a distance, but she had no choice.
Imogene found it difficult to forgive her mother after grieving for all these years. The trauma of watching her mother die in a car blast had taken a toll on her, but Kira believed that Imogene would not have believed her death had it not occurred right in front of her eyes. Kira had to pull out her molars to leave behind some DNA to make her death convincing. Kira assumed that someone would investigate her death and pick up on the little crumbs she had left behind about the malpractices of the Colliers, but that never happened. Kira refused to hide and let the corrupt win as always. So, after painful plastic surgery and changing her blue eyes into black, Kira got back to the business of making the billionaire class regret their actions. Kira helped Imogene escape from the Varuna, and she was hopeful that her daughter would support the work she did and would eventually join her team.
Why did Imogene get her mother arrested?
Imogene empathized with the lengths Kira went to bring justice to those who suffered under the billionaire class, but she did not agree with her method. She could not ignore the many innocents killed in the process, and she did not believe the path her mother chose was the only way. She noticed the lack of regret in her mother’s eyes when she spoke about Danny Turner. Kira had convinced herself that losing a few innocent lives was collateral damage in the grand scheme of things, and Imogene was completely against the idea. Imogene wanted her mother to leave the business she had built out of blackmailing people and focus on their relationship. For the next six months, Kira lied to her daughter. She wanted Imogene to believe that she left everything behind to be with her, but in reality, she continued to conduct business. Imogene noticed the staggering wealth her mother now possessed, and she was also aware that the money she and Andreas had collected for the seats had not been returned. Kira wanted to believe that she was punishing the rich, but in the process, she, too, had started to grow a taste for the finer things in life. The blackmail helped her build her fortune, and the fact that the victims were faulty individuals helped her cope with the guilt.
At the end of Death and Other Details episode 10, Rufus joined Imogene as she confronted her mother about lying to her. Rufus confirmed that Kira was responsible for Lawrence’s deteriorating health; through a special advertisem*nt, Kira succeeded in convincing Lawrence to buy the Captionem Blue-infused health drink, and it slowly started to show its effect. She chose to kill him with the same substance that led to the deaths of several of his workers. Every bit of her plan had worked quite perfectly, except for destroying the servers. The explosion was meant to destroy all the evidence stored on the servers, but Imogene and her team managed to safely transport them. Imogene lost her trust in Kira when she realized that her mother had been operating even after she promised to give it all up for her. She perhaps no longer recognized her mother and prioritized bringing justice to the innocent victims over protecting her. The FBI arrested Kira’s team, and she realized she had no choice but to surrender. The FBI, along with Rufus and Imogene’s help, had laid the perfect trap to arrest Kira, and they were successful in their mission.
What deal did Anna strike with Kira?
The luxury cruise vacation changed Anna’s life completely. She found out that she was not her father’s daughter and that Llewellyn was her biological father. Her wife, Leila, wanted a divorce, and she ended up sleeping with her former lover. Anna lost her chance at becoming the CEO of Collier Mills, and Lawrence ended up selling the majority of the company to the Chuns. Nothing went as Anna would have wanted, and she ended up feeling extremely overwhelmed.
The ending of the final episode reveals that it was Anna who killed her mother and not Kira. Anna got into an argument with Katherine on the ship deck. When she confronted her mother about Kira Scott’s murder and the mass poisoning at the factory, Katherine, without any sense of guilt, stated that they did what was necessary to keep the company from shutting down. She believed that they provided Imogene with a life of abundance, something that she never have had a chance at if she had lived with Kira. Anna lost her calm upon hearing her mother shamelessly defend herself. She grabbed hold of a pole and struck Katherine with it. Anna had rage in her eyes, and she struck her again. Katherine bled to death, and by the time Anna realized the blunder she committed, it was too late. Kira was a witness to the murder, and she promised to help Anna if she cooperated. Anna knew she would make it out of the Varuna alive, but in return, she would have to be loyal to Kira. After everything she had been through, Anna turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with her situation. The Colliers had gone bankrupt, and she had no choice but to become a mere asset to Kira. After Kira was arrested, Andreas took over the operation, and Anna was asked to follow his instructions.
Death and Other Details‘ ending leaves scope to develop a second season. We expect Imogene to take over the investigation, and Rufus will likely continue to guide her. It seems Anna Collier will play a decisive role, and we hopefully will find an explanation for the dismembered body Imogene comes across at the very end of season 1.
