Tonally, DTF St. Louis had one of the most jarringly confusing final episodes I've come across in a TV show (spoilers for the whole miniseries)

There were definitely less surreal/comedic moments in the finale but I don’t know if there was much whiplash - tonally it felt pretty fitting for what was playing out. To me it felt like the comedy throughout the season was masking a deeper darkness and sadness a lot of the time. Some moments were genuinely quite funny whilst others were more unsettling or off-putting, so I wouldn’t say it was especially surprising how things culminated.

I actually really, really loved it and felt like the finale really matched the themes of the whole series. It didn't feel like a big shock that Floyd killed himself. They showed him throughout the whole series struggling with feelings of inferiority. Clark saw that and tried to help, but was unable to. Suicide rates are very high in middle aged men and I think the show did a good job at showing why. All the characters are struggling. Carol with her life cycling back to financial instability and feeling unable to help her son in the way he needs. Floyd has a lot of self loathing and feelings of inferiority. Clark has a loss of purpose and loneliness. None of the characters are perfect, but they are all trying and I think they all loved each other in their own ways and felt deserving of love. So many people are struggling with feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, depair and don't know how to handle them or fix it. The show felt very realistic to me in this way.

So the nut man really likes it ?

The entire series is an examination on loneliness and the way different people cope with it. For Clark, he had everything and still wasn’t satisfied, resorting to cheating. Floyd had a loving wife who was willing to spend over a year of her life helping him achieve his dreams, only for him to pivot last second and chase a fleeting idea. This creates a huge rift with Carol who truly, despite her general bitchiness, wanted to do right by her family. But she resent Floyd for abandoning his finance opportunity, thus keeping their family in the same financially unstable position that she grew up in.  With Floyd losing Carol, he was relentlessly lonely. Carol couldn’t rely on Floyd, making her resort to manipulation and bitterness to fight her loneliness and focus on Richard. I think deep down all three of them wanted to be there for each other in some way, but neither of them could get out of their own and see what was right in front of them. 

I disagree with a lot of that, but about the d*** thing in particular... After all the build up of what happened, strung along as a shaggy dog story, Floyd casually saying “oh, Richard hit me in the d*** with a baseball bat” hit me like, well… that. Such a horrible horrible thing, and it instantly put everything about the Floyd/Richard relationship (the counseling session of which began everything we saw) into a deeper place for me. And especially combined with seeing Richard’s later outburst and the glimmer of hope we get that he is maybe going to be okay someday, and Floyd’s influence on that. I don’t know what kind of answer you thought you wanted for the d*** story, but what we got was so much better and more impactful than whatever I might have imagined. 

I thought the show was fantastic and loved the ending. It’s this show about getting lost in life, in middle age, not seeing the things right in front of you. It’s a show about loneliness and friendship. I love the tiny touches, like how Clark’s family was shown very little in the show and this mirrored Clark’s inability to see how he had everything. It’s very human of us to get so lost sometimes (not saying we all cheat), but we lose our way. We lose sight of what’s important. We feel lonely and sad when we have everything to make us happy. Floyd very much wanted to feel important or special to someone. He wanted to feel seen. He had this terrible incident happen to his p****, that he had to just take in stride, because he wanted so bad to just be there for Richard. Floyd ultimately let Richard down and couldn’t live with that. He felt the ultimate responsibility of being a step parent who was feeling like he was finally connecting and winning Richard over. The p**** incident felt very intentional in its delivery. Floyd understands Richard in this action and even feels responsible for it. In a way that he connected with and understood about Richard. In a way that makes him hurting Richard again, too much for him to take and thus leads to his suicide. The entire show plays with this idea that no one is normal, that it just appears that way. The idea of what is normal anyway. All of these people want to feel normal, but people are weird. People want to feel connected more than anything. I think the beauty in this show comes from the characters and their vulnerability. Floyd and Clark in particular share this moment that wouldn’t be as taboo if it were gender swapped. They cheered each other on. They got to dance and feel free of all of the pressures that say you have to act and be a certain way, especially as a man. Clark and Floyd struggling with riding that fine line of getting close to each other and both wanting to help each other out and sharing this moment, but also feeling the shame and confusion of that. There is such a heaviness to life at times and so much to weigh us down. Middle-age has its own weight it adds. Floyd dealt with that physically in more ways than one and the magazine almost haunted him about who he let himself become. He found his purpose and happiness in signing, but it also put a huge burden on his wife and his family. Sorry. This is all a bit of a mess and just what I’ve been rolling around in my head today as I reflect on it. But personally, I loved it. The ending was so sad and such a punch gut realization, but also there was so much to take away from it that was endearing and important to reflect on in our day to day relationships. Clark coming home and being truly lonely really put into perspective how easy it is to be caught up in these feelings we have and lose our way. It turns out the consequences were quite high and he had far more than he thought.

I don't know if I would call the tone of the show zany, the entire miniseries was one of the most deeply sad things I've ever watched (in a good way). Finale totally felt fitting

maybe the sweetest thing I've seen was the umpire award.

I laughed out loud through the finale. Yes, it was deeply sad and upsetting but it wasn't without the hilarity. The nutman dialogue? The way the two men went from being fully clothed to dancing in their underwear? It was great, I thought!

Been wanting to talk about this all day since watching the finale last night! Let’s start with this > “What happened to the humor? What happened to the warmth, humanity, and charm?” It was an intentionally sad ending, it was meant to burst your bubble of quirky fun humor with the reality that cheating is f*cked up and it causes real harm. It sounds like it accomplished this with OP even if their reaction wasn’t positive. The combination of Clark being unable to feel sexually attracted to Floyd when he was at his rock bottom and Carol’s son catching Floyd as a ‘cheater’ is what drove him, an already broken man, to end his life. I was hoping for a big twist ending myself but the more I’ve had to process it I really like the realism of the finale and that it didn’t invent a big astonshing twist at the end. I feel that the main character of this show was actually Clark the whole time. It was his actions that drove Floyd to his death, even if his intentions were good, the outcome was not. P.S. I would totally watch a spin off show of the two detectives solving mundane suburban crimes. They were maybe the best part of the series for me.

Can't say I agree with really much of your critique tbh. I really feel like the tone was maintained throughout. This was one of the more unusual and unique shows (without being 'weird' for the sake of it) and the final episode wrapped things up quite well. Those two guys dancing in their tightly whities nailed the zany aspect of the show well IMO

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While you have some valid points here I do think the whole story had a more meaningful message than that. For me it felt like the whole thing was a meditation on how complex people are, the multitudes they contain, and the importance of communication and connection. Throughout the series we see the detectives make assumptions about people only to be surprised how untrue their initial reading was upon further investigation. At times Carole comes across as a cold, selfish, and calculated person who is cruel other and maybe even evil enough to murder her husband for insurance money. But throughout we also see moments of tenderness with her admiration for how sweet and genuine he is, how protective she is of her son and wants so badly for him to have nice things, and in the final episode the grace she shows the children as an umpire. She is curt and rude and has a tough exterior at times but her motives and actions are complex. I think this theme is explored even further through Clark and Floyd's friendship. Both men feel alone and disconnected in their marriages and give each other so much love and support by the end. At first Clark seems creepy and manipulative by cheating on his wife with his friend's wife but then we see the lengths he's willing to go to make his friend feel valued and desired. It was interesting to me too to see such a complex and vulnerable male friendship take shape in a time where the male loneliness epidemic is so prevalent. I thought it was interesting how they used sign language to talk about more difficult subjects. As bleak as the last episode was I thought it was profoundly beautiful to watch two men be so vulnerable and caring with each other.

As a 51 (soon to be 52) year old female who has been alone literally this entire decade so far - when Floyd said he’s “Gone” - that resonated with me. I feel that for what feels like every second of the day. I haven’t held a hand, had a hug, nothing. I loved this series and now my head is reeling.

I liked the warmth and quirkiness of Bateman getting fucked by Linda Cardellini with his legs behind his head

My take was this: "it just looks like that from across the street". This is quoted several times throughout the show, and it's always in a sexual context (kinks, desires, fantasies, etc); but it also applies to people's mental state. Floyd appears to be this unwitting victim, but we gradually see different stories intertwine to paint a bigger picture and it's clear he was struggling way worse than we'd think. Looking back at different scenes throughout the season, there's subtle clues he could be suicidal or well on his way. And from the very beginning, we're following two detectives, so the audience has a predisposition to be looking at the other main characters as potential murderers and their motives. And each episode gradually paints a bigger picture, making you second guess your suspicions. And then we get to the final episode and it feels different. Suddenly the suspense is gone and it's just a cold hard truth. No murder, just a really sad situation. Floyd has a bent d*** likely making him self-conscious, a strained relationship with his wife, a challenging relationship with a mentally ill child, financially insecure and in debt. All of this along with the lack of a sex life leads him to a deeper depression, so bad to the point he'd let his friend sleep with his wife just so that they're happy. Floyd allowing his wife and best friend to hook up comes off as a subtle cry for help. The action itself, allowing it to happen, reflects his self worth at his core. He needed to keep his wife and his friend, even if it means letting them both do something a normal person wouldn't. Watching didn't seem like something he actually enjoyed, but more of a desperate attempt to be part of the romance even if not physically. Then a string of letdowns. First his wife makes it clear she has no desire to have sex with him anymore. That definitely nudged him down the wrong path. Then an awkward meetup, leading to some confusion; Floyd isn't gay, he's just questioning things due to the fact that his loneliness has brought him to this point and he's desperate to feel loved. Then we have Tiger Tiger, another blow to his self image, and finally we have Clarke. Up until this point though, the audience is focused on finding a *murderer*, as all of these people and occasions had potential. Clarke breaks down, he isnt into Floyd. I imagine yet again, another blow to Floyd. And while this is happening, he's co.forting his friend because he really is just that nice of a guy. His friend leaves, and the kid who despite breaking his d***, is still very much loved by Floyd makes it clear he despises him. Floyd could have tried to explain, could have had his wife explain, but it's clear in that moment he just hit a low point and couldn't fight anymore, so he tells the kid he loves him and drinks the amphetamine to commit suicide. In retrospect, why does Floyd want life insurance? Because he plans to kill himself and wants the family taken care of. I think the wife may have suspected he was suicidal, leading to her wanting life insurance. In a sense, Clarke and Carol both contributed to Floyd's death as the signs were rather clear, but at the same time these two were also dealing with their own problems and insecurities. But, going back to the quote about things looking normal; all the way until episode 7, the show managed to keep the murder-suspense angle going very very well, but the truth was a much less exciting and deeply sadder one.

Can you speak up please?

I mean, the show starts with the discovery of a dead body in a pool house. Yes, it does have warmth and quirk, but it's not as though it's Ted Lasso. It's always had a bleakness running underneath it.

I don't have the best memory but didn't Clark just conveniently on the last episode decide to reveal case solving information that he refused to reveal at the start? He did it so nonchalantly too, "oh that, that was me on the bike and then her son appeared on one too". Like what??

David Harbour gave the most heartbreaking performance on TV this year

It was just really sad. Like really sad.

It was genuinely one of the best endings to a show I've seen in a while.

I feel like I wasted way too much time on this show.

I am still trying to figure out the recurring “speak up” from Carol. I thought it was going to be material to the death or some type of big part of the story… but alas it was probably just her being in a fog state ? Also the insurance …. so she’s getting money and knew it , but she was “no way Jose” throughout and the detectives just dropped it. Anyway, it ended kinda how I thought with the boy being a part of it. I liked the dark ending because why not 🤷🏽‍♂️

i liked the part where he was a sex robot

I liked how the series showed that one shouldn’t jump to conclusions on ethics without learning all the facts and that some rushes to judgment can cost a life given our hidden struggles. It was very touching.

One of the very few benefits to being a woman is the ability to have close female friendships without feeling shame. I thought the friendship between the two men was really beautiful, and I hope the series starts some conversations. It's sad how surprised I am when I travel to other countries and see male friends embracing.

For me, it highlights our natural (albeit largely conditioned) intuition to follow a who’s done it murder mystery, when in reality it just highlights the complexities of human existence- loneliness, sex, relationships, masculinity. We all look normal, from across the street.

This guy has just discovered the Dark Comedy genre

I was glad to see this post because I also found the finale different and less enjoyable than the previous episodes. I loved this show. So many good laughs. But the finale was almost as disappointing as Lost. The ending was disturbing, both because it’s so sad to see Floyd struggle so much and because I’m in a similarly dark place mentally. To watch someone kill themselves with a drug when I’m fighting off those same ideas was an intense experience. The show gave us clues that this might happen, but I was not prepared, especially today. I am shocked that there wasn’t a PSA about mental health and suicide at the end. Showing a suicide without displaying those phone numbers is pretty shocking.

i think the finale hit the exact message the show was going for. That those who are the goofiest, happiest, nicest people, can also be the ones hurting the most. And the entire show was there to make the watcher feel that happy funny warmth that those types of people give off. Only for the mask to come off at the very end for the watcher to realize "hey, you. You have been taking advantage of this funny nice guy's personality but its painfully obvious he is in deep pain the entire show" and whats worse is that the show did kind of jedi mind trick people into ignoring how much Floyd was in pain by giving us enough comedy that we focused on that.

Not even close to the most confusing final eps lol

Spoilers 🙈🙉 Posted this elsewhere but seems appropriate. DTF St Louis may be the best series I ever watched.  At the most basic assessment, the writing and acting were brilliant. Scenes in which actors addressed awkward, darkly humorous topics with no background music, just phenomenal character work. But, deeper, we discover a truth about life. That the actions of well intended people are made inexplicable by a cold, sophisticated world.  Viewers may exit the series not relating to the specific events but feeling oddly familiar with the general sentiment. Because, DTF St. Louis was about loneliness, male loneliness primarily, connection, and love. Most all of us understand those and, as DTF made very clear, though they are simple words, they are complex concepts.  I wrote about the same topics in my book from the perspective of a veteran separated from combat. DTF was poignant and hit hard. It was a real one.  

pacing was slow, felt like a murder mystery but in fact it wasn't. I didn't like the characters, they all were self-loathing and feeding off one another. It was a depressing show with a depressing ending. Glad it's over. Suicide was sorta a c**** ending, it went against the character of Floyd, but maybe Floyd bottled up his emptiness for way too long with making everyone feel good about themselves and him constantly seeking validation. The son was nauseating on screen with his mental health issues and the Floyd/StepSon relationship was starting to come together, and for Floyd to off himself just made life more complicated for the stepson. Nobody wins, everyone loses in this show. I guess the detectives won with figuring out this dysfunctional jumbled affair.

Not watched the show, so I’m confused. Is “Floyd’s d***” a plot point or is that a typo?

Extremely interesting show, can’t really put it in to words yet.

I’m confused and invigorated and spent all at the same time

I’m ok with the ending, but if you truly understand suicide then you know this writing was just lazy. I agree that on the surface this ending seems out of place. Especially for a character like Floyd who will bend and manipulate his everyday position in life to make other people feel safe, loved and seen. He’s a character so readily willing to put his own pain aside. Even in the ending scenes with Clark as he offers him comfort over his body dysmorphia….all of this just doesn’t lead us, as an audience to believe he would in fact leave his son behind, via suicide, because of a misunderstanding. But alas. It was realistic. Floyd dealt with his inadequacies over and over again, living them out painfully in front of his best friend and wife. With suicide being a high cause of death for middle aged men, it was a very realistic and thoughtful ending that gave us the reminder that life ends in ways that don’t neatly wrap up the package. The writing around the suicide was pretty sloppy though. I highly doubt Carol will receive any money from the life insurance policy now that his death is officially ruled a suicide. Most policies have a 3 year waiting period for suicide before they will pay out. So now he has left his family worse off than before, which is unlike his character. AND….then there’s Clark. Who has actually lost the most due to his mistakes. His job, family, public reputation in the community. Suicide is known to be contagious. His relationship with Floyd was the most loving a real relationship he had. If the writers wanted to convince me personally that Floyd had made this decision, in front of his son. I would’ve been more satisfied to see Clark return to his massive empty home, and take his own life. Because when Floyd died, all that was special about Clark died too. A double suicide that rippled through a community was far more likely than a weird spur of the moment isolated incident that left things far worse for the people Floyd loved, again, which is so so far away from who he is as a character.

Wouldn’t Clark still prolly gotten some jail time for giving Floyd his prescription that led to his death?

The high school umpire guy? The detectives? I thought it was dripping with dark comedy. Also, the humanity and charm? The last quarter of the episode was so human. I thought it was one of the best finales I’ve seen. Never make a second season. Go out on a high note.

I kind of felt like that was the point. It felt like the warmth was from Floyd. Floyd was a catalyst for kindness and generosity. Despite his warmth, the people around him only took, and no one ever gave it back. His loss of “arousal” was his loss for enjoyment of life. He had been rejected by his wife, his friend, strangers on the app, and finally his stepson. I think the question is did he die from the medication or did he just die from a broken heart? At least that’s what I took away from it.

"The whole time, this show has been telling a very cynical me that good people do exist and that there are loving layers under difficult people and that communicating effectively is the best thing one person can do for another person and that if people never feel safe to stop hiding their real selves, you were never a good friend. And my denial of all of that led me to every wrong conclusion the show gave me. It indicted me for having and projecting a narrative, for assuming the worst based on snippets of people, for needing real life to fit into the mold of some generic TV arc. The show is right and I was wrong and that's what I'll sit with long after the credits. They were all good people and how dare I think otherwise."

I am satisfied with every character's arc except for Carol's. It feels incomplete. I was hoping for a scene with just her and Clark at the end.

One thing I found effective was how they took something we knew about since episode 1 (Floyd’s death) and made us feel totally devastated when it actually happened

This is what I took from it: On the surface, we can be funny and hide our pain with humour that becomes deeply nuanced by our quirks, and that was our initial introduction to the characters. However, at the end of the day, our humour doesn't remove our existing pain -especially if we are feeling lonely or isolated. Each main character experienced that loneliness, whether we could identify with it immediately, as we did with Richard, whether it felt calculated and cold, as demonstrated by Carol, or whether it was subtle and buried deep, as it was with Clark -until the third act. That is why we got the ending that we did. It was the brutal reality of feeling alone. Of being alone. The fact that Floyd died while on his own highlights this. The one person he was progressing with in life walked away, labouring under the impression that Floyd was just looking to cheat on his Mum -leaving Floyd to die on his own. Carol had her own definition of loneliness because she couldn't find her old connection with her husband, but then later found it with Clark, who, essentially, wasn't just feeling lonely, but also ended up completely alone by the end of the series. It even highlighted human loneliness through Christopher Spurce, a character who was alone and craved connection. The vast emptiness of the skating rink really showed you how alone he was. We didn't need a twist of events to understand Floyd's death. We just needed to understand that, until he and Clark found their connection, Floyd had been feeling abandoned, inadequate, unloved, and alone. It was quite obvious by the way they set Floyd's death in the first scene at the pool, that it wasn't going to be a humorous and light ending. Yes, the characters had their moments of idiosyncrasies, but essentially, it was a series about shining a light on the darkness of feeling alone. Hence, the opening song for the credits, "Let the Sunshine in."

I feel tonally it was perfect, yeah we lost the quirky zany nature the show had in prior episodes but to me it felt like the final episode was seeing behind that mask the previous episodes had. Being/Feeling depressed or suicidal is usually not obvious to an outsider, we saw how Floyd had all these pressures and insecurities much like everyone else, he just didn't really show it that much, he was always happy go-lucky, always trying. It just took the loss/damage of his friendship with Richard after he discovers DTF StLouis on his laptop, that one last push knocked him over the edge. I guess at the end of the day how many people do you talk to or interact with day to day or week to week who appear completely fine but probably have some dark secret wether that is a struggle with depression, cheating on a spouse, an additiction, etc there's just no real way for us to know without getting to know them (not that that means you can help) or until its too late, like it was in Floyd's case. We as the viewer knew but nobody else really grasped the magnitude or expected Floyd to be able to go through with something like that i guess. After all no one is normal. It just looks that way from across the street.

I wasn’t crazy about it. I felt like the story was sub part. The characters were amazing, and wanted to see them expletive the actual app. Could have been brilliant. But sort of became a Hollywood hack job.

WOW - what that hell was that about? Also could you talk louder?

Your post is frustrating to me because I feel like you missed the entire point of the show and so much nuance if you actually believe the last episode was out of place at all. Not only was it not out of place, but I literally called that’s how the show would end by episode 4. How did you not see how he was spiraling? How did you not catch on that Clark’s friendship was both the most beautiful and destructive force he had in his life?

Ended up being a waste of time

I cried during the last episode. What a huge impact. Kudos

Underwear scene was so cringe, unrealistic & weird.

Takeaway for me was: "No one's normal, just looks that way from across the street." Once you really take that in, you can start to truly love yourself. All the central characters struggled with self loathing inner conflict.

I liked it up until the finale. The acting across the board was very good, but I thought I signed up for a murder mystery, and that’s how they wrote and edited the show. I still don’t know why Floyd killed himself. For the life insurance, I assume? Then they had to go and add one more conversation about sexual kinks between the two detectives at the end. I’m left thinking that’s the point of the show, the weird sexual stuff.

What bothered me was that the show had shown very positive non-toxic male relationships. But they had to go that extra mile and make it about sexual confusion. That's a perfectly valid thing to explore, but I was really hoping they could just keep it as a positive thing without the angst and fear.

Interesting and weird, and Carol was much too hot for either Clark or Floyd. However, in the end, the writing proved to be asinine. Why all the hints that Carol conspired to kill Floyd? What was the reason for the underwater demolition company and the unexplained Canadian checking account? A lot of the facts that seemed like clues just turned out to be stupid and irrelevant like "no way Jose," and the park bench with the pommel horse handles. Carol worked for Purina, but she seemingly never worked. Also, Floyd and Carol shared one car, but how could they both be all over town every day doing separate things? On two occasions, Floyd and Carol left the hotel room separately... with only one car, how did that work? Lastly, it makes no sense that Floyd killed himself, just because he felt bad that the kid saw him in the pool house. From a legal standpoint, the cops would never arrest Clark so early in the investigation. Once a suspect is arrested, the time starts for his Constitutional right to a speedy trial. Also, Clark was never arraigned and never had any preliminary court dates for bail. Finally, the life insurance policy is irrelevant. Insurance policies do not pay out for suicide.

I felt like the ending was just flat. With every episode peeling new layers of twists and oh shit wtf is happening moments. The ending was meh compared to the previous 6 episodes. Don’t mind the “depressing-ness” of it but I was more like “that’s it?” when the reveal happened.

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A murder mystery plot vs a main character suicide plot are fundamentally different vibes. This show should not have posed as a murder mystery or a comedy if it was actually about men’s health and suicide.

I wish it was a love triangle and one of them tried to kiss the other but wow that was sad

I see why you’d feel that way but… This was a tragedy about American life. It was almost Korean in its sense of Han (a soul’s wound that will never heal). We aren’t used to the theatrical form of tragedy here, and while I know do appreciate it, remember, it’s ancient: For 2 thousand years at least,ppl have turned stories like this, on purpose, to have our hearts broken. Agree there’s not a lot of narrative tension in characters starting sad and just ending up sadder, But: There must be some kind of value we get from the genre of tragedy or it wouldn’t have lasted so long.

I thought it was odd the show didn’t point out Carol wasn’t even getting the life insurance now since it was suicide. Such a dark ending, seems like they would have added that as a cherry on top.

Okay, crazy final ending, but through the series, it was seeming to me that he killed himself becuase once we found out that it was Floyd in the magazine and his face was scraced out, he didn't want anyone who found him to see it was him in the picuture. But! If Floyd killed himself by using all the drug-whatever it was called-and drinking it, where was the empty bottle of the drug. It appears that he was using it at the pool center and poured it into the bloody mary drink at the center. So, where and what happened to the empty bottle of the drug and how in gods good name was it missed by the police.

Creator about the finale, in Men's Health https://share.google/XjvYrbACIUmtV9NeC

No one would describe the show as zani. Awful description

Too much packed in one episode.

I’m just kinda upset that Carol, the son, and the police all came to realize Floyd killed himself but then Clark was just left hanging. Like sure we can infer the police or maybe Carol tell him but a scene of that would’ve helped. Seems like Clark was just off in the open unknowing in the end. 

Yo lo ví como que al final si quitas las emociones, todo es jodidamente vacío y miserable. De hecho, el final me dió más vibra de soledad que es de lo que la serie trata.

I liked it overall (though I agree the d*** thing was just kind of thrown away) and thought the ending was incredibly sad, for everyone involved. I liked it (never thought of it as a quirky comedy though, I have to say) but it could have been six eps rather than seven.

I think my biggest issue with it was Floyd would never do what he did to Richard, in a million years... especially as the kid would inevitably come to feel it was his fault.

I wasn't sure I liked the show until this finale, which made me kind of love it. But I still thought the dialog was unrealistic and unnatural the whole way through. Very distracting.

Not really confusing at all, once they really started exploring the characters in ep 4/5 I started to feel that they couldn't pin it on anyone in the show and that suicide was looking more likely and made total sense in the end.

Poor Floyd. Nobody in his life wanted to f*** him anymore. One of his last lines were "I just want to feel good. I haven't felt good in such a long time."

In my opinion, your reaction IS the point of the ending. I feel like this ending was somewhat of an anti-content statement. *'Oh, someone died and you wanted this to be some kind of whodunit show? Some kind of murder mystery that's supposed to be satisfying and entertaining? Wake up.'* In a sense, we went on the same journey as the detectives, who themselves got a bit wrapped up in their own storytelling. Our knee-jerk expectation that *something interesting must happen,* and our disappointment when it didn't, was fully on display. We, the viewers, were the punchline. That we could watch something so real, so complex, so relevant to current times, and yet feel disappointed that it wasn't more entertaining is a jarring place to arrive at. As we sink deeper and deeper into a culture obsessed with content, this show brought a piece of the real world back to us, and it made us uncomfortable. They lured us in with our favorite candy, and then turned the mirror back on us at the very end. They gave us what we wanted for 6 episodes. Then they got real with us. I respect it.

I agree - I wasn't suprised that Floyd had killed himself - that was a distinct possibility that the show floated early on. But I thought that the way they arrived at his final moments didn't really make sense with what we had seen before. Although Floyd is often presented as a lovably enthusiastic and sweet guy, he manipulated Clark into paying for his life insurance and getting him the drug he needed to commit suicide. Clark asks him specifically what will happen if he takes too much, and Floyd readily admits he will die. But shrugs it off as if that won't happen. And he also finds a way to be present during Clark and Carol's affair - he works the hotel employee into giving him access to the room. I feel like the ending reduced Floyd to a sort of sad sack person with no agency, but he had actually worked very hard to create an "off ramp" for himself. He seems to care very little how his death might affect Clark - does it occur to him that Clark might feel tremendous guilt or feel used? Floyd strings Clark along with the story of his bent p**** - if he had told him the simple truth at the beginning (Richard attacked him) would Clark have beens so willing to help him get the drug? A drug that perhaps would not solve the problem with Floyd's d***? Obviously Clark is not blameless, he just came across as almost comically naive. He gets duped by Floyd and Carol (Miss Watermelon Breeze masquerading as a Go Getter). I also thought the show was terribly misleading about Carol - why were we treated to so many scenes of her being an a****** (No way, Jose, Can you speak up?) when by the end we are supposed to see her as a loving mom and umpire? Her lack of knowledge about the rules of baseball at the beginning seem comical and sort of cynical - she doesn't seem to care if she calls balls or strikes or outs - she just wants the game to end so she can get her paycheck. Fair enough - but then she is magically Umpire of the Year? And I also thought the show did Richard dirty - I felt like he was just a plot device - we don't really understand how he felt about his real dad leaving, we find out at the very end that he is responsible for Floyd's injury but there is no evidence he knows what he did to his step dad or has any lingering anger or embarrassment about what happened. I wish the show had done less with the murder mystery angle (although I did love Richard Jenkins - who stole every scene he was in) and spent more time on the relationships between the three principals and Richard. My husband asked me after it was over, would you watch that again? And I have to say no. The acting was great, there were scenes that were individually brilliant, but I don't think they nailed the landing.