The third and final episode, which was released in the first week of Apple TV’s new thriller The Crowded Room, ended by answering one question and raising many more. Danny Sullivan (Holland) had been arrested after he aimed a revolver at an unseen man in the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, as his accomplice Ariana (Sasha Lane) had fled. This episode reveals who Danny’s target had been, along with the lengths he went to help Ariana out of a tough spot, which caused him immense personal trouble.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Danny Want A Gun?
While sitting for coffee in the early morning, Ariana finally opens up to Danny about the event that left her so immensely traumatized. She says a friend of her father’s would come into her room and sexually abuse her night after night, which caused such emotional trauma to her that she can never feel romantic love. This is why she freaks out anytime someone becomes romantically attached to her, and also because she always feels her abuser’s presence breathing down her neck. Danny decided to give her a “second chance,” so now he needed to acquire a gun. The best person for such jobs was Angelo, their drug supplier, but that man was as despicable as they came. Regardless, Danny took Jonny along to Brooklyn and sat down before Angelo for a gun. This wretched lowlife demanded sexual favors from Danny, and despite Jonny’s reasoning, he negotiated something with the thug.
Angelo took Danny to a secluded spot after Danny blew off Jonny because he was so focused that he needed the gun. However, at the confidential area, Angelo pointed the gun and demanded fellatio and a very uncomfortable scene followed as Danny pleaded and begged while Angelo tried forcing himself on the teenager. If you’re here before finishing the episode, consider this a trigger warning, and you can skip to that sweet spot where Jonny comes to the rescue and smashes the potential rapist’s nose, and the two boys flee. Danny makes sure to take the gun too.
Why Does Yitzhak Throw Out Danny And Ariana?
Back at the house, Ariana says she doesn’t need the gun because she’s not comfortable with it, so Danny keeps it in his sock drawer. He almost forgets about the gun and Ariana’s issues when Annabelle shows up, and the two go kite-flying. Coming back, they’re drenched in the rain and later snuggle up together in bed at the house. Danny is woken up from sleep when he hears the sound of glass smashing, and he frantically wakes Annabelle and puts her inside the closet while he readies himself with the revolver. Angelo has come back to seek vengeance and demands the gun and more. However, Danny doesn’t have much time to face this thug because Yitzhak hides him, but Angelo finds Annabelle and drags her out. Yitzhak once again comes to the rescue against this stain on humanity and satisfyingly thrashes Angelo’s face in. He also fires one bullet from the revolver, leaving a bullet hole in the window for good measure as this wannabe tough guy wets himself in fear. Yitzhak proceeds to throw the scum out of his house as Danny tries to help Annabelle, but by now, she’s too terrified and blames Danny for all that happened. She screams and flees the house while Yitzhak orders both Danny and Ariana to leave for bringing a gun to his house.
The next morning, as Danny is packing his things, Ariana suggests going ahead with the initial plan and scaring her abuser really well so that he leaves her alone for good. Rya questioned whether Danny knew at that point that he was being manipulated by her, but he didn’t back then; now he does. The plan had been to fire the gun in the air and scare the man, but when Danny faced the abuser, he froze. Before leaving for the incident, Danny was sitting at the doorstep of the “ghost house” when Marlin was driving by, and he asked his stepson to come home, but he didn’t respond as Marlin drove away.
Who Was Danny’s Target?
Based on the clues that were thrown here and there, it could’ve been guessed who Danny saw when he aimed the gun. Danny froze when the man turned because it was Marlin, his stepfather, and Ariana said it was he who’d abused her. Danny couldn’t fire the gun, so Ariana picked up the gun and began firing, and now we know what’d happened. Rya suggests the possibility that this entire thing was a setup because Yitzhak had entrusted Danny with a passport and money and asked him to go find his father. So what if this was an entire scenario to send Danny looking for his father? He ended up taking Yitzhak’s advice after all, and The Crowded Room Episode 3 ended with a plane taking off, headed for some unknown destination, as Danny sat inside.
What Does The End Mean?
Ariana had said that her abuser frequented the bookie stalls, the same place Marlin used to go after getting his salary, and that should’ve been the biggest hint that the person was someone Danny knew. However, what if this whole thing was made up? Even Danny felt it was too much of a happenstance that the girl whom his stepfather abused was the girl’s father’s friend, and she lived in the same neighborhood as Danny did. Not only could they’ve come across each other multiple times, but there was also no need to get Danny involved if not for the fact that Ariana didn’t want any blame for herself. Besides, what’s up with this thing about Danny’s real father, and what does Yitzhak know about this? The Crowded Room Episode 3 answers one question as to who Danny’s target was but opens up so many more because now we’re wondering whether all of this was fake. It always struck Rya as odd that Danny’s parents, at least her mother, didn’t complain harder that her teenage son was living with a strange man in a secluded house, so could it be that she was in on this, whatever this was?
By now, it’s clear that the investigation is happening after Danny boarded the plane to go find his father, so did he find the man he was looking for? Is he going to give up Ariana to save himself, or is he so noble that he’ll indict himself to give her a second chance? Will we ever see Annabelle again, and will Danny get a chance to explain himself to her? For these questions and many more, it looks like waiting until next week is the only choice at hand.
