The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Family
Denis Kimathi
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Danny Sullivan was the unluckiest child, young man, and person ever. But how unlucky can one person be?
The trial to determine Danny's innocence or guilt in the Rockefeller shooting began on The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 9, progressing to witness and professional statements, leaving the ruling for another time.
I'm always fascinated by trials, so I have watched numerous legal dramas and enjoyed every second of courtroom theater.
I never thought a day would come when I failed to enjoy a TV episode set almost exclusively inside a courtroom, but that day arrived with this trial.
The episode opened with Danny preparing for trial, and it just reinforced everything about him that makes one's heart bleed for him.
Tying a tie is a skill any young man his age should have mastered. They could learn from a dad, brother, peer, or friend. Yet Danny Sullivan never had any of those, and the evidence was in his inadequacy.
Danny's trial was always set to become a spectacle because of the nature of the claims involved in his defense strategy. It was a strategy the prosecution was well of, and Patricia went for the jugular in her opening statement.
But with evidence so provable, so irrefutable, one wonders, what will the defense do? They cannot deny the facts, so they will divert you from them by making unfounded and unproven claims about a condition they call Multiple Personality Disorder. Let me be clear. There is no such thing as Multiple Personality Disorder. It is a made-up condition. From a Sally Field movie, no less. They might as well claim the defendant is a flying nun. The defense blames Mr. Sullivan's actions on what they call an alter. Now I can admit I get the appeal. Don't we all wish we could blame our mistakes on someone else? Run a red light, blame an alter. Bounce a check, blame an alter. Cheat on a spouse, well, let's see how that one flies.
DA Patricia
She poisoned any goodwill the jury might have reserved for Danny by mocking him and his alleged condition.
While it's suitable for a prosecutor -- or even a defender -- to use any strategy in their arsenal to get their point across, I usually draw a line when mockery is the strategy, and it's not an episode of Judge Jerry.
For said reason, many people who have been seriously violated avoid going to court. Everyone is making fun of you in private there's no need to give them the joy of public shaming.
Stan had an uphill task to wipe those thoughts from the jury members' minds, and he did it excellently.
He went for an emotional angle, identifying with the jury's fears and calming them to the best of his abilities. He also jabbed the prosecution's opening statement without being crass about it. He pulled them down to a neutral position even if he didn't get them on his side.
Indisputable. Undeniable. Irrefutable. And it makes a guy wonder, why am I even here? That was some opening from the prosecution. Bedrock principles. Well, here's a bedrock principle for you. He's innocent. He has the presumption of innocence asis his right. Now this bears repeating because of everything that you just heard. So, let me begin by saying it clearly and as a simple statement of fact. Danny Sullivan didn't shoot anyone. He was there. He admits as much. But he didn't pull the trigger. Danny's a good kid. But he's a sick kid. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, no one is making up a condition. I get how it sounds. Multiple Personality disorder. You know, at first I had a hard time wrapping my head around it myself. But instead of making flying nun jokes -- which is easy -- I kept an open mind. Which is hard. And that's what I'm asking of you. To keep an open mind, listen to the experts and listen to the witnesses. Because if you do, you'll arrive at the same indisputable, undeniable, irrefutable conclusion that I did, which is that Danny had no control over his illness. Or his alters. Yeah, he's got alters. He's got altars because he was hurt in unimaginable ways. That broke him. It broke his mind into pieces. And no, they are not some get-out-of-jail-free card. They are real, and they are not Danny. To send Danny to prison for a crime that one of his alters committed would be the same as you going to jail for a crime that I committed. Now Danny's illness is rare, and it is the result of being exposed to sexual abuse as a child. Frankly, he's lucky to have survived. This illness is how he survived. I get it. It's weird. It's hard. But please, keep an open mind.
Stan
Witness testimonies carry a lot of weight, and while most of the witnesses on the stand gave a factual account of their interaction with Danny, it didn't do much to help his case. The Crowded Room Quote above might have done more than all witnesses combined.
The only person who might have said anything worthwhile was Angelo when he used the C-Word.
That boy's nuts. Craziest son of a bitch I know.
Angelo
Jerome was passed off as another homosexual sex partner to a closeted man even when he was the only person who knew Danny more than everyone else.
DA Patricia: These clubs you frequent, are there ever closeted gay men in there? Men with something to hide?
Jerome: Sure.
DA PAtricia: So how could you know that Ariana wasn't just an alias? A cover? A lie?
While Anabelle testified to the sweet side of Danny, she also testified to the fact that he could be a monster at times, and that testimony carried no weight.
Rya's expert opinion should have carried more weight, but Patricia had done her research.
It was true that Rya was riding a lot on this theory, panning out. She might even have pushed Danny beyond his limits but did all in good faith.
Stan had noticed it and warned her against it on The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 8.
But two things can be true at once, especially when none of those things claimed exclusivity to having the truth.
She was helping Danny and helping herself. There's no crime in that, even if people might want to pass a moral judgment.
Her testimony didn't help too.
It was why Candy's testimony was so important. As Danny's mother, she held the keys to his much-disputed childhood events. She was supposed to know the most intimate details about her child, and the fact that she missed his abuse was killing her.
She knew what people would think of her if she admitted to knowing that Marlin had sexually abused her son, and she stayed with him. What kind of mother does that?
I was guilty of it.
Everything she was afraid of, I had thought in my mind.
It was why Rya's insightful information about the nature of the brain, emotions, and attachment was so eye-opening.
I can attest to watching people die slowly in abusive relationships, even when they have all the means to leave except for the most important tool -- the will to do it.
They grow attached to the situation, thinking it's not that bad, and only if they could brave it a little longer everything would be okay.
But Candy's situation on The Crowded Room Season 1 was even more complex. Marlin was a proper monster.
He knew what he was, and he knew the power he carried by being a man. He had dealt with children long enough to spot vulnerable ones.
He banked on the pressure society puts on people to conform. He knew the damage he'd done to Danny, and never had there been something as disgusting as him sitting on the stand and lying.
The second was probably emotionally blackmailing Candy to give false testimony.
Stan: Do you believe Danny was ever sexually abused?
Candy: NO!
When she said that resounding NO, hope left the room.
Stan lost the willpower to fight. He'd been barely hanging on by pills and liquor, and I feared this loss might be too much for him.
Danny was the most affected. Everything he'd come to believe about himself the past few months was greatly challenged.
Patricia painted Rya as a user; his mother claimed he had never been sexually assaulted.
What if he was indeed a monster? Did he deserve to live? He answered no, and Jonny's, just in case, became, "Oh, it is happening."
It was unclear if it was Danny or Jonny who slit the wrists.
During Candy's testimony, I waited with bated breath for her to say she didn't think Danny was abused; she knew. And she did know. There was nothing she could do to persuade herself otherwise. That truth will forever live with her.
The anger at her actions was real until I remembered her emotional situation. I hope she feels guilty enough to poison Marlin. It'd be one less monster on earth, and she'd cook less. See? A win all around.
Judgment (The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 10) is coming soon, as the jury's verdict comes in and Danny's fate is sealed, marking the end to this mind-boggling story.
What trick will the defense pull? The outcome of this trial is the kind that sets a precedent, informing the outcome of other trials of the same nature that will come.
What did you think? What was most (or least) impressive about the episode?
Let us know in the comments section.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
