Sumith Prasad
The fourth episode of Apple TV+’s crime series ‘Black Bird,’ titled ‘WhatsHerName,’ follows James “Jimmy” Keene’s attempts to get closer with the suspected serial killer Larry DeWayne Hall. Jimmy gets to talk with Larry concerning their childhood after a riot in the Springfield penitentiary. Officer J. Carter confronts Jimmy regarding the cocaine he wanted to sell to fulfill the officer’s demand, only for the latter to reveal that his father James “Big Jim” Keene couldn’t find the product and had spent all his money.
Larry’s brother Gary Hall meets the suspected murderer to talk about an incident that indicates the possibility of Larry walking away from the prison as a free man. If you are eager to know more about the two brothers’ meeting at the end of the episode, let us share our thoughts! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Black Bird Episode 4 Recap
‘WhatsHerName’ begins with flashback sequences depicting Larry’s father burying the coffin of a man after the funeral. At night, he woke up Larry and the two of them went to the cemetery. Larry was asked by his father to dig the ground until he could open the coffin. In the present day, in Springfield, Jimmy goes through Larry’s possessions to find clues but only finds gruesome drawings of women. Officer Carter asks Jimmy about the “product” Big Jim was supposed to deliver. When Jimmy makes it clear that he doesn’t have money or product to fulfill his demand, Carter leaves the prisoner’s cell.
Flashback sequences depict Big Jim training and motivating Jimmy to become a famed football player. As a cop, Big Jim failed to be there for his son and Lynne, which affected Jimmy’s parents’ relationship. Big Jim and Lynne fought about the former’s absence frequently, leaving Jimmy helpless. The child Larry started to garner ornaments from the dead body in the coffin. When he couldn’t pull out a ring, Larry’s father asked him to cut the finger from the dead body for him to pull the ring easier. Larry followed his father’s instructions and took the ring from a severed finger.
A riot ensues in Springfield as multiple prisoners attack one another. Several inmates stab or slit the throats of other inmates, forcing the authorities to implement a lockdown. Larry and a group of prisoners, including Jimmy, start cleaning the mess hall. Larry and Jimmy clean together and talk about each other’s childhood. Jimmy reveals to Larry that his stepfather Glen used to hurt him and his mother Lynne. He adds that Glen beat him up one day, only for Lynne to discard him and his feelings. After listening to Jimmy’s experience, Larry reminds his new friend that Lynne loved Glen more than she loved him.
Black Bird Episode 4 Ending: Will Larry Hall Get Released from Prison? Will Jimmy Elicit Larry’s Confession?
When Gary visits his brother Larry in prison, he reveals that officers from the Wabash police station had come to see the former concerning the suspected killer. Gary and Larry wonder why they get involved in the latter’s case, especially when he is in prison. Larry soon realizes that there’s a possibility of him getting released from prison, especially since the court had found his initial trial problematic and incomplete. Since the Wabash police will likely be responsible to keep an eye on Larry if he gets released from prison, the suspected killer connects the police officers’ visit to his possibly impending freedom.
However, Larry may not be able to walk freely from the prison that easily as Jimmy is making progress in his mission. Even though his cover gets threatened, Jimmy manages not only to befriend Larry but also to make him reveal that he had kept a rag dipped in starter fluids to make girls unconscious. The revelation, in addition to Larry’s confession to having sex with women without caring about them, can be seen as progress Jimmy has made in his mission. Larry’s revelation of the rag can also be interpreted as the stepping stone to his possible confession as Jimmy can make him say what exactly he did to those girls after making them unconscious.
As Special Agent Lauren McCauley and federal attorney Edmund Beaumont fear, time is indeed running out of Jimmy’s hand to elicit a confession from Larry before he can walk away from the prison as a free man. Still, Jimmy and Larry are getting closer enough for the suspected killer to reveal his secrets to his “new friend,” which gives Jimmy an opportunity to elicit Larry’s confession to the supposed murder of Tricia Reitler and possibly many more.
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