Sumith Prasad
The sixth and final episode of Apple TV+’s crime series ‘Black Bird,’ titled ‘You Promised,’ follows James “Jimmy” Keene’s attempts to finally garner the details concerning Tricia Reitler’s supposed dead body from suspected serial killer Larry Hall. Jimmy encounters a map Larry possesses which guides him to pivotal realizations. Special Agent Lauren McCauley and police detective Brian Miller’s investigation lead them to Larry’s past and his brother Gary Hall. James “Big Jim” James’ health deteriorates as he stresses over being unable to contact his son. Episode 6 concludes with several enthralling developments that rewrite the fates of Jimmy and Hall. If you are up for a detailed look at the same, let us be your ally! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Black Bird Finale Recap
‘You Promised’ begins with Larry waking up Jimmy from a nightmare. Jimmy accuses Larry of lying to him about the girls he had sex with to provoke him, expecting the latter to open up more about his crimes. Big Jim suffers from a stroke after stressing over not being able to call Jimmy. Vincent “The Chin” Gigante meets Jimmy and lets him indirectly know that he had found out about his fabricated cover story. Jimmy meets Larry at the workshop and encounters a map with twenty-one red dots. He deduces that the dots are the locations of the supposed dead bodies of Larry’s victims.
Jimmy tries to persuade Larry to hand over the map to the families of the girls so that they can find the bodies of the victims. He wants the parents to finally attain peace by properly burying their daughters so they can also come to terms with their death. However, Larry makes it clear that he isn’t going to do that. The suspected killer wants to send the map and the wooden falcons to Gary, his brother. Jimmy’s confrontation leads Larry to realize that his “friend” was sent to Springfield by Edmund Beaumont to spy on him. The two of them get into a fight and the guards separate them.
The guards shut down Jimmy in solitary confinement even after his repeated requests to talk to Dr. Aaron Zicherman, who is on vacation. Brian and Lauren meet Gary to talk about Larry. Gary reveals that Larry had raped a hitchhiker when they were children and that he didn’t do anything to stop his brother from becoming a rapist. Brian asks Gary whether he believes that Larry is a murderer, only for Gary to reply no. However, Brian refuses to believe Gary.
Black Bird Finale Ending: How Does Jimmy Become a Free Man?
After spending a few days in solitary confinement, Jimmy gets released from the same under the instruction of Dr. Zicherman, who returns to Springfield after the vacation. Lauren meets Jimmy at the prison and the latter explains his interaction with Larry, encounter with Larry’s map, and the suspected killer’s revelations concerning Jessica Roach to the FBI special agent. Lauren then leads Jimmy to Beaumont, who agrees to help him become a free man. Even though Jimmy has failed to find the exact location of Tricia Reilter’s supposed dead body, which has been deemed essential for his release from prison, Beaumont doesn’t hesitate to see the commendable work Jimmy has done undercover.
Through Jimmy, Beaumont and Lauren get something to fight against Larry, and to seemingly reciprocate the favor, the federal attorney requests the court to commute Jimmy’s sentence. The judge succeeds in understanding the change that happened to Jimmy as a person, in addition to the appreciable work he had done for the bureau. In the place of a macho narcissist, the judge sees a man who had shed arrogance from his life, which influences him to commute Jimmy’s sentence and allow him to walk out of the court as a free man.
Beaumont and the judge know that staying in a penitentiary like Springfield for the sake of the FBI, regardless of the result of the undercover mission, deserves a reward and Jimmy attains freedom for partially completing a severely dangerous mission.
Why Does Larry’s Appeal Get Denied?
Ever since Larry’s initial conviction, he has projected himself as a victim of the authorities’ unlawful methods of interrogation through his defense. The appellate court even views Larry’s initial confession as problematic and considers it as a possible result of coercion. The lack of a false confession expert’s findings in the original trial further discredits the conviction verdict, giving Larry enough chance to win the appeal and leave the court as a free man. However, Jimmy’s involvement in the case changes the dynamics of the same.
Through Jimmy, Beaumont succeeds in establishing that Larry knew certain details about Jessica Roach’s case only the real perpetrator can know. Such a development invalidates the claim that Larry was completely innocent. The court also finds that Larry’s defense’s claim that his confessions were coerced doesn’t bear up to scrutiny, which further favors the prosecution. Considering the absence of any concrete evidence to prove Larry’s innocence, especially that can invalidate the prosecution’s “source,” the court denies Larry’s appeal and rules his return to Springfield.
Does the FBI Find the Bodies of Larry’s Alleged Victims?
No, the FBI doesn’t find the bodies of Larry’s alleged victims. The only way that can lead Lauren, Beaumont, and Brian to find the dead bodies of Larry’s suspected victims is the map of the suspected killer. To the misfortune of the authorities, Larry’s father burns the same. In addition, Beaumont and Lauren accept the fact that it is pointless to go after the suspected victims without any substantial evidence. Through Jimmy’s intervention, they succeed in making sure that Larry’s appeal will get denied, forcing the suspected killer to spend all his life in prison.
Beaumont and Lauren’s main objective has always been ensuring that Larry will not walk out of the prison as a free man to continue committing crimes. They ensure that Larry will not harm another girl before he dies by ensuring that his appeal gets denied. Beaumont and Lauren get settled with such a result in light of the lack of evidence to connect Larry to any other crimes. Even though Gary tries his best to convince his brother to confess to the crimes he apparently committed, the former’s efforts don’t lead to any results that help the FBI to find any dead bodies of Larry’s supposed victims.
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