DTF St. Louis Finale Recap and Ending Explained: How Did Floyd Die?

In ‘DTF St. Louis,’ the death of Floyd Smernitch seems like it makes for a straightforward case. The ASL interpreter is found dead at a poolhouse, where he was supposed to meet an anonymous connection from a local dating/hookup app. This connection is found to actually be the victim’s best friend, Clark Forrest, who was also previously engaged in an extramarital affair with the deceased’s wife, Carol. However, while Detective Homer assumes this makes Floyd’s death an open-and-shut case of a love triangle and a jealous lover, his partner, Jodie Plumb, makes another discovery. As it turns out, the relationship between the weatherman and the married couple wasn’t quite so clear-cut. With a deep friendship and a life insurance policy involved in the mix, the facts of the Floyd Smernitch prove to be unreliable without the bigger picture. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Kevin Van Der Lance and Steven Queece Prove Clark and Carol’s Innocence

Initially, after Clark reveals the truth about his Tiger Tiger account on DTF, Homer remains reluctant to believe him. However, once the two figure out that the anonymous man the meteorologist hired from a Chicagoan Derry’s went on a date with Modern Love, it gives the detectives a thread to follow. Sure enough, once Homer and Plumb find themselves in front of Modern Love again, he seems to have the right answers for them. Tiger Tiger is identified as Kevin Van Der Lance from Chicago, who confirms Clark’s statement. The latter had really tried to hire the man to pose as Tiger Tiger for a meeting with Floyd. Furthermore, he ended up backing out of the deal after he spied on the ASL Interpreter and realized that he wouldn’t be able to get an erection during their otherwise non-sexual encounter.

Thus, Homer realizes that he has had the wrong idea about the case from the very start. Clark and Floyd’s close relationship, the husband’s enthusiastic understanding of his wife’s affair with his friend, and now the unexpected Tiger Tiger reveal, compel Homer to conclude that Clark is truly innocent. On the other hand, Plumb discovers some information that lifts her suspicions about Carol. Apparently, the sealed criminal charges against her were for the non-violent crime of shoplifting, which she committed as a kid. Moreover, Steven Queece, the young president of the umpire association, had dropped mail by the Love-Smernitch house on the morning of Floyd’s death. As such, he can confirm Carol’s alibi for the time of the suspected murder. This puts the only two suspects on the case in the clear.

Clark Reveals the Reason Behind Floyd’s Visit to the Pool

Initially, as per the texts on Floyd’s phone, Homer believes that the victim was at the Kalvin Kline Pools, the place of his murder, to meet up with a DTF connection. However, he eventually learns that Clark had only made the Tiger Tiger profile as a way to give his best friend a confidence boost. Eventually, once his plan involving Kevin from Chicago failed, he ended up revealing the whole truth to his friend. Therefore, Floyd’s reasons behind visiting the Pools become cryptic. That is, until Clark decides to reveal the entire truth. On the night of Floyd’s death, the weatherman did indeed invite his friend to the Pools. Over the course of the summer, Clark had found a unique friendship with the ASL interpreter.

Although it all started after his affair with Carol, Clark ended up valuing Floyd’s addition in his life to a greater extent. Simply put, he loved his friend and hated to see him down in the dumps due to his own body image and insecurity issues. It’s why he tries to set up an encounter between Floyd and Kevin, realizing that the simple act of someone else getting aroused by Floyd would be enough of a confidence boost for him. Therefore, once that plan falls through, Clark decides to provide the same to his friend on his own. When Clark meets Floyd at the Pool, the two initially just talk, discussing their insecurities and affirming their love for one another. Eventually, it turns into a near-naked dance party. In the end, Clark’s plan of popping a boner for Floyd doesn’t really work. Hence, why he ends up returning home, well before the forensics report concludes the victim was killed.

DTF St. Louis Ending: How Did Floyd Die?

Floyd Smernitch’s death offers a perplexing case, which becomes more and more complicated as the detectives dig up new information. Initially, it’s easy to believe that the death is a result of a DTF encounter gone wrong. However, with the discovery of Clark and Carol’s affair, this assumption is challenged. In light of the new evidence, Clark Forrest becomes a prime suspect. However, his presumably air-tight motive begins to crumble once Homer and Plumb realize that Floyd was aware of the sexual relationship between his best friend and his wife and had even taken a consensual voyeuristic interest in it.

Thus, in the end, it truly comes down to understanding the events that led up to the morning of Floyd’s murder. Floyd and Carol have been facing marital problems for a long time. The former’s Peyronie’s disease, a medical condition that curves his penis and makes erections difficult, their dwindling romance, and mounting financial problems have all but eradicated the intimacy from their lives. Therefore, when he learns about his wife’s affair with Clark, he’s happy for her. At the same time, the dust begins to settle on their finances, largely thanks to Clark, Floyd wants to try to rekindle things between himself and his wife.

Nonetheless, when the two try to have an encounter of their own, this time with the weatherman in the closet, Carol realizes that she can’t be intimate with her husband, whom she no longer finds attractive. This comes as a huge blow for the latter, who is already struggling with body image issues. For the same reason, Floyd agrees to the Tiger Tiger rendezvous. Even though he has never been attracted to men, he thinks the knowledge that he can cause someone else’s erection would be an empowering thing. Nonetheless, the plan ultimately falls through, leaving the ASL interpreter alone at the Pools after Clark leaves. Only, he isn’t really alone.

Earlier in the evening, his stepson, Richard, logged into his computer to access his habit tracker and ended up discovering his DTF chats. Consequently, he jumps to the wrong conclusion and assumes that his stepfather is cheating on his mother. Worst of all, when he arrives at the Pool and finds Floyd and Clark dancing together in their underwear, he assumes they’re the ones having an affair. Thus, after the weatherman leaves, Richard comes out of his hiding spot and confronts Floyd. Oblivious to the nuances of the situation, he hurles insults at his stepfather, worsening his already awful mental state. Thus, in the end, Floyd becomes too overwhelmed by his self-hatred and decides to chug his Amphezyne-laced Bloody Mary, very well knowing that the drug will stop his heart. Ultimately, Floyd’s death is revealed to be a suicide rather than a murder.

What Happened to Floyd’s Penis?

Even though it’s introduced into the story as a throwaway detail, Floyd’s Peyronie’s disease turns out to have a notable influence on the show. Initially, every time the ASL interpreter tries to tell the story about how his penis ended up getting curved, his and Clark’s conversations always get interrupted or sidetracked. Still, going into the finale, Clark and subsequently the audience have an image of the events leading up to the incident that resulted in the condition. Years ago, when Floyd was still job-hunting, he landed an interview at a promising job. However, on his way to the interview, he ended up saving the life of a young man who was walking around in traffic in the nude. When the local news wanted to talk to him about the incident, he ended up running late for the interview.

In his haste, Floyd had a little accident, which made him take a pit stop at a nearby hospital. In the end, when he arrived at the corporation for his interview, he saw a nearby ASL class and ended up being moved by the language. Thus, in that moment, he made the impulsive decision to ditch the interview and pursue a career in ASL interpreting. Naturally, when he shared the news with Carol, she was less than pleased with it. Floyd’s new plan all but confirmed that they would need to financially struggle as a family, as he chooses to give up on job security and stability for his newfound passion. In the finale, we finally get to see Floyd sharing the aftermath of the story and how it actually led to his injury.

After Floyd told Carol about his plan, the altercation that followed left the latter in tears. The following night, Richard came into his parents’ room and hit his stepfather in the groin with a baseball bat. This story cements the kid’s volatile behavior and inclination towards violence in times of distress. Moreover, it also sets up foreshadowing for the eventual reveal about Richard’s inadvertent hand in Floyd’s eventual death. In many ways, the kid is a parallel to Homer, at least as the detective is in the beginning of the show. Both refuse to see the nuances of any situation and are compelled to jump to conclusions. This directly impacts the lives of those around them, in Richard’s case, to a vehement extreme.

What Happens to Clark? Is He Acquitted of the Murder Charges?

At the beginning of Homer and Plumb’s investigation, Clark emerges as the most obvious suspect in Floyd’s murder. As a result, once they have gathered enough evidence, the weatherman is charged with the murder charges. However, the case doesn’t resolve itself quite so fast. As Plumb refuses to lean into her partner’s assumptions and pays attention to the details, she finds the cracks in Homer’s theories. Consequently, as the duo continues to interrogate Clark further, certain truths about his relationship with Floyd and Carol emerge. Apparently, shortly after his affair with the latter, the weatherman ended up striking up a genuine friendship with her husband to the point of developing a deeper emotional bond with him.

Therefore, Clark would never have truly hurt his best friend. In fact, most of the evidence implicating him in the murder actually had other explanations behind it. The amphezynes subscriptions were a favor he was doing for Floyd to help him with his erectile dysfunction issues. Likewise, his Tiger Tiger profile and presence at the Kalvin Kline Pools all have a reasonable explanation behind them. In the end, once Homer and Plumb conclude that Floyd died of suicide, the case is closed, and Clark is released from police custody with no charges. Even so, his reputation around town has been entirely besmirched now that all his secrets have come out in the open. Similarly, his wife, Eimy, and their two daughters have also taken their leave. Ultimately, Clark’s secrets have a cost, and he pays for it with his abject loneliness.