Diksha Sundriyal
Through its myriad of stories, Fox’s ‘Accused’ brings forward different crimes and the circumstances behind them. Every story makes the audience think about the nature of the crime and whether the person accused of it is worthy of forgiveness or if they are better off in prison. With its final episode, titled ‘Megan’s Story,’ the show delivers yet another story that makes one stop and give a thought to what has just transpired on the screen. SPOILERS AHEAD
Megan’s Life Changes Following the Arrival of a Robot
The protagonist of the story is a woman named Megan, who works in the music industry. When we meet her, she is starting a new venture where she gets musicians to incorporate AI in the creation of their songs. This is not something her husband, who is a pianist, agrees with, but it is a lucrative business, and he supports his wife. The problem here is that Megan is too involved in her career, which makes her husband, John, feel a bit left out of her life. He wants them to have kids and start a family, but she doesn’t have the time for that.
Being busy the entire day gives Megan no time to spare for her husband, and she feels guilty about it. Instead of making time for him, she comes up with a different idea. She believes that the problem in their marriage is that she is not able to satisfy her husband’s sexual needs. Fortunately, her sister, Lila, had been working on an AI robot created to function as a sex robot, and Megan decided to get a prototype for John. Her sister advises against it, and when Megan brings it home, her husband also disapproves. It is decided that the robot should be sent back, but then John decides to give the machine a whirl, and he discovers that he likes it more than his wife.
Did Megan Kill Her Husband? Did the Robot Kill Him?
The problem with Megan is that she believes her husband wants sex while he wants her attention and time, which she is not ready to give. At least, not until the robot comes along. When John starts to use the robot, Megan is initially thrilled because she thinks that the robot is doing its job. But then, she realizes that her husband is getting more and more attached to the machine whom he has named Eve. He prefers spending an evening with Eve rather than going out. He talks to Eve about all sorts of things and even plays the piano for her, something that he hasn’t done in a long time for Megan.
As Megan gets jealous, she tells her sister to take the robot back. She blames everything on the robot, which is when her sister points out that the problem is not the robot but Megan. She tells Megan that the only way she can get John back is by not being selfish anymore and doing something for John for once. He wanted children, so Megan should do that. Instead of talking to John about it, Megan decides to surprise him. She gets IVF from the eggs she’d had frozen a while back and ends up getting pregnant with twins.
By now, a lot of time has passed, and John has not just grown attached to Eve but has fallen in love with her. When Megan comes home to tell him about the pregnancy, John reveals that he cannot be with her, even with the children, because he wants to be with Eve. The realization that her husband is leaving her for a robot hits Megan worse than expected. She feels betrayed because she did exactly what John wanted. She got pregnant, even when she didn’t want it in the first place. And even now, he is rejecting her. In a moment of blind rage, Megan hits John in the head with a vase. As he falls to the ground and bleeds out, Megan realizes that she has killed the father of her children.
Is Megan Found Guilty?
The moment Megan realizes what she has done, she calls Lila, who is completely shocked to discover the turn of events. With John dead, Megan’s future turns bleak in front of her eyes. She talks to Lila about what will happen to her. She will go to prison, but that leaves the question of what will happen to her children, who will be born in prison. She doesn’t want them to go into the system, but for that, she will have to escape prison. With the overwhelming evidence against her, there is only one thing that can save her now. The only witness to the murder is Eve, which means that the case will hinge on her testimony. Because Megan killed John, that’s what Eve remembers. However, Eve is a machine, which means her memories can be changed.
During the trial, Megan tells everyone that Eve had started glitching shortly after she was brought home. She uses this glitch as an excuse to state that it was Eve who attacked John. The only way to prove this beyond doubt is to show it. So, Megan gets Lila to tamper with the video in Eve’s memory. Recreating the entire video would make it easier for them to be caught. Anyone could figure out that it has been tampered with. So, uses the original video and cuts it up such that it looks like Eve attacked John after Megan told him about the twins. The video is damaged a bit, which makes it look like Eve’s memory was damaged due to her glitch.
Once the video proves that it was Eve who attacked and killed John, a theory is cooked up. Using the glitch as an excuse, it is theorized that this glitch may have caused Eve to act out. This theory becomes more plausible under the condition that Eve was just a prototype. Moreover, it had been sent to John without proper paperwork because, at the time, Megan wanted to override the entire thing. Hence, the whole blame comes upon Lila’s company for creating a defective robot and then letting it run around so that it ends up killing the very person it was created for. And with this, Megan is entirely cleared of the accusations and is acquitted.
Even though it completely destroys Lila’s career, she lies to save her sister from going to prison and losing her entire life in the process. It is a hard pill to swallow because once her company and Eve are defamed, Lila has a permanent dark spot on her resume, which makes her unemployable. She is angry with Megan, but Megan, who is now well into her pregnancy, offers Lila a job in her new venture, which is going much better than expected. While there’s still some discord between the sisters, they decide to stick with each other and walk away from the courthouse hand in hand.
Read More: Fox’s Accused Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: Margot’s Story
