Diksha Sundriyal
Things get worse for the Murdaugh family in Hulu’s ‘Murdaugh: Death in the Family.’ The previous episode focused on Alex Murdaugh taking his family on a vacation with the money he swindled from his clients. It ended with the Murdaugh family’s house help, Gloria Satterfield, falling down the stairs and hitting her head pretty hard. The fourth episode opens in the aftermath of Gloria’s hospitalization. With her gone, the family is struggling with their day-to-day, but things are much worse on the legal front. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Alex’s Financial Troubles Get Worse
As Mallory Beach’s parents sue the Murdaughs, the settlement amount becomes a point of contention. It is revealed that the Beaches are getting $1.5 million each from two other settlements, and Randy and Randolph believe that Alex should offer the same amount. Alex thinks otherwise, but his father convinces him to stick with 1.5 million as he hopes that it will push aside the issue for good. While Alex will be able to get $500,000 out of insurance, he won’t be able to get any money from Paul’s insurance due to his prior DUIs. He is told to find the money and pay anyway. Elsewhere, Mandy Matney leans into Paul’s case, refusing to give any leeway to the family that seems increasingly shady to her. She also finds out about Gloria’s accident and doesn’t believe that it was actually an accident.
The problem is that her articles are starting to bother Alex. He wants them stopped, but Randolph points out that the paper had been so minor that they never bothered to get any connections in it. And even if they do it now, the cat is already out of the bag, and it would look even more suspicious if they tried to stop the paper and Matney from publishing about them. Still, Alex tries to push some buttons, but it makes Matney even more adamant about getting justice. Meanwhile, Mark Tinsley meets with Phillip and Renee Beach, and they discuss how to proceed with the settlement. They talk about how the Murdaughs have shown incredible insensitivity and made a display of their apathy and insensitivity towards Mallory and her death.
Renee wants them to pay for what happened with her daughter, despite her husband’s concerns that the Murdaughs are a powerful lot and no one has gone against them before this. Later, when Mark meets with Alex and his lawyer, Billy Newsome, he reveals that the Beach family wants $10 million in settlement. This is a huge shock for Alex, who had been struggling to get half of $1.5 million. Mark also reveals that they have already taken the case to a mock jury, and if things go to court, he is positive that the Beach family will win. Things get worse later when Alex gets a call from Doug Brailsford, who has decided to distance himself from Alex’s jellyfish business. Due to the scandals, he doesn’t want anything to come back to him, so he is back to his original stance of closing the shop until all the paperwork necessary to run the place is correct. During the call, Alex notices a broken floorboard, which may or may not have contributed to Gloria’s death.
Gloria’s Tragedy Gives a New Opportunity to Alex
It has been a while since Gloria fell, and she has been in the hospital this whole time, but it turns out that none of the Murdaughs have been to visit her. While visiting the grocery store, Maggie bumps into Gloria’s son, Brian, who reveals that things got worse after her surgery. Maggie expresses her sympathies and promises to visit his mother. She also asks if she can do anything for them, and at the end of the conversation hands over some money to Brian, who tries to appreciate the gesture while hiding his surprise at Maggie’s actions. At home, Maggie doesn’t tell Paul about Gloria’s real situation. However, she does ask him if he wants to visit Gloria in the hospital. Paul refuses on the grounds that he doesn’t like hospitals. He also believes that once Gloria is up and running again, she will be back in the house, and that’s when he will see her.
At the moment, he is focused on clearing the field, which his father suggests he should burn. He is also entirely alienated by his friends. He tries to reach out to Anthony, but Anthony holds him responsible for Mallory’s death and refuses to forgive him. Maggie shares her concerns about Gloria’s health with Alex, but he dismisses her, saying that Gloria is a strong woman and she will pull through. Later, Maggie finally finds the time to visit Gloria in the hospital and is shocked to discover that things are much worse than she thought. It isn’t just that Gloria had a complication due to surgery. It seems that she is on her deathbed, and the nurses are simply focused on making things as comfortable for her as possible in her last moments. Maggie is devastated by this news, though she doesn’t fail to mention that it took her so long to come visit Gloria because the latter’s absence has left her with a lot of work.
Back at home, Maggie tells the truth about Gloria, and this makes Paul angrier. He blames his parents for making Gloria work till she passed out, but he still doesn’t visit her. And then, Gloria dies, and the Murdaughs make an appearance at her funeral. Paul is devastated, and he talks with Buster about how if Gloria’s faith couldn’t prevent her from dying like this, then what hope is there for others. Alex, meanwhile, talks to Gloria’s sons. He offers help, but instead of offering it directly, he tells them to sue him. The Satterfields think that Alex is trying to help them, but really, he just wants the money for himself, and Gloria’s sons realize this too late. When Alex and Maggie return home, they discover that Paul has burned down the field he was so desperate to clear up the previous day.
Mandy’s Search Leads to a New Scandal About the Murdaughs
While the Murdaughs try to cover up their current scandal, Mandy Matney goes into the past to find out more about what they have done. She stumbles upon Stephen Smith’s case and decides to look into it. Months turn into years, and finally, the money from Gloria’s case arrives in Alex’s account. It turns out to be a whopping $3 million+, and while Alex celebrates it, he doesn’t make any effort to let the Satterfields know about it. Meanwhile, Mallory’s source comes through and gives her important files on Stephen’s case. He also tries to get her to move from her current job and work for his newspaper, where he says she would be valued more. While Mandy doesn’t outright decline the offer, she doesn’t accept it either. It seems she will be mulling over this.
Later, Mandy takes the files to Stephen’s mother, Sandy, with whom she has developed a close friendship. She warns Sandy that the files show some disturbing things, but Sandy wants closure. So, she looks at the pictures of her son’s remains and listens to the people interviewed about the case. One of them talks about how the Murdaughs are involved in Stephen’s death and have tried to bury the case. It is also heavily implied that Stephen’s homosexuality was the reason behind his death, and this time, it’s not Paul, but Buster, who is at the heart of the cover-up. Meanwhile, with the money from Gloria’s settlement, Alex decides to sit down with Mark and negotiate a deal. However, when the time comes, he changes his mind.
This angers Mark because it has already been a couple of years, and the case has been strung along for too long. He came to the meeting under the impression that they would finally reach a deal, but Alex’s demeanor made it clear that nothing had changed in the past two years. While his own lawyer wonders what went wrong, Alex goes back home and gifts his sons brand new custom-made rifles. It’s a Christmas gift, and the party is also attended by Buster’s girlfriend, Brooklynn. A conversation leads Randolph’s wife, Libby, to talk about how, once, someone published her obituary in the paper, and she got calls from everyone. Maggie reveals that this was after Libby found out that Randolph was cheating on her. She told him that he would have to fix his ways or she would leave him, following which Randolph got her obituary in the paper.
He thought this was funny, but Maggie said that it seemed like a warning. This conversation makes Brooklynn a little uncomfortable, so Maggie changes the topic by telling her about a sweater she wants to give her. When she goes to the room to get the sweater, she finds a bag of pills, realizing that Alex has been lying to her. She puts the pills back, and when she goes back down, Alex has a surprise waiting for her. It turns out he has brought her a brand new car, bow and all. Maggie is happy about the car, but in an instant, her happiness goes away because she realizes that, once again, Alex is trying to make up to her by appeasing her with gifts. Around the same time, Gloria’s son is evicted from their house, and they try to call Alex to help them with the money. He does not pick up the call, and the Satterfields are thrown to the road.
Read More: Mandy Matney: Where is the Investigative Journalist Now?
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