Upamanyu Biswas
Netflix’s comedy thriller ‘Murder Mindfully’ ends with Björn gambling his life on a Hail Mary plan that puts him in the way of more danger and fortuitous luck. The lawyer uses all his mindfulness coaching to navigate a gang war crisis while involving mob boss Boris in his grandiose plans. It is all part of a ploy to cement his authority over Dragan’s empire, whether successful or not. Strangely, the high-stakes narrative paves the way for some amusing conclusions, including one where a certain character becomes a victim of a rather gruesome hand-grenade execution. Meanwhile, the protagonist also has to play the game perfectly so that he does not draw more attention to himself, mainly from persistent detective Nicole Egmann. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Murder Mindfully Season 1 Plot Recap
After years of working in a private law firm, Björn Diemel has prospered as a lawyer whose most important client is mob boss Dragan Sergowicz. Owing to the lawyer’s dirty connection with the criminal underworld, he is undervalued at his firm despite raking in serious cash through his lawyer fees. Away from work, Björn’s life is not any better as he suffers from an inability to manage his work-life balance, which leaves him short of spending time with his wife, Katharina, and their daughter, Emily. Frustrated, the protagonist turns to a mindfulness coaching class to reconnect with his life. His instructor, Joschka Breitner, impresses him so much that he decides to take the classes for the next few months. As a result, Björn’s personal life improves as he learns to prioritize what is most important to him – his daughter.
His newfound freedom and connection with his daughter gets upended one day when disaster strikes for his boss, Dragan. During a weekend, while he is out on a trip with his daughter, Björn is called into the office by the mob leader, where he learns that the crimelord has killed the right-hand man of his rival gang leader, Boris. With a gang war about to break out and a police investigation into the murder on the way, Björn is tasked with solving the situation, no matter how bleak it seems. He decides to help Dragan go into hiding by driving him to his villa in the trunk of his car. However, recalling some of his mindfulness classes, Björn decides to prioritize what is important to him and lets Dragan die in the boot. He then disposes of the body and lies to the rest of the gang that Dragan is still alive.
To help conjure the illusion that the boss is still around, Björn severs Dragan’s thumb, which he uses to stamp his signature onto special assignments for his underlings. At every step of the way, Björn remembers his mindfulness teachings to stay ahead of the game and ensure no one catches on to his ruse. However, soon, information leaks that there is a traitor among the gang – Dragan’s right-hand man, Toni. The mob officer wants power for himself and suspects that Björn is lying about Dragan going into hiding. He wishes Dragan were dead, as it serves his agenda very well. Meanwhile, Detective Nicole Egmann is looking into Björn’s credentials and trying to find Dragan through him. Amidst all the backstabbing and vultures circling around him, Björn trusts Sascha Ivanov, the only level-headed gang member.
Murder Mindfully Season 1 Ending: Does Toni Die?
After playing a cat-and-mouse game with Toni for most of the narrative, Björn has to figure out a way to get rid of him without alarming the rest of the gang about his intentions. Of all the members of the mob, Toni is the only one who is sharp enough to catch onto Björn’s subterfuge regarding Dragan’s death. He does not believe that Dragan is alive, as the lawyer insists, which is the correct assumption. However, Toni’s nosiness has an ulterior motive behind it – he is the traitor who set up Dragan to take the fall for the parking lot murder. He has always wanted to sidestep Dragan and assume control over the whole operation. To that end, he has been quietly maneuvering within the organization to achieve his goals. It does not come to fruition as Björn somehow manages to outthink him and has him killed by Boris.
Earlier in the narrative, the protagonist sets up a deal with Boris that relaxes the tense gang feud between the two rivaling organizations. As part of that negotiation, Björn informs Boris that the parking lot murder of his right-hand man, Igor, was the result of a setup orchestrated by a traitor within the group. It allows the lawyer some leeway and appeals to Boris’ calmer demeanor. He tells the protagonist to capture the traitor any way he can and bring him to the parking lot where the whole debacle started. Subsequently, Björn steps up his tactics in bringing Toni to justice by first finding the truth behind his backstabbing and then apprehending him in a cell with one of his spies, Malte. In the final exchange, Boris pins two grenades onto Toni and then blows him up behind a toilet.
What Happens to Boris? Is He Dead?
Although Björn manages to solve the problem with Toni, the other challenge he faces is Boris’ adamant request to meet with Dragan face-to-face after the capture of the traitor. It creates a huge dilemma for Björn because Dragan is dead, and he has been lying to everyone all along. It also gives him a lot of influence and power over the mob and the resources necessary to combat all the threats. Naturally, if the truth were to come out about Dragan’s passing and his hand in the murder, his life would be in terrible jeopardy. Therefore, the lawyer comes up with yet another clever but amusing trick to ensure he does not fall prey to Boris. He uses Sascha to fly a drone over the parking lot, convincing Boris that the police have witnessed everything, including Toni’s death.
In the ensuing panic, Björn convinces Boris to step into his car’s trunk to drive him to Dragan’s hiding place, where both mob leaders can lay low in unison. However, it all proves to be another ploy by Björn, as this was the exact way he disposed of Dragan in the first place. The show does not explicitly detail what happens to Boris, but it is clearly obvious that the easiest way for Björn to solve the situation is to kill Boris by keeping him locked in the car boot. Amusing as the whole sequence might be, it means Boris is dead courtesy of Björn. Following his murder, the protagonist must have dismembered him and spread his remains in the sea, just as he did with Dragan. Therefore, Boris and Dragan both end up as victims of Björn, who, despite having no taste for violence, proves to be an ingenious killer.
Is Björn the New Head of Dragan and Boris’ Empires?
Throughout the narrative, Björn becomes the regent head of Dragan’s mob empire because of the strange arrangement orchestrated by the mob leader before his murder. Dragan constructed the whole thing at the time by believing he could trust the lawyer with his life. However, this is where Björn’s mindfulness coaching came in handy as he put his own priorities over the needs of others. Soon after he murders Dragan and slices up his remains, no one can possibly know that the protagonist had a hand in it. Thus, he continues to act as if Dragan is still alive and becomes the mouthpiece for the gang leader in hiding. Following Boris’ death, he does the same thing, effectively becoming the new head of both their empires. It all becomes even more evident as he has another thumb made with Boris’s initials.
Thus, at the end of the season, Björn is a lawyer during the day, but at night, he is the new mob leader running the show. He is well and truly at a place where he can exercise his authority, and no one can question him, especially considering how he has already eliminated a traitor like Toni. He also won the loyalty of the mob officers within his rank, allowing him further reign over the whole operation. Additionally, Dragan stated before going into hiding that he might be laying low for several decades. This gives Björn ample opportunity to remain in charge without anyone ever becoming suspicious. Most importantly, it also allows him the freedom to stay connected with his personal life and, most importantly, his daughter, Emily.
Does Nicole Learn the Truth From the Talking Toy?
Amidst all the challenges of dealing with all the gang affairs, Björn also has to navigate the situation with the police, in particular, the efforts of Nicole Egmann. In the final moments of the season, Nicole shares her doubts over the whole thing, mainly fixating on how her second-in-command, Klaus Moller, was found dead outside his father-in-law’s house. Björn insists that she should relax and take her time off. She believes him and returns to the precinct, where she accidentally triggers the mechanism of a talking toy that was found in Björn’s car. Nicole gets excited that she has alighted upon something substantial, but the recorded message is too broken. The show ends with the entire message being played for the viewer. It contains Björn’s confession about how he dismembered his client to become free.
Although the tendency is to focus on the first part of the message and how it allows Nicole to restart her investigation, it is unlikely that she could make any headway. Additionally, it is unclear whether she even hears the full message or just the broken version. It is a pity in her case, as she had stumbled upon the truth regarding Björn’s involvement in Dragan’s disappearance from the get-go. Unfortunately, the clues were not clear enough. The focus, therefore, should be on the second part of the message and how it states that Björn is free. Considering the lawyer’s life at the start of the show and how trapped he felt, it showcases his growth despite the terrible things he has done to get to that place. It also brings attention to his mindfulness coaching, which was pivotal to his success.
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