Tamal Kundu
Despite its initial premise, Peacock’s ‘The Resort’ is not exclusively a murder mystery. As the show progresses, the story expands and becomes magic realism. The fourth episode of the series, titled ‘A History of Forgetting,’ primarily focuses on Alex (Ben Sinclair), the eccentric owner of the Oceana Vista Resort and the mysterious Santa from the previous episodes. Alex seems to think that he suffers from memory leakage; that explains the countless sticky notes that Noah (William Jackson Harper) and Emma (Cristin Milioti) find in his room in 2022. ‘The Resort’ provides some answers to the audience in episode 4. For instance, we now know whether or not Baltasar (Luis Gerardo Méndez) is innocent. However, when the episode ends, we are left with even more questions than before. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘The Resort’ episode 4. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Resort Episode 4 Recap
‘The Resort’ is primarily divided into two timelines. In 2022, Noah and Emma arrive in Yucatán, Mexico, to spend their 10th wedding anniversary. Emma has an accident while riding an ATV and finds a flip phone in the jungle. She later learns that the phone belonged to Sam Knowlston (Skyler Gisondo), who went missing along with another tourist, Violet Thompson (Nina Bloomgarden), in late December 2007, a day before a hurricane destroyed Oceana Vista.
The second timeline follows Sam and Violet after the former’s arrival on Christmas Eve, 2007. However, neither Sam nor Violet appears in episode 4 as the story focuses on Alex. The episode begins right where episode 3 ended. The phone with Sam’s sim likely has been destroyed, and Emma has knocked Baltasar unconscious. As Baltasar wakes up in episode 4, Emma accuses him of killing Sam and Violet. This prompts Baltasar to tell the two American tourists about his former boss, Alex.
In the 2007 timeline, no one really knows how Alex has come to the tropical paradise. About five years before that, Baltasar met Alex for the first time when he came to Oceana Vista for an interview, and they became fast friends afterward. Baltasar devoted himself to building up his team, which is comprised of other outcasts and runaways like him. However, things started to get rapidly worse after Alex admitted to Baltasar about his memory issues. The staff members become increasingly frustrated after finding several headless iguanas, which Alex has killed, and tell Baltasar to fix it.
The day after Christmas 2007, Baltasar discovers that Sam and Violet have gone missing. As he and the rest of the staff try to find the young man and woman, the resort prepares for the upcoming hurricane. Understandably, Sam’s parents and Violet’s father are terrified that their son and daughter, respectively, will be caught in the storm. When the storm arrives, neither Sam nor Violet is found, and the hotel is destroyed.
The Resort Episode 4 Ending: Why Are Noah and Emma in Alex’s Painting?
While memory leakage doesn’t sound like a real disease, Alex evidently has some form of amnesia. The most curious thing in his room at the top of Oceana Vista is the elaborate painting he draws after becoming a recluse. It has every single member of the staff of his hotel, including Baltasar. Alex himself can be seen standing in front of the ocean, nude. As we learn, this depicts Alex’s final moments before he walks into the ocean and dies just as the hurricane makes landfall.
We have seen in one of the earlier episodes that the painting shows Violet and Sam in Alex’s room. In episode 4, Baltasar shows Emma and Noah that they too are in the art piece, painted by an eccentric and amnesiac man 15 years ago. Time plays an important role in the narrative of ‘The Resort.’ As the series progresses, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the role might be both literal and metaphorical.
Whatever happened to Violet and Sam is likely connected to Alex’s condition and his past. Memories are our brain’s way of documenting how we have spent our time in the world. It’s possible that Alex started to feel that he had a brain leakage because whatever he was exposed to overwhelmed his brain with events from not only past and present but also future. He came to know the role that Emma and Noah would play in the future, and that’s how they became part of his painting.
Did Alex Kill Violet and Sam?
While episode 4 provides enough clues to suspect Alex, it’s highly unlikely that he killed Violet and Sam. If anything, he comes off as a deeply tragic character who not only loses the memories of his past but also somehow knows how his life will end. Baltasar admired him when he was alive, but for a long time after Alex’s death, he thought the painting was “the meaningless scribbles of a crazy person.” But seeing Noah and Emma and knowing they are in the painting, he is forced to re-evaluate his beliefs. So, while it’s safe to assume that Alex knew what happened to Sam and Violet and forgot about it, he didn’t kill them.
Read More: What Happened to Violet and Sam in The Resort? Are They Dead or Alive? [Theories]
