In The Crowded Room episode 10, Danny’s story is concluded with the final court hearing, as his fate hinges on Rya and Stan’s last strategy.
Recap
Danny cuts his wrists in prison and is hospitalized. Rya learns about it from Stan. The two go to check up on him but Jack, who has taken over and caged Danny inside a cellar within the psyche, pushes them away.
Rya and Stan talk about their failures thus far and while talking to Stan about his own PTSD medication, Rya argues that he shouldn’t blame for his fellow military men dying, which resulted in his PTSD.
She uses this argument to draw a general conclusion, stating that victims often blame themselves. This causes a Eureka moment and she points to the fact that they still haven’t tried making Danny know that the abuse happened to him.
They use this final strategy at the hearing and at first, Jack tries to make them fail, pretending to be Danny, but Stan soon takes control of the questioning and goes for the attack.
He brings up Adam’s sketch and then photographs of Candy holding an infant Danny in her arms, asking why his twin is not in these pictures. This causes a realization in Danny who breaks free of the captivity and comes out, finally accepting that Adam is only a fragment of his psyche.
The jury is touched to hear what Danny went through at the hands of Marlin, deeming him not guilty due to reasons of insanity.
A time jump sees Rya reunite with Danny, asking him about life and therapy after he got admitted into a psychiatric facility where a new therapist works on his fusion therapy. Rya has moved on a progress in her life and Danny’s mother meets her son too.
The Crowded Room ending explained:
What happened to Danny in his childhood?
Danny Sullivan’s real father was an abuser and his mother Candy would eventually separate from him. Danny would already develop an alternate personality, Adam, who he would see as his twin brother.
Though financially rough times, Candy seeks a savior and finds one in Marlin, a man who works at a juvenile correctional facility. He provides Candy with what she’s been looking for, stability being one of them.
However, he’s also a child predator, and he soon starts sexually abusing Danny, and his alter Adam would take over the body every time the abuse happened. The abuse and trauma would fracture Danny’s mind even further.
He would create many different personalities who would surface according to the situation at hand, always trying to protect Danny. A grown-up Danny would try to take revenge but failing to shoot Marlin, he’d instead get locked up for endangering lives at a public place.
His sessions with a psychology professor named Rya would prove to be groundbreaking as she would try and fuse his personalities into one, and remind Danny what really happened to him in his childhood.
Does Danny go to prison?
Danny’s case is set up for his defense to fail. There’s evidence of him shooting at the site of the crime and Rya’s claims of Danny’s disorder don’t have much credibility since it’s a personality disorder that was not very recognized during the time.
All hope seems to be lost when his stepfather and abuser Marlin give a bogus testimony, pressures Candy to not say anything about the truth either, and Rya’s testimony remains inadmissible.
However, at the final hearing, Rya and Stan work up a strategy to remind Danny that he’s the one who suffered the abuse, as Adam, meaning he never had a twin brother but that he created him as another personality.
Danny realizes and remembers, accepting the fact that he was abused and that he is Adam. The jury is finally touched and rules in his favor, deeming him not guilty for reasons of insanity. He’s instead sent to psychiatric care and a new shrink works with him, helping integrate his personality.
Review
- The Crowded Room episode 10 marks the conclusion of the miniseries with plenty of great performances.
- Tom Holland impresses throughout the episode with his heartbreaking portrayal of the painful realization of the abuse he suffered and the fleeting moments of erratic personality changes.
- Danny’s reunion with his mother is really painful to watch as a mother tries to express her guilt for failing her son and failing to protect him.
Also Read: Is The Crowded Room based on a true story?
