Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Crowded Room.
The Big Picture
- The Crowded Room is a story about Danny Sullivan and his multiple personalities, which may all be different identities within his own mind.
- Danny suffers from dissociative identity disorder due to the extreme childhood trauma he experienced, including sexual abuse from his stepfather.
- After a trial, Danny is found not guilty by reason of insanity and begins to come to terms with his mental illness, forming a new bond with his mother and coming to peace with himself and his alters.
We've been on a long journey with Danny Sullivan (Tom Holland) and his many personalities in the AppleTV+ psychological thriller series The Crowded Room. Over the course of nine weeks and heading into the season finale entitled, "Judgment", we watched what we thought was an assortment of very different people within Danny's orbit only to find out that all of these people may have been several different identities within his own mind.
Forensic psychologist, professor, and interrogator Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried) believes he has an illness that has never been diagnosed or even labeled before called multiple personality disorder (known today as dissociative identity disorder). But she's got her work cut out for her proving that Danny is in fact innocent of the crimes that his various personalities have committed - including a harrowing murder attempt in the middle of Rockefeller Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The show is set in the summer of 1979 and is based on the true story of a young man named Billy Milligan who became a controversial subject as the first person to use the insanity defense based on his disorder.
What True Story Is 'The Crowded Room' Based On?
In 1981, Daniel Keyes wrote a Hugo Award-winning non-fiction book called The Minds of Billy Milligan and adapted for the screen by Akiva Goldsman. It was a detailed account of a young man who was accused of attempted murder and became the first person in United States history to gain an acquittal in a court of law by using an insanity defense based on what is now known as disassociation identity disorder, or multiple personality disorder.
It was successfully argued that Milligan should not be held accountable for the actions of another identity in a mind full of various people, many of which were extremely violent in nature. It is a condition that is most often caused by extreme childhood trauma that can be sexual in nature. This was the case with Milligan, and in 1978, he was found not guilty of nine total criminal charges. It was a pivotal point in the country's history as far as defining what would be considered an "insanity" defense. Many still believe that Milligan got away with his crimes.
What is the Crime That Danny Sullivan is Charged With?
Growing up in a broken home with a troubled, single mother named Candy (Emmy Rossum), Danny Sullivan was a vulnerable target. When she meets and marries a detention center supervisor named Marlin Reid (Will Chase), it is the beginning of a horrific childhood that was riddled with abuse at the hands of his cruel stepfather. Marlin is a sexual predator and his perpetual sexual abuse of Danny throughout his life leads to what becomes the major plot point in The Crowded Room. Dissociative identity disorder is believed to be caused by the type of abuse that Danny suffers during his tumultuous and rocky childhood.
Danny is seen in one of the first scenes of the show alongside a young woman named Ariana (Sasha Lane) as the two conspire to shoot an unknown man in Rockefeller Center. It isn't until much later in the show, that Ariana is just one of many of Danny's "alters" or personalities, and it is actually him, and him alone, who is trying to kill Marlin. The attempted murder fails, but he is caught on video committing the crime in broad daylight. He is charged with attempted murder among an assortment of other crimes committed by the more violent personalities that emerge to protect the emotionally broken and soft-spoken Danny.
The Final Scenes Explained
During the penultimate episode, Danny is on trial for his crimes, and his pill-popping attorney, Stan Camissa (Christopher Abbott) who suffers from PTSD after his service in Vietnam, has the unenviable job of trying to prove that Danny Sullivan is not guilty by reason of insanity due to his childhood trauma and resulting dissociative identity disorder.
After being betrayed by his own mother who testifies that he wasn't abused by Marlin when she is well aware of the years of sexual abuse, it looks as if Danny is going to prison for a long time. In the finale, Danny is still talking with Ariana who serves as his voice of reason when he is distressed. Rya and Stan are both preparing for what seems like an inevitable guilty verdict only to find out that Danny has made an attempt at suicide and is in critical condition at the Riker's Island emergency ward. After a week to recuperate, Danny is set to go back to court and hear closing arguments and a final verdict.
But before that, Rya has an epiphany during lunch with Stan and is convinced that they have been talking to the wrong version of Danny. She wants Stan to bring out his violent "alters" to explain their actions to the jury to make Danny appear more sympathetic. So in what amounts to a psychological "Hail Mary", Stan calls Danny Sullivan to the stand, and he goes after the more malevolent personalities residing within his mind. The meek and timid Danny takes the stand, and Stan sets out to initiate an argument with his alpha personality known as Jack Lamb (Jason Isaacs).
It's a battle of willpower between his intrepid attorney and Billy's myriad of identities. He confronts Danny about his imaginary twin brother named Adam (Zachary Golinger), who is the personality that suffered the worst part of the abuse growing up. Rya and the prosecuting attorneys look on with bated breath. Eventually, "Jack" is forced to admit that "Adam" is a figment of his imagination, saying, "He had to go away... because of what he did. He wanted it to happen because he wanted everything to be okay... He (Marlin) raped him over and over again, so I had to send him away."
The Verdict and the Last Scene
When Danny finally admits that "Adam is me," you can hear a pin drop in the courtroom. The judge then asks the jury for a verdict and Danny is found "not guilty on all counts by reason of insanity." A loud murmur erupts from the onlookers and reverberates through the capacious courtroom. Danny thanks Rya for saving him while the two share a conversation many days after the trial. He has come to terms that he is mentally ill and seems to be in good spirits. Danny has moved on to another psychiatrist and Rya shares that she had heard from his mom, Candy.
There is a heartbreaking reunion of a mother and her son. She is feeling the weight of her betrayal, and he is trying to be open to forming a new bond with her. Danny has also become a prolific and promising artist. As the two walk and talk under a leafy arboretum corridor at the psychiatric facility where he is being treated, Candy admits to being a bad mom. Danny wants to know when she knew that he was being sexually abused. She explains her actions and why she married his tormentor Marlin. It's a touching moment as she comes clean about the mountain of guilt she has been carrying for so long. Danny says, "I'm glad you came", but admits to Rya later that he doesn't plan on seeing her again.
Danny and Rya have one last exchange on the facility grounds. He thanks her for everything and they exchange an embrace. Then Danny says something very curious when he says, "I have an unpaid debt. It's my time to be the guardian angel." Rya walks away with a pensive look and slowly turns around to look up at Danny who is back in his room. The two exchange a smile and wave as "Let It Be" by The Beatles plays in the background. The final scene captures a tight shot of Danny in a symbolically, "uncrowded" spacious room with flickering lights flying around his head as if to suggest that he is still accompanied by his alter "Adam" and is prepared to switch roles and shoulder the load of his past trauma moving forward.
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