Black Bird Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Whatshername

Black Bird Season 1 Episode 4, “Whatshername,” leans into the horror aspect of this true crime story and further deviates from the source material.

If viewers have been waiting for Jimmy Keene and Larry Hall to actually to face off, this is the episode. Paul Walter Hauser’s voice seems to get progressively higher each time his character is confronted, and it’s gratingly effective.

Black Bird gives Larry Hall far too much credit for being so perceptive. There’s no indication that the actual man possessed anything remotely resembling the intelligence that Hauser’s version of the character exhibits.

However, this episode does a fantastic job of contrasting these two men and how alarmingly similar their paths were in real life. But for a twist of fate, they are different versions of the same character. 

The “mommy” vs “mother” scene is a small moment but the perfect way to contrast these two characters in a frankly jarring way. The way they view women, their mothers, in particular, is disgustingly similar. 

Hall’s self-concept being center-stage is also instructive in further understanding this character. Hall’s frequent denial of reality is probably the most authentic component of this character. 

While flashbacks don’t always work, this episode manages to make it work to further flesh out the characters, Hall in particular. The further insight into his background, including violence toward animals, further adds an element of horror.

However, Black Bird has so far failed to fully interrogate how Hall’s views and wistfulness about an America that never existed played a crucial role in developing the person he became. 

There is ample opportunity to comment on how Hall is a product of a patriarchal system that frequently dehumanizes women. Unfortunately, even with further context, he’s still presented as one sick individual, essentially in a vacuum. 

Black Bird almost gets there by delving into the fact that Hall held his mother responsible for the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father as a child. Unfortunately, this commentary is never fully realized.

Edgerton’s charisma is his character’s spectacular downfall. Any goodwill or sympathy that has been built is steadily ebbing away. This allows viewers to focus on the brutal story being told rather than on Edgerton’s performance.

While Black Bird has so far portrayed Keene as imperfect, the latest entry shows him as someone who gleefully participates in the norms of a violently misogynistic society. The casual disdain with which he treats women is alarming, to say the least. 

Black Bird further explores this aspect of Keene’s past in a way that the source material never did. Perhaps that is unsurprising, considering the fact that the source material is an autobiography. 

While, of course, Keene never became a serial killer like Hall, this is a critical aspect of this character to explore.

Society’s casual misogyny, as demonstrated by Keene, is what ultimately makes way for serial killers like Hall to continue operating with impunity for so long. 

The use of violence on this episode, and more broadly throughout Black Bird, is actually incredibly effective. Yes, the prison riot (because there has to be a riot in any show set in any kind of prison) is appropriately gruesome.

By leaving the most disgusting violence to the viewers’ imagination, however, the show effectively reminds viewers of the heinous crimes committed by this villain’s real-life counterpart. 

This unspoken horror is a reminder of a truth that the true-crime genre so often forgets, which is that these were real crimes committed against real people.

By not showing the truly revolting nature of these crimes on-screen, Black Bird successfully avoids descending into exhibitionism, which further dehumanizes victims. 

Black Bird — Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

Black Bird also finally does justice to ‘Big Jim’ Keene, Jimmy’s father. On this episode, he’s presented as a loving and affectionate but ultimately emotionally distant father who failed his son at critical moments throughout his life. 

This characterization is very much in keeping with how Keene’s father was presented in his memoir In With the Devil. It’s such a shame that Ray Liotta wasn’t given the opportunity to play this version of the character. It would have suited him well.

This complexity is also a sobering reminder of the very real consequences of emotional neglect that can have a lasting impact. While not everything about Keene can be traced back to his father, it’s clear that this dynamic had a massive impact.

So much of Black Bird Season 1 Episode 4, “Whatshername,” is viscerally uncomfortable. Considering the subject matter, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The off-screen horror is what makes this episode stand out.

With two episodes left in the series, the drama will hopefully be able to continually build off of the source material when it fits the story. However, it’s also crucial that the show provide additional context and commentary when necessary. 

What did you think of this episode of Black Bird? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Black Bird stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

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