The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 4 Review: London

The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 4, “London,” is tedious and feels unnecessary, as the show struggles to build its mystery in an intriguing manner.

This episode follows Danny Sullivan as he recounts his trip to London to Rya Goodwin during their interrogation.

However, she grows suspicious and skeptical as his story becomes more fantastical and absurd.

At this point, viewers have likely already caught on that Sullivan isn’t being honest in the stories he relates to Goodwin. Hence, it seems a little unnecessary for the show to further emphasize this point with this episode.

Goodwin’s constant interjections of disbelief and questioning are also unnecessary and highlight that the show isn’t giving Amanda Seyfried enough to work with.

She comes across as a little less sharp and authoritative than she has in previous episodes, with “London,” just seemingly circling back to her as an afterthought amid Sullivan’s narration.

Tom Holland’s performance as Sullivan also felt a little flatter in this episode. He didn’t show either his darker or more charming side, making both his narration and the flashback quite tepid.

The previous episode made it seem like the show was gearing up for an intriguing adventure, as Sullivan flew to another country to search for his father.

However, what ensues in “London” is a story that seems almost purely fictional. Whether true or not, it also fails to be interesting.

Sullivan can’t find his father and ends up feeling used by a mysterious figure named Jack, who’s after some money.

So little actually happens that it’s difficult to believe the episode even takes up over half an hour.

At the very end, the episode does try to throw in a twist to save itself from being wholly bland, but it’s hardly a shocking reveal.

Jack shows up in the present day, and he and Goodwin exchange words that imply Goodwin already knows some things about the case that she isn’t letting on to Sullivan that she knows.

It’s mainly surprising because some viewers may question early in the episode if Jack is even a real person given Sullivan’s unreliable narration.

It’s no jaw-dropping reveal, though. Viewers didn’t need an entire episode to confirm that Jack’s a real person and Goodwin knows something.

This episode felt like a big step down from the previous three episodes, which is concerning considering it’s way too early for the show to be losing steam.

There’s still intrigue in that there’s a bigger picture somewhere, but the show needs to find a better path to get to that bigger picture.

What did you think of this episode of The Crowded Room? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Crowded Room airs Fridays on Apple TV+.

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