The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 7 Review: The Crowded Room

The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 7, “The Crowded Room,” takes the show in a new direction with a unique take on dissociative identity disorder (DID) but fails to make its big reveal worth the wait.

This episode sees Danny Sullivan’s reaction to learning he has DID, as well as Rya Goodwin’s fight for his diagnosis to be taken into consideration in his upcoming criminal trial.

Things are getting interesting, especially when the show suddenly switches its setting to the inside of Danny’s brain, but the show continues to struggle from its odd attempt to make Danny’s DID a surprise.

From its title to its framing, it’s clear that the episode is intended to be the big twist that reveals the true meaning of “The Crowded Room” and what’s going on in Danny’s mind.

However, it’s unlikely anyone was very surprised. After all, for seven episodes Rya has been throwing around theories of multiple personalities, and viewers already met one alternate personality, Jack.

Additionally, it was already made quite obvious that Ariana and Yitzak are personalities, too.

The only small surprise for some might’ve been the reveal that Mike and Johnny are also alternate identities, considering how believable flashbacks made it that they were Danny’s friends.

Given that most viewers could quickly catch on to Danny’s DID and may also have been familiar with Danny’s inspiration, Billy Mulligan, it is very strange the series waited for seven episodes to finally delve fully into the diagnosis.

This obvious premise combined with the very slow build-up in previous episodes made viewers hopeful there would be an additional big twist waiting for them at the end.

Unfortunately, there’s not any other surprise or twist waiting. However, while it’s not necessarily surprising or thrilling, the interpretation of DID in “The Crowded Room” is interesting.

The imagery and physical representation of DID set the show apart from the exploration of DID in other media. A symptom of DID is hearing voices speaking and arguing in one’s head, making the physical representation useful in understanding some components of the disorder.

The episode is also turning the series in a more interesting direction, as it teases Danny’s upcoming trial and the challenge Rya faces in getting the court to believe in DID, which wasn’t even an official diagnosis in 1979 when the show takes place.

It raises an interesting discussion about mental health and the long road it took to destigmatize it, and serves as a sobering reminder that many individuals never lived to see their conditions properly diagnosed or acknowledged.

Additionally, the episode circles back to its earlier commentary on abuse. When Danny meets with his alternate personalities, they reveal that they were created to save him after the horrific abuse he suffered made him “want to die.”

It’s only a small quote from Jack, but it holds a lot of emotion as it captures the sheer weight of what Danny has been through and how it has impacted him.

Tom Holland’s performance is also growing more believable and intriguing as the show challenges him by switching between multiple personalities in a short time frame.

Perhaps, now that the series has stopped trying to pretend its DID storyline is a surprise, it can work on actually building a compelling story of how a woman in 1979 can make the legal system believe that a disorder that doesn’t exist is the real culprit in Danny’s case.

With three more episodes, the show still has time to continue expanding its commentary on abuse and mental illness, but there’s concern it might continue to get carried away trying to be a thriller or dropping bombshells when these areas simply aren’t its strong point.

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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