The Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Reunion

The  Crowded Room Season 1 Episode 8, “Reunion,” is a little heavy on unnecessary flashbacks, but things are getting interesting as it begins morphing into a legal drama.

Now that Danny Sullivan’s dissociative identity disorder (DID) has been revealed, this episode delves deeper into how his alternate personalities were created and how Rya Goodwin plans to prove his diagnosis in court.

A major part of the episode is taken up by flashbacks to previous scenes. While these are scenes viewers have seen before, they are changed slightly to replace Danny’s alternate personalities with Danny, as he remembers he committed certain actions rather than Ariana or Yitzak.

The flashbacks allow Tom Holland to really show off his acting skills as he portrays Danny when several different alters are in charge.

Viewers even get to see particularly convincing performances when the more provocative Ariana is in control of Danny or when Johnny takes over and gets him into some mischief and uncomfortable situations.

However, the flashbacks do get a bit redundant. Viewers already knew it was Danny doing these things, even though they were seeing Ariana or Yitzak. So, it seems unnecessary to have to go back through all of them.

The scenes set in the present, though, are very emotional and ramp up the tension and drama.

The best part of “Reunion” is when others start showing acceptance for Danny. An inmate casually asks him where Jack is while Ariana’s boyfriend, Jerome, visits Danny in prison to introduce himself.

Viewers will recall that DID wasn’t an official diagnosis when The Crowded Room takes place, so it’s especially heartwarming to see two characters learn to accept something they don’t wholly understand.

Danny does face some bullying from fellow inmates, but these small acts of acceptance, as well as Rya’s and Christoper Abbott’s determination to get him acquitted, are highlighted far more.

It sends a message of the importance of destigmatizing mental health disorders and emphasizes that Danny isn’t defined by his DID and that countless individuals value and want to know or understand the real Danny.

The episode also delves into the legal side of things, as Danny’s lawyer refuses to plead insanity for him.

His decision isn’t surprising, as the insanity defense is used very sparsely and is rarely successful. Additionally, being diagnosed with mental illness prior to committing a crime is almost always necessary for the defense to be successful.

For people like Danny, who aren’t previously diagnosed or who suffer from a condition that hasn’t been researched thoroughly, an insanity defense isn’t likely to be accepted.

It is eye-opening how Danny’s lawyer would rather him plead guilty to committing a crime of vengeance or provocation and serve as many as five years, than have him risk everything by pleading insanity.

It makes one wonder how many lawyers have had to be satisfied with getting a mentally ill individual the lowest amount of prison time possible instead of getting them the help they need.

The show also seems to be setting up to dive into victim discrediting. Marlin is posing another obstacle to Rya and Matty by preparing to lie and cover up his abuse of Danny.

It’s going to be a particularly emotional ride for the next few episodes, watching Danny and his legal team try to fight for him and convince an entire court about Marlin’s abuse despite most individuals already siding with Marlin over Danny.

If The Crowded Room can maintain its focus and delve deeper into its representation of mental health and commentary on mental health handling in the legal system, the final two episodes could be quite important and educational for viewers.

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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