Death and Other Details Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Tragic

The limit doesn’t exist on how many murders Viktor Sams is willing to commit as the body count goes up on Death and Other Details Season 1 Episode 6, Tragic.” Ironically, the fact that more deaths happen, which means more clues, is the good news of the episode.

The bad news is that Sunil is in league with Sams even if he claims he had no idea what he was getting into and that he stopped when Imogene revealed what Sams did to her mom. It makes their sex scene at the beginning of the episode feel gross.

He does seem to care about Imogene, but does anyone want to ship her with a man who was so obsessed with funding his pet project he was willing to get involved with a criminal no questions asked? At least Jules was out here helping refugees!

Then again, just about every aspect of this show seems intended to make you feel bad or dislike the characters. Queue later on when Anna calls Imogene an ungrateful “expletive” for calling out the Colliers for running a factory using banned chemicals.

Imogene can’t have a mom, can’t have a love interest, and apparently can’t have a best friend! It’s all so depressing. 

Anna is so privileged she thinks that just because she bankrupted the company trying to fix the factory that it absolves them of their crimes. She also thinks because her family paid for Imogene’s schooling it absolves them of what happened to her mom.

She’s not the only one who thinks she gets a get-out-of-jail-free card, as Alexandra is about to snitch on the Collier family with some explosive evidence before she dies of the slow-acting poison that’s been making her sick. This too they can trace back to Winnie because of the vitamin drips she administered to guests.

This raises a big question about why Sams seems to be protecting the Colliers. Alexandra’s character is more valuable to the plot in death than in life as harsh as it sounds. 

Instead of finally feeling remorse after learning Danny was not a wealthy jerk but Rufus’s assistant, Winnie doubles down in trusting in Sams’s plan. Her melodramatic story about how she lost a friend working in a factory and Sams avenged her isn’t enough to endear her to the audience.

The biggest kicker of all? Rufus finally admits he is a fraud and never solved the case that made his name as “world’s greatest detective.” All this comes after leading Imogene on in the past AND present.

Ultimately, Imogene is the closest thing we have to a hero on the show aside from maybe Leila who is still relegated to supporting character on this episode, and even then Imogene isn’t that likable (she immediately goes back to flirting with Jules after learning about Sunil, she’s been embezzling for years). If she can solve this case though that at least makes her as interesting as the show wants her to be.

As Rufus says in the beginning flashback, a great detective is willing to get the truth at all costs. Imogene is willing to do just that as she implores Rufus to go back to the original investigation so she can look for anything he missed after Llewellyn confesses to working with Sams and kills himself.

The cruise industry has really failed to market itself over the past few years (something Sunil should have thought about when deciding to bankrupt himself on restoring a vintage cruise ship). Death and Other Details doesn’t help its case.

At least on The White Lotus, when a crime is committed or someone ends up dead, you mostly get to mind your business and go on with your day. You’re not banished by INTERPOL back to your cabins for the rest of the trip.

Sure technically everyone is there for free, but I would still regret the Collier’s invitation at this point. With Agent Eriksen confirming no one can leave the ship until they’re done with the investigation, it’s extra salt in the wound…salt that could be going on a nice poolside margarita instead.

What did you think of this episode of Death and Other Details? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Death and Other Details airs Tuesdays on Hulu.

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