For me, the "Ray co-wrote my movie and is an artistic genius" scene seemed to be a setup for the "Ray doesn't understand poetry" line. Which I'm not mad at, Martin gassing up Ray only for the reveal that "hit the lights" was too complex artistically got a big laugh out of me.
(It also plays into Andy's seeming contempt of the arts; I couldn't help but notice everyone he introduced, and presumably invited, were all business people. I kept thinking through that scene that these people seem very different from Darby, and then ronson pulled out the "I have no idea why you're here", which barely seemed like a joke.)
As far as suspects, I think that, if Andy didn't do it himself, he certainly aided and abetted, along with Marius. He was too quick to dismiss the possibility of a murder, and that may be because he was involved, or just his contempt for artists, but it's definitely important.
Oh, I like that—directly tying his contempt for art and artists into his possible motivations for the murder. It was fascinating to see how his responses to Martin's presentation were very little about the resulting art, and very much about Ray's ability to synthesize and reproduce it. The end results are only interesting to him insofar as they're useful in proving a point: his tech can invade and "take over" any arena of human work. Real artists either bore him (Darby) or actively piss him off (Bill?).
You know, your mention of "actively piss off" makes me think of three things
1) Ziba saying that the only reason she came to the retreat was to meet Bill
2) Zoomer gravitating to Bill when he sat down at the dinner table, and Andy actively pulling him away
3) Bill's Silicon Valley art installation being called Artificial Insanity, and Andy's insistence on calling Ray "alternative intelligence." (Did he adopt that after Bill's piece?)
Could it be as simple as Andy hating Bill because Bill was more popular and Andy saw that as undermining him? Plain old billionaire ego leading to murder?
I’m sure it’s not going to be Andy who killed him - he’s exactly the person the show wants us to dislike and be suspicious of right now.
It’s too early to tell, but my money is on Sian: there’s clearly a connection she has with Andy that needs further exploring, and she’s the person the show is trying hardest to make us think it *isn’t* out of all the guests. They want us to like her. Maybe it’s someone else, but I’d bet they’re up to something with her and she’ll be involved in a major reveal.
And the whole Ray thing is too heavily woven into the story for it to be about pure functionality / hi-tech dressing. This hotel is meant to be the beta for Ray before wider release. Whatever the answer is, I reckon it’s tied up with that.
A quick note on Lee’s toast. It wasn’t quite “To finding a way out. Together.” as put in the review.
LEE: To finding a way out.
ANDY: Together.
It feels like Andy’s addendum changes the meaning. Why is Lee looking for a way out? Did she invite Darby so that she could Holmes her way to discovering some secret, to help Lee escape some coercively controlling situation?
I'm now realizing I forgot to mention a few of my favorite lines. Darby's "It's my 57th crime scene" might be the most drolly delivered, though.
For me, the "Ray co-wrote my movie and is an artistic genius" scene seemed to be a setup for the "Ray doesn't understand poetry" line. Which I'm not mad at, Martin gassing up Ray only for the reveal that "hit the lights" was too complex artistically got a big laugh out of me.
(It also plays into Andy's seeming contempt of the arts; I couldn't help but notice everyone he introduced, and presumably invited, were all business people. I kept thinking through that scene that these people seem very different from Darby, and then ronson pulled out the "I have no idea why you're here", which barely seemed like a joke.)
As far as suspects, I think that, if Andy didn't do it himself, he certainly aided and abetted, along with Marius. He was too quick to dismiss the possibility of a murder, and that may be because he was involved, or just his contempt for artists, but it's definitely important.
Oh, I like that—directly tying his contempt for art and artists into his possible motivations for the murder. It was fascinating to see how his responses to Martin's presentation were very little about the resulting art, and very much about Ray's ability to synthesize and reproduce it. The end results are only interesting to him insofar as they're useful in proving a point: his tech can invade and "take over" any arena of human work. Real artists either bore him (Darby) or actively piss him off (Bill?).
You know, your mention of "actively piss off" makes me think of three things
1) Ziba saying that the only reason she came to the retreat was to meet Bill
2) Zoomer gravitating to Bill when he sat down at the dinner table, and Andy actively pulling him away
3) Bill's Silicon Valley art installation being called Artificial Insanity, and Andy's insistence on calling Ray "alternative intelligence." (Did he adopt that after Bill's piece?)
Could it be as simple as Andy hating Bill because Bill was more popular and Andy saw that as undermining him? Plain old billionaire ego leading to murder?
My instinct is that maybe Bill is the biological father of Lee's child. I'm probably being far-fetched, but it would certainly be a motive.
I’m sure it’s not going to be Andy who killed him - he’s exactly the person the show wants us to dislike and be suspicious of right now.
It’s too early to tell, but my money is on Sian: there’s clearly a connection she has with Andy that needs further exploring, and she’s the person the show is trying hardest to make us think it *isn’t* out of all the guests. They want us to like her. Maybe it’s someone else, but I’d bet they’re up to something with her and she’ll be involved in a major reveal.
And the whole Ray thing is too heavily woven into the story for it to be about pure functionality / hi-tech dressing. This hotel is meant to be the beta for Ray before wider release. Whatever the answer is, I reckon it’s tied up with that.
A quick note on Lee’s toast. It wasn’t quite “To finding a way out. Together.” as put in the review.
LEE: To finding a way out.
ANDY: Together.
It feels like Andy’s addendum changes the meaning. Why is Lee looking for a way out? Did she invite Darby so that she could Holmes her way to discovering some secret, to help Lee escape some coercively controlling situation?
I just started watching this. If Andy did it, it’s because Bill was sleeping with his wife, though I don’t think it was Andy.
Why doesn’t Darby just ask Ray who was in Bill’s room? Everyone’s ring is probably being tracked by the hotel at least.
Darby reminds me of the protagonist of the Bridge crossed with the protagonist of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.