Gobi

So, what happened to the effing deer head?

That supports what I could see as the ending of the show. We may or may not find out who killed Andrea. The trial ends, the jury comes back and the sound fades without the audience hearing the verdict as the camera focuses on Naz. It ends with a tight close-up of his face, with no hint of a reaction to the verdict. For him, it no longer matters whether he's found guilty or innocent.

Some of what he did in jail can be justified as necessary for survival. Others: the tats, shaving his head, doing drugs, were things no one asked him to do and weren't necessary.

More suspects. Chandra - She and Andrea were lovers and/or Andrea stole her lover. Either way, it led to a nasty fight and Andrea dead. Far fetched, you say? What about this dialogue from the first episode: Naz "Do you have a girlfriend?" Andrea: "Would that turn you on?" Remember Chandra telling Stone that she had recently ended a relationship? Now she's doing a deliberately poor job defending Naz, making sure he's convicted. Her kissing him shows her feeling guilt and that she makes poor relationship choices. Hannibal Lecter - He's still free, and Mads Mikkelsen is available. Jack the Ripper - Fits his MO and he was never caught. It has been theorized that he fled to America. The Spanish Inquisition - Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

To formulate a semi-reasonable solution to the case - Knowing that he would be the prime suspect (absent the unforeseeable presence of Naz), Evil Stepdad hires Dwayne, either directly or through Freddy (how he managed this will be hand waved away) to kill Andrea and establishes an airtight alibi. Dwayne has a problem. He knows that Naz might still be in the brownstone (maybe he even recognized the cab parked outside), so he plans to kill both of them. Finding Naz passed out, he decides to set him up instead, a much better plan. Or, it was not Dwayne and the hired killer simply didn't see Naz passed out in the kitchen. This show is more likely to go with the Financial Planner, who did it because reasons. FWIW - Numerous stab wounds does not necessarily mean a crime of passion. Unless you know what you're doing, it is very difficult to kill someone with a knife. It can take many stabs.

All right, everyone; it's crunch time. Tomorrow is the big finale, time to let everyone know who your prime suspect is. All the ones that I could think of are listed below. Let's hear from you. Naz - If so, then the show was about how a murderer is brutalized by the system. Freddy - Not personally, of course, but was paid by someone to arrange it. Trevor - He really didn't want anyone to know what he did or where he was the night of. Dwayne Reade - Either on his own or hired to do it. The Neighbor - No justification for him to have done it, which in this show makes him a prime candidate. Stone - Hey, it's been suggested. Paulina -Stone's client, got a lot of screen time for no apparent reason. Evil Stepdad - Practically twirled his mustache during the show. That Guy Naz threw done the stairs in High School - He's been following Naz ever since, waiting for the perfect revenge and saw his chance to set up Naz for murder. Andrea's Drug Dealer - It wasn't about the money, it was about sending a message. Hearse Driver - Just because he's so creepy; although, I think that I saw a red herring tattooed on his forehead. Suicide - Andrea had a history of cutting herself, maybe she went too far this time. Financial Planner - No plausible real life reason for it to be him, which makes him my odds on favorite. The Cat - Those were claw marks, not stab wounds. Someone In Stone's Support Group - If only to give a purpose to that whole eczema subplot. Someone We've Never Seen Or Heard Of - Because the show is that meta. We're Never Told - Naz is or isn't convicted, but we never find out if he was innocent or not. The Effing Deer Head - OK, the EDH probably didn't do it, but I bet it knows who did.

That is interesting. In TWD, we have occasionally seen people using zombies for their own purposes (usually evil). Seeing someone trying to establish a mixed human/zombie community with good intentions might be refreshing. Yeah, this show won't go there.

Your theory about the financial planner makes no logical sense, nor is it justified by anything that we've seen in the show. Therefore, I strongly suspect that you are correct.

So much bad about this episode, most of which has been mentioned already. Some random thoughts. Was I the only one taken aback during the flashback when Nick found out his father was dead, because I had forgotten that Travis wasn't his father? Yeah, that's how little I'm involved with this show. Nick travels along an empty highway, and the first two cars he finds were in a head-on collision. What are the odds? He's 100 miles from Tijuana, then after a lengthy two day detour he's back on the highway only 40 miles away. Kid can hike. Nick is apparently a walking dead whisperer. The two banditos are killed, and Nick moves on without taking their guns and ammo. I get that he doesn't want to hurt his dead playmates, but maybe there's some more banditos out there to consider. Am I the only one who thinks of a different "F" word when seeing FTWD?

Don't take the effing deer head away from me, it's all I have to cling to!

Some random things that bothered me about the show. Naz tattoes Sin and Bad on his fingers. Never mind that the correct spelling, I believe, should be Sindbad (correct me if I'm wrong), but Sinbad is a figure from Arabic folklore. Naz is a Pakistani. It's like having a Russian tattoo Robin Hood on his fingers. Andrea is stabbed 22 times, and is found lying on her stomach. All the wounds seem to be in her back. Yet she has one defensive wound on the palm of her hand, according to the prosecution! No one finds that the least bit odd? No defense attorney would ever mention OJ during a trial. Why would they mention someone who many feel got away with murder? The defense pathologist is portrayed as a seasoned pro. Surely he would know that he praised the prosecutor's expert at a dinner, and would be careful to couch his testimony in a way that would disagree with him without his prior comments returning to bite him in the ass. By the way, the prosecutor should have been objecting left and right, too, not just Chandra. The show jumped the shark for me when Chandra kissed Naz. A hug I could see, but that kiss was ridiculous. I agree with those that feel the show tried to do too much in too short a time. Nor did wasting all that time on the went nowhere eczema subplot do the show any favors.

Well, it appears that nothing is going to be made of the blood evidence (I hope I'm wrong). The time to bring it out would have been during cross of the state's pathologist: Yes, that was Naz's blood on the ticket. Yes, that was Naz's blood on the roof of the cab. No, none of the victim's blood was on Naz, or on his clothes, or in the cab. No, he could not have washed off her blood and left his own on his body. No, his blood was not on the knife. You get the idea. Oh well, I can still hope for a payoff from the effing deer's head.

One of my fears is that the killer will be a member of Stone's eczema support group. I really, really hope that doesn't happen.

They could have called this show "The Agony and the Eczema".

It did make sense for Crowe's firm to take this case and then plead it out. This looks like an unwinnable case for the defense, so the plea would have been seen as a win (and was by Stone, for example). Once Naz rejected the plea, she was stuck with the case. To get out would have required a Motion to be Relieved as Counsel, and the reason "he wouldn't take the plea" isn't going to work. It also makes sense to have Chandra try the case. It is quite common in law firms to pass off a loser trial onto a new associate. If Chandra loses, no one is surprised and she gets some valuable trial experience. If she wins, the firm gets to bask in the glory.

Exactly. And the guy from the rehab center would have been more than happy to sell the records to a tabloid.

Did anyone recognize the kid spray painting the lockers? Was it Stone's son? Naz's brother?

The police did a less than exhaustive investigation from what we've been shown. Granted the evidence against Naz looks overwhelming, but even so they should have been working to eliminate any other possible suspects, or at least investigate as to whether Naz was acting alone. For example, the DA showed how Naz wanted the first two passengers out of his cab, only to have Andrea immediately get in it. "Was he waiting for her?" seems like something they should have wondered about. Then, there's Dwayne Reed (whom the DA might not know about yet), a man with a violent criminal record with an MO that matches this crime and was at the scene. It'll look bad for the prosecution when Stone springs this and points out that the prosecution not only didn't investigate it, they didn't even call his companion as a witness. And, of course, the stepdad's motivation for wanting Andrea dead. The show hasn't connected them yet, but I wonder if the stepdad was the brains and Dwayne was the brawn in the killing. I don't think stepdad would have done it himself, as he would need an airtight alibi since he couldn't possibly know that Naz would show up and he is otherwise the prime suspect. And that effing deer's head that was shown again (on Stone's phone). I'm convinced that is going to figure in the outcome. I wonder if we're being set up for Naz to beat the rap, only to have to kill one of the inmates (the one he caught having sex) and going to prison for that.

My guess is because It wasn't sanctioned by Freddy, who may have other plans for the victim.

The prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Naz did it, which is not the same as probably did it.

Kay: Regarding your hidden comment, I was not aware of that.

We're getting down to the wire (in a show with two "The Wire" alums, no less), so let's see where we are. At the risk of offending, here's a tongue in cheek politically correct view of the suspects. Naz - politically incorrect suspect. Duane Reade and friend - politically incorrect suspects. The limo driver who was eying Naz and Andrea at the gas station - politically incorrect suspect. The neighbor - politically correct suspect. Andrea's drug dealer - politically correct suspect. Paulina (Stone's gay or transgender client) - politically incorrect suspect. The stepfather - politically correct suspect. If we get a politically correct solution, my money's on him. Other thoughts - We keep getting shots of that deer head, I can't help but think it will play into the solution. Surveillance camera inside, perhaps? Also, the police took a blood sample from it. How did that get there? It was too far from the murder scene, and neither Naz nor Andrea (who had both cut themselves) were shown touching it on the way upstairs. The knife Naz had on him is not the murder weapon. When Box was discussing the case with the prosecutor, he said something like "it almost matches the wounds." My fear is that we may get a Deus ex Machina solution, such as the police showing up with someone in handcuffs and saying his wife/mother/father/brother/whatever was suspicious, they checked it out and found his clothes covered in Andrea's blood and he confessed.

I think Duane is a red herring. His friend lied about him being with him, and he ran away from Stone, because his MO fits the crime. I just don't think he did it, although he may know something about it. I have some other thoughts that I'll post in speculation.

In Scotland, they have (or used to have) a verdict of "Not Proven". It meant: yeah we think you did it, but there wasn't enough proof.

I'm pretty sure the stepdad was there.