The Beast In Me Episode 4 Recap: Is Agent Abbott Dead?

The fourth episode of The Beast in Me quite philosophically is titled “Thanatos,” translating to “death instinct” as defined by Freud. Thanatos means the self-destructive longing to die, to return to a state that exists beyond and before life, to be one with the darkness in there. Aggie writes that human beings have inadvertently been attracted to death, and perhaps this is the foreshadowing that lingers, culminating in a brutal death in The Beast in Me episode 4. Aggie and Agent Abbott are both lurking in risky territories with their unauthorized investigation on Nile Jarvis, and the end may not be well for both, or at least one of them. Let’s take a look at where the death instinct drives the duo.

Spoilers Ahead

Is Agent Abbott Dead?

Since we are talking about death instincts here, let’s kill the cat (assuming you have already watched the episode and know the answer to this question!). Agent Abbott may not be taking the best steps to investigate this case on his own, and let’s trace his steps towards his demise at the hands of Nile Jarvis. This is also the first confirmed murder that we see Nile doing, creating a huff of confusion around whether Madison and Teddy are really dead.

Agent Abbott takes the pen drive to a shady, guarded location to a hacker called Simone Says. Simone locks him up while she is hacking into the device and finally tells him that she has not been able to track his location from the night Teddy disappeared, but she did find a heavily encrypted link to a livestream. This livestream, when opened, shows a very distressed, red-room-like footage of Teddy all tied up in a room under constant surveillance. Clearly, Teddy is not dead, which leaves me to think, is Madison really dead too? There is a certain dialogue that completely confuses Agent Abbott before he meets his demise.

Erika has been pestering Abbott since she pulled his call logs and found out that he has been in touch with Aggie. She is Abbott’s supervisor and is having to answer for him to Rick, although we do not quite understand the basis of this. This is why when Simone Says says that he should take it to the Bureau, Abbott decides to kill the case instead. He tells Aggie later that nothing was found in the laptop and follows Jarvis to a secret meeting in his construction site.

Jarvis has been facing considerable stress regarding Phineas Gold’s pull-off from executing the Jarvis Yard. Martin Jarvis has hired Montgomery Agency, a crisis management company, to take care of the situation, but Jarvis decides to intervene himself. Jarvis decides to speak to Olivia Benitez rather than convincing Phineas Gold. In a secret meeting, Jarvis offers her land as a token for her to show off that she won it back from the Jarvises, but in exchange he wanted zoning permission for the Jarvis Yard project. Olivia is radical with her stance and does not bend, leaving the premise abruptly after the meeting. However, once Jarvis walks out, he is confronted by Abbott pointing a gun at him. The confrontation is cold-blooded; one would think Abbott has a one-up since he is the one holding the gun, but Jarvis pulls the absolute psychological trigger by telling him he will tell him where Maddie is. This unsettles Abbott, and he loses control for a brief moment, only to be overpowered by Nile in the meantime. Nile pins him to the ground and brutally murders him by smashing his head over and over. With Agent Abbott dead, the fact that Teddy is alive sinks under the lake since he told Aggie not to worry about it. There is only one other person who knows about this—Simone Says. Simone, who did not take money to do the job, said that she will come for a favor, and with Abbott dead, is it Aggie who is going to return this favor? After the cold-blooded murder, Nile comes to Aggie’s place for a drink, creating the most perfect alibi for that night.

What Do Maddie’s Parents Think about Her Death?

A considerable amount of The Beast in Me episode 4 is spent at the Ingram’s house, with Aggie talking to Maddie’s parents. Previously, when she mentioned that she wanted to talk to Jarvis, he did not seem to have any objection, and we will understand why. Maddie’s parents have not spoken to the media about their daughter’s death, and as Nina Jarvis mentions, Maddie’s inner circle—her parents, brother, and Nina—all knew how unwell Maddie was. When Maddie’s parents agree to speak with Aggie, it comes as a pleasant surprise. Aggie turns up at the house to be welcomed by the Ingrams, as Maddie’s brother leaves the house. The Ingrams mention that he is not comfortable dredging up his sister’s death, and neither were they, but Aggie’s intent of writing a book on Nile made them interested.

Aggie jumps up on her feet and says that her loyalty is not to Nile but to the truth, but taking her by surprise, the Ingrams comment that they are in fact grateful to Nile and do not want any slandering of his name. The Ingrams add that Maddie was bipolar and had a hard time maintaining her medication. She was suicidal before she finally decided to do it, and Nile has alwaysbeen one taking care of her. The Ingrams show some photos of the couple where Maddie looks genuinely happy, until she turns otherwise. Although Maddie’s father is compassionate about her daughter’s mental health, her mother seems to be of a different opinion. She comments that at one point everyone has to be accountable for their actions, and it seems like Maddie did not exactly share a good relationship with her mother. The Ingrams look like they are a closet full of secrets, with an absent brother and a complicated set of parents. Before Aggie leaves, they give her a copy of Maddie’s suicide note, which is written in a steady hand.

Why Do Aggie and Shelley Fall Out?

This turns into a game that Nile controls, and he comes out the hero at the end. Nina flags Aggie’s concern about the book looking biased if the exhibition takes place, and Nile supports Aggie. He has benefits in supporting Aggie; he calls her up and tells her that he told Nina to pin the blame on him for the cancellation and tells her this is a favor that a “friend” can do for a friend. When Nina informs Shelley about this, it does not take her much time to understand that Aggie may be behind it. Shelley snaps and basically tells Aggie to get a life and not meddle in whatever is happening in Shelley’s life. So essentially, as an outcome, a divide is wedged between the two, and Nile comes right in to fill in the gap. This is a trick of isolating the prey while the predator plans their attack. 

Later, Nile Jarvis has no problem sharing a drink with an Aggie who must be feeling abandoned by her ex-wife, and now with Agent Abbott gone, there is not one ally beside her. Nile is a slow but steady player and is cornering Aggie bit by bit; it makes me think that Nile found Aggie a soft target to manipulate, and that is why he wants her to write his book while he hacks into her brain like a parasite controlling what she sees, thinks, and ultimately writes. Nile’s perception control is not through a crisis management agency, but through direct intervention—as he comments before, one has to deal with the shepherd, not the sheep. Aggie seems like a fit enough shepherd to direct thoughts of the masses with her Pulitzer-winning status, and having her as spokesperson can truly change things for Nile. While the murders are unfounded yet, it also makes me wonder why he is torturing Teddy and slips the information that Maddie may be alive. Was he just bluffing to distract Abbott, or is there a grain of truth to his statement? Nile tightens his grip not just on the narrative, but on Aggie’s mind itself. Every move now feels calculated, every alliance tainted by manipulation. While too much is left in the smoke, we can only wait for it to clear up in the next episodes as Aggie tries to lean closer to the truth and Nile creates a maze of confusion for her.

...