Memory Of A Killer Episode 4 Recap: Is Nicky Connected To The Ferryman?

Angelo’s investigation on the mysterious Ferryman continues as the fourth episode of “Memory of a Killer” shares a shocking revelation about the fixer’s possible identity. Previously, Angelo approached gunsmith Belinda’s apprentice, Wesley, in order to find the whereabouts of Ferryman. Struggling to cope with her PTSD in her present situation, Maria approached her ex lover, Detective Dave, to let her relieve her frustration at the shooting range and accompanied him to 10-54 Hudson Springs, where Henry Bloch’s corpse was found. Angelo’s dual life continues to overlap dangerously as his memories falter, and it’s only a matter of time till his desperate attempts to cover up both ends blow up in his face.

Spoilers Ahead

What’s Angelo’s Latest Mission?

The episode opens inside Belinda’s workshop. Angelo has been able to convince Wesley to lure in Herc, one of Ferryman’s operatives who acts as a middleman in his gunrunning operations. He holds Herc at gunpoint to extract intel from him, only to learn that he doesn’t know the identity of his employer and gets directions through coded messages. As Angelo tries to threaten him to reveal a way to communicate with Ferryman, Herc chooses death over snitching on his employer. Herc reveals the sadistic, ruthless fixer will come after his family and torment them to death if he betrays his trust. Unable to find answers, Angelo kills Herc and assures Wesley that the ‘mess’ in the workshop will be taken care of. Wesley warns him, mentioning Ferryman’s notoriety, but Angelo is confident that he can pay him back in kind. Having taken Herc’s phone, Angelo goes through the coded messages in his chat with Ferryman’s other operatives in the hopes of tracking down the fixer. 

Things are a little strained between Maria and her husband, Jeff, who has become paranoid about her safety ever since the shooting incident. As Angelo catches up with his daughter, she asks him about the last night’s call—when Angelo mistakenly dialed Maria’s number, while trying to call Dutch. Angelo covers up by giving a lame excuse of having difficulties adjusting to his new phone. Maria has been keeping secrets from her father and husband as well, as she lies to them about going to attend yoga lessons while going to the shooting range to meet Dave. 

Angelo’s latest target is arms dealer Katherine Morton, and Joe shares details about the assignment at the luxurious hotel she and her security have checked in to. Before her latest deal is secured, Katherine needs to be eliminated. Given Katherine is almost always accompanied by her security team, there is only a slim chance to take her down without drawing unnecessary attention during her spa session, which Joe has been able to learn by hacking her schedule from the concierge’s laptop. However, in Herc’s phone Angelo receives directions about the next meetup with Ferryman’s operatives, which coincides with his ongoing schedule, and he prioritizes taking care of his personal affairs. Joe, surprised at Angelo’s sudden change of plans, requests him to reconsider, only to get intimidated by the veteran hitman. Angelo ambushes Ferryman’s operatives but ends up killing all of them before being able to extract intel from them. However, one of the dying crooks, Leo, reveals that the hit put on Maria was a personal score to settle for Ferryman, not a paid one. As Angelo wonders why this mysterious fixer is after his family, he learns that his amnesiac brother Mike is also a target. Angelo takes Leo’s phone before leaving and goes to visit the care center Mike is admitted to. As Angelo shares an emotionally charged moment with his brother, who is able to recognize him from a childhood picture. Before leaving, Angelo asks the care center attendant, Jane, to inform him if anyone ever visits Mike. FBI agent Grant is able to deduce that Ferryman’s operatives were killed by a professional, experienced killer, who carefully tweaked the crime scene to make it seem they killed each other off.

Maria Gets Involved in Dave’s Investigation 

On the other hand, Dave is not comfortable with the idea that Maria is lying to her husband to release her pent-up frustration in the shooting range. Maria reveals how, as a pregnant mother, anxiety and fear have been slowly eating her from inside, and she fears that total inaction on her part will result in her facing the same fate as her mother faced years ago. Maria wants to take initiative to at least feel a sense of control over her life, which will help her to cope with the PTSD and anxiety. 

Dave receives a call from his workplace and brings Maria to the police station, as the drowned corpse that was found from the riverside is identified as Henry Bloch. Dave reveals that Bloch was supposedly the contract killer who shot Maria, and the FBI was on his trail as well. Maria learns that Earl is not involved with the hit. Learning that the investigators still don’t know how the hitman drowned in the river, Maria follows the hiking trail from where the corpse was recovered and is able to find one of Bloch’ shoes. The police are able to identify the nearby bridge as the drop site, and being actively involved in the investigation provides Maria a much-needed release from her tension. However, as Dave’s superior, Sergeant Taylor asks him not to get the victim party involved in the investigation; he has no other option except to take Maria back to her place. Maria ends up getting involved in an argument with Jeff and Angelo upon learning that they have decided about leaving Hudson Springs together. With all due respect to their sentiment, the last thing a victim needs to hear is to run away from their fears instead of getting over by confronting them. Maria firmly stands her ground that she will not leave her hometown no matter what, compounding Angelo’s worries in the process, who knows the stakes are much higher than she can possibly imagine. Before leaving Maria’s place, Angelo realizes that his memory situation is deteriorating fast, as he cannot remember when he installed the crib at their place. Later Dave reports to Sergeant Taylor that from the bloodmarks found on the bridge, it has been deduced that Bloch was murdered and the drowning incident wasn’t simply an accident.  

Is Nicky Connected to the Ferryman?

Angelo’s fling with Nicky has gotten a bit more serious, and seeing him troubled over something he doesn’t feel comfortable sharing, Nicky mentions that he won’t have to bother about sharing past baggage with her. Tightly wounded as always, Angelo shares that he has no past ties to bother about and mentions that he lost his wife long ago. 

Angelo’s mission is the least important aspect of this episode, which becomes quite clear from how trivially it is treated by the hitman. He asks Joe to bring laser pointers from a pet shop before taking down the buyer party and approaching Katherine with their money and posing as a buyer. Suspicious of Angelo, Katherine decides to double-cross him anyway when Joe uses a laser pointer from afar to convince her security that they are surrounded. Katherine tries to flee when she and her security details are gunned down by Angelo. That’s classic Walter White (“Felina” episode from “Breaking Bad”) move by using laser pointers as threat tactics, which doesn’t look half as cool in this context. 

Angelo finds the manual for installing a crib in his luxury apartment in NY; it goes beyond saying that things could have gone in a worse direction had it ended up with someone else involved with his other life. He calls Jane to discuss Mike’s recovery regimen with music therapy, and realizing he too needs help, manages to convince her to let him be present during the sessions as well. 

Angelo had entrusted Joe with decrypting Leo’s phone security, mentioning not to share his directive with Dutch or anyone else. During the final moments of the episode, Joe approaches Angelo in his luxury apartment to hand over the unlocked phone and opens up about his past. Joe’s old man didn’t think highly of him, which affected his mentality as fear of failure overwhelmed him upon being confronted. Joe promises to try his best to not mess up further while working along with Angelo and also shares his admiration for Angelo’s work ethic. Seeing Joe all emotional and vulnerable, Angelo sympathizes with him and invites him for a drink.

Later, Angelo calls one of Leo’s frequent contacts from his phone, hoping that he will finally be able to learn who Ferryman really is. However, the call reaches Nicky, who sounds concerned that she hasn’t been able to reach Leo for quite a while. A shocked Angelo hangs up the phone before Nicky can realize that it wasn’t Leo on the other side, and the episode concludes on a shocking note. While an obvious indication is Nicky might be related to the Ferryman, or she could even be the Ferryman herself, there is a strong chance that she is someone close to Leo and doesn’t have any clues about his criminal activities. In that context, Angelo is in deep peril, as with his troubled memory situation, it won’t be long before things start falling apart and all his secrets get revealed.  

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