The Brother
Episode 6 of Clickbait Season 1 begins in Sacramento six months ago. Simon warns Emma about her online boyfriend, imploring her to be careful. This small flashback soon sees us jump forward through time to see Simon, still working as a content moderator and still acting suspiciously. Detective Amiri shows up though to see him though, questioning Simon about Nick and his ties with Sarah. Apparently Simon was out fishing with his buddy Daryl during the incident. Amiri is understandably sceptical of this guy, trying to call him out over his fishing story as Simon definitely gives off the impression that he’s hiding something. Back at his desk Simon sends a message to Daryl, which pretty much confirms out suspicions. He tells the man not to go home or pick up his phone. It’s clear that the alibi he’s just given the police is completely false too. A flashback to four months back sees Sarah tearfully ring Simon, apologizing. This happened just prior to her committing suicide, as it’s revealed that Simon was actually the one who found her body. He also found all the messages from “Jeremy” on Sarah’s phone too, which gives him a solid motive. Remember what we mentioned last episode about searching through pictures? Well, Jeremy seems to be the only one smart enough to do this, and eventually stumbles upon the picture of Nick with the Oakland volleyball team. With this information, Simon and Daryl track him down, injecting the man with something in a syringe. Back in Oakland, Pia continues to stir up trouble, especially after learning Matt has taken down Nick’s photos. Pia is still holding out hope but it certainly doesn’t look good. This weird relationship between Amiri and Pia eventually crescendos later on when the latter heads over to Amiri’s house. It doesn’t take long for him to cheat on his partner, although he does pull away after their kiss. These escalating concerns over Simon continue until Amiri is forced to chase him on foot. At the same time, Pia finds Daryl but manages to escape from this man. With Simon arrested, we cut back 11 days to learn what really happened. Simon and Daryl were the ones responsible for the video. They captured Nick and forced him to hold up both signs. After this initial video, Nick is forced to hold up the second sign confirming he killed a woman. Nick is shaken and more than a little uncomfortable, pleading with Simon and claiming he had nothing to do with this. In fact, Nick is adamant that he never made the dating profile in question. He tries to reason with the grief-stricken brother, pointing out to Simon that his own father committed suicide in the past. In fact, as Nick continues to talk he mentions how the pictures seem to be doctored. The horizon on one of these photos doesn’t quite match up Now, according to Daryl’s statement he tells Amiri that Simon killed Nick. However, that’s not actually true. That night Nick broke free from his binds and ran away. Despite holding a gun, Simon lets the man go upon learning he’s got the wrong man. It turns out that night Nick broke free from his binds and ran away. Simon realized at that point that he had the wrong guy. He let him run away, deciding against firing. With Simon now presumably not the killer, the scene cuts to Ethan, who messages someone called Al. They claim to be good at keeping secrets… but who are they really?
The Episode Review
So it seems like Simon was a red herring after all and he actually isn’t the killer. So who could it be? I originally thought that it could be Pia but right now, it’s hard to see exactly who’s responsible. It’s a pretty good little mystery in truth – contrivances and all – and this chapter is arguably the best of the bunch. This show certainly isn’t going to win any awards, and the first half has been particularly rough around the edges. Still, it’s been a pretty enjoyable watch at times. The constant character jumps are a really big problem with this show though, especially given it loses that central focus of one player. Despite that, the final two episodes set things up nicely for a grand finale to come.
