Who Killed Sarge Will?
Who’s telling the truth and who’s hiding dark secrets? It’s a question that’s weighed heavily over this series since the opening episode and now, as we fast approach the finale, Dare Me continues to combine its teen drama with a sinister, dark edge. The penultimate episode sets up the foundations for a dramatic finale to follow, as our characters prepare for what’s to come as secrets will inevitably be revealed, and the truth around who killed Sarge threatening to explode into a flurry of tension and shock. Episode 9 of Dare Me begins with Addy sneaking home and finding her Mother sitting waiting for her. She berates her daughter for not telling her where she’s been before heading to work. This paves way for Addy and Beth to sit together at school smoking, talking about the very idea of suicide. The entire school has been rocked by the news of Sarge Will’s suicide and after berating the “grief vampires” inside school, Addy and the others are invited along to a special party at a warehouse for those who actually knew Will. With everyone talking about what happened, Addy speaks to Colette who encourages her student to keep her head up and promises things will go away sooner rather than later. As fate would have it, Addy’s Mother happens to be the officer investigating this case and as she talks to a fellow officer outside in the hallway, we cut to see Kurtz listening from inside one of the rooms. Does he have something to do with this death? After practice, Beth talks to Addy about the police investigation, allowing a wry smile to cross her face as she tells her these cases are never as simple as they seem. It encourages Addy to head back home and contemplate getting rid of the bleached shoes she has stashed away while Beth looks into the death too, searching online for clues that may lead to the truth. The gang head to the party, with Addy drinking herself into oblivion while overcome with guilt and haunted by memories of Will’s body. Despite Beth acting confident and calm, when Kurtz shows up she immediately finds herself staring daggers smashing a bottle on the ground in the process. This slow-mo scene happens to be the exact same one we saw at the start of the episode. The party finishes and in the morning a hungover Addy remains in bed while Beth heads downstairs and starts making coffee. She talks to Addy’s Mum, sowing seeds of doubt in her mind about what really happened to Will. More incriminating than that however, Addy’s Mother mentions her daughter’s lie about her staying over her house two nights in a row. With her Mum gone, Beth confronts Addy over the lie she’s spun and mentions how they both now have alibis for that night. With Addy struggling to maintain her composure, she hears Beth joking about Sarge having a gun in his mouth at school. With clouds of regret and doubt following her every way she turns, she speaks to her Mum and lets slip that Sarge died Sunday night. It’s something that her Mum immediately cottons on to and tells her the death is suspicious, with damage to Will’s teeth and mouth, along with the news that this may not be a suicide. As we pan across to the school, a post-it note reading “Coach French must be sad” stands out among the plethora of other notes on the wall where the episode ends. Dare Me continues to weave its deliciously dark mystery in with teen drama in the best possible way. If you’ve made it this far, you’ll almost certainly tune in to next week’s finale to find out how this all ends. Someone killed Sarge Will and knew about Colette as well…but who? Is it Beth? Kurtz? Or did Colette kill him? Even more far-fetched but definitely possible – could this be Matt? Maybe he found out about the affair and snapped, meeting Will in the hotel and subsequently killing him before Colette arrived. There are plenty of unanswered questions here still to be resolved but this central mystery is a really engrossing one, encouraging you to come back for more. Dare Me has been a nice surprise this year and while it isn’t necessarily the strongest murder mystery out there, it’s a solid enough entry in the genre. The door is left wide open for the finale now though and having not read the book, Dare Me has all the ingredients to pull off a satisfying and dramatic final tumble. Let’s hope it delivers!
