Aahana Swrup
The Prime Video show ‘Malice’ charts a menacing story about revenge, where a man infiltrates his way into a wealthy family to execute an elaborate plot. When the Tanner family initially welcomes their friends’ tutor, Adam Healey, to their Grecian vacation, no one thinks much of it. Likewise, it appears to be a pure twist of fate when the charming man grows closer to the family and eventually gets hired as their full-time nanny. However, out of the Tanners’ eyesight, the tutor moves pieces into place to orchestrate the demise of the patriarch, Jamie Tanner. This sinister agenda runs deep, subtly infecting everything from Jamie’s family to his business. Naturally, Adam’s casual inclination for violence and deep-rooted desire to harm Jamie turn the latter’s beloved dog, Frank, into a vulnerable potential target. Furthermore, Frank isn’t the only animal whose proximity to the wicked protagonist puts him in harm’s way. Bedford, Adam’s pet snake, whom he keeps hidden under his bed, remains in a perpetual state of becoming a victim of his owner’s malicious whims. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Adam Orchestrates Frank’s Death to Hurt Jamie
Adam’s mysterious hatred for Jamie Tanner remains evident from the first episode. Yet, as it becomes apparent that the former is on a quest to ruin the latter’s life, it’s difficult to gauge just how far he is willing to go to achieve his goals. He attacks an innocent local in Greece in a bid to frame the finance businessman, and he’s comfortable ruining young Kit Tanner’s future without any remorse. However, the tutor is willing to go much farther. Once the family returns to London from their holiday, Frank, the dog, enters the picture as Jamie’s closest pal. Out of everyone in the family, the pet seems most enamored by the patriarch, who is similarly grateful for the canine’s companionship. Therefore, Adam realizes that hurting the dog would be a sure and certain way to inflict enormous hurt on his nemesis. However, since his plan is still in its early days, he can’t run the risk of discovery. For the same reason, he decides to plot Frank’s death in a way that would make it seem like an accident.
Initially, while Jamie is away on business, Adam spins a story about a mild rat infestation in the Tanner residence’s yard. This allows him to establish an understandable context for bringing rat poison into the household. Afterward, as he spreads the poison into the yard, he makes sure to announce the threat this can pose to the family pet. As a result, he constantly advises everyone to keep the doors shut to prevent the dog from getting out at the same time that the poison would be sprinkled onto the grass. Once this becomes a norm, Adam manipulates situations to have Jamie’s wife, Nat, invite a group of her friends over for a nightcap that soon turns into a small party. The inebriated house guests give the tutor the perfect opportunity to take Frank out into the yard and feed him a piece of meat covered in rat poison. In the aftermath, when the family’s youngest, Dexter, finds the pet’s body, the family has no choice but to accept his death as a tragic accident. Consequently, Frank becomes an early victim in Adam’s vindictive agenda.
Bedford the Snake Dies During the Burglary at the Tanner Residence
Much like Frank, the dog, Bedford, the snake, also faces a tragic fate. Adam first brings the snake home after a visit to his sister, Sophia, who urges him to take the reptile with him. The tutor seems happy enough to house the new pet in his guest room at the Tanner Residence. However, he takes the precaution to keep him a secret from the family. As such, he stores him in a case under his bed, which in turn gives him the name Beford. Initially, it’s easy to believe Adam might have some feelings of companionship and adoration for the animal. However, as time passes, it becomes increasingly obvious that he’s only planning on using the snake in his elaborate revenge plot. Eventually, an opportunity presents itself when the Tanners prepare to go on a getaway to their state house.
As the trip opens up the space for the Tanner house to be entirely empty, Adam plans to attack his enemy in a big way. He uses his presence in the house to secretly disable all safety features and gives a pair of robbers the instructions to hit Jamie’s house. Before leaving for the trip with the family, he decides to let Beford lose in the house for added chaos. On the night of the burglary, things go south slightly. Jamie’s daughter, Iris, had decided to stay behind, which presents an unexpected surprise for the robbers. Still, they manage to deal with it by locking the teenage girl and her boyfriend in a room before clearing out the entire house in the dead of the night. In the middle of this burglary, Bedford ends up dead, likely killed by the robbers or the frantic teenagers.
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