Abhiroop Das
Created by Gabe Rotter, Netflix’s ‘The Beast in Me’ follows Agatha Wiggs, a Pulitzer-winning novelist who has gradually faded from the public eye over the years. A traumatic incident in her past changed her life forever, leaving her alone and struggling to make a comeback. When the path of Nile Jarvis, an infamous business mogul and public magnet, crosses with hers, Agatha’s life becomes further entangled with a new dark past. An unlikely relationship begins to form between them, before transforming into an interrogation of each other’s beliefs and actions and unearthing some deadly secrets in the process. As such, this mystery thriller delves into the psyche of Nile Jarvis, with figures from his past having a direct influence on the course of his life and those around him. To that end, the suspicions surrounding Madison Jarvis’s death become one of the central threads of the narrative, entangling the characters in a tighter bind. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Nile Murders Madison in a Crime of Passion
In the penultimate episode of the season, titled ‘Ghosts,’ a flashback reveals that Nile Jarvis killed Madison after finding out that she was working with Detective Brian Abbott. However, there is more going on behind the scenes, and Nile’s secret, but bubbling homicidal desires also play a part in this. Earlier in the episode, we see Brian make a major dent in Nile’s criminal endeavours, only for him to walk free once again by scapegoating another man. Worse, he also realizes that there is a mole within the Jarvises’ ranks, who we later find out to be Madison herself. Although her exact reasons for doing this are never stated, her mortal fear of him serves as a strong enough motivator. Putting him behind bars is the safest way for Madison to escape the toxic relationship, which makes Brian’s failure to incarcerate him all the more infuriating for her. Despite her most dire urges, he fails to grasp the gravity of the situation, and that ultimately contributes to her demise.
While searching for the mole, Nile initially sets his eyes on Nina, Madison’s then assistant at the gallery, and a person with deep access to the business. Her decision to quit the job only fuels his suspicions even more, leading to a tense confrontation. Upon being cornered, Nina spills the beans about Madison secretly meeting Brian, causing Nile to switch targets immediately. He catches Madison just before her attempt to escape the house and flee the country, and before long, the truth is dragged out into the open. However, the turning point comes later, when a furious Nile asks her why she betrayed him in the first place. Here, Madison strikes back by revealing that she sees the violent, monstrous side that he hides from everyone at all times, and that pushes him over the edge. Before she can make her escape, Nile pins her to the ground and repeatedly strikes her head with a sculpture, bringing Madison’s life to a brutal end.
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Madison’s Murder is One in a Long String of Many by Nile Jarvis
The aftermath of Madison’s death paints an even more harrowing picture, as Rick and Martin are the first to arrive on the blood-soaked scene. Knowing that Nile’s public image is likely gone forever, the duo is faced with two choices: whether to turn him in or help him dispose of the corpse and erase evidence. Here, Martin’s fatal flaw, his obsession with legacy, surfaces once again, and the group sets out to wipe out every evidence of foul play and replace the murder with a suicide narrative. Madison’s body is buried in the center of Jarvis Yards, which soon gets filled up with concrete, leading into stage two of the project that we see in the present. This adds a new layer to his fear of losing control over the construction project, as a potential demolition of these structures can bring his crimes to light. Meanwhile, Madison’s brother sneaks out several of her belongings, unaware that they will later play a crucial role in bringing the mystery to a close.
While Nile’s murder of Madison is a crime of passion, it follows a long string of murders that the latter believes he committed in the past, all connected by his hunger for control. However, the real conceit behind his serial killings is only revealed in the present, when he abducts and later kills Teddy Fenig. On the surface, Nile has no reason to hunt the man, and the crime appears to be his twisted gift for Agatha, but a closer look reveals this to be the exact thought process he uses to escape blame. In the finale, he unloads the entire truth on Nina, blaming her for the death of Madison. From his point of view, Nina intentionally revealed the truth to climb the social ladder and get Madison killed, which is a belief he also holds in Teddy’s case, with reference to Agatha’s murderous gaze. However, in both these cases, he is merely using the intense feelings of others as a platform to serve his own homicidal desires.
According to Agatha, Nile only takes interest in people who see through his charming facade and catch a glimpse of the monster within. While the novelist herself is one of them, Madison is revealed to be the one most intimately familiar with Nile’s darker side. This brings the murder to a symbolic front, where he gets rid of the only person at that point who truly threatened his sense of security and control. This also reframes how he handled her suicide attempts, as he seemed to take satisfaction in taking care of someone weaker than him. In their final argument, he expresses rage over her making a mental recovery in the past few months, especially as it is due to rebelling against him. To that end, his decision to repurpose her older suicide note gains a malicious layer of meaning, as it represents him reconsolidating control over the narrative.
