It’s always the person no one suspects.
At the end of Netflix’s razor sharp parody of adult psychological thrillers, The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window, wine-fueled divorcée Anna (Kristen Bell) finally discovers the murderer in her suburban midst.
Despite all signs pointing to hunky single dad Neil (Tom Riley) or handyman Buell (Cameron Britton) — who despite his gentle demeanor exudes “I’ve got bodies in my freezer” energy — Anna is shocked to find out who actually killed Lisa Maines (Shelley Hennig). And you might be shocked too.
But why did they do it? And what’s up with that whole thing with the woman in the airplane? Here’s what the ending of The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is all about, and how it could be setting up for a potential second season.
Who killed Lisa Maines?
The killer of Lisa Maines was Emma, the 9-year-old daughter of Neil, played by Samsara Yett. Both a horrifying plot twist and a comic riff on the psychological thriller genre, The Woman in the Window etc. spoofs the convoluted reveals that take place in contemporary murder mysteries.
Both the viewer and Anna suspect Neil killed Lisa, because men are usually the prime suspect in fictional and real life murder cases. Plus, Neil refused to believe that Lisa was dead, insisting that she was only away on her job as a flight attendant. That’s how a guilty murderer would try to cover their tracks.
But when the show dismisses Neil as the prime suspect, it soon makes Buell a believable murderer. He’s someone everyone in the neighborhood keeps at a distance, and it’s genuinely shocking to learn that he’s living in Anna’s attic without her knowledge.
But it’s Emma, the very girl Anna projected all her feelings for her dead daughter upon. While Emma’s reasons for racking up a body count before puberty are a bit unearned, it’s still funny to see a little girl talk about being a cold-blooded killer. This show is a comedy first and foremost.
Who is the Airplane Woman? The mystery continues...
After Anna kills Emma in self-defense, Anna is off the hook for Lisa’s murder. Case closed.
A year later, Anna has happily resumed her marriage with Douglas (Michael Ealy), and the two are raising a new child. Embarking on a vacation to see her sister in New York, Anna has quit wine — in favor of vodka. But on the plane, she meets an enigmatic passenger played by Hollywood icon Glenn Close.
In another riff on the genre’s tropes, Anna wakes up from a vodka binge to discover that same woman dead in the airplane bathroom. When she flags a flight attendant the body is gone, and no passenger matches Anna’s description. Is Anna hallucinating? Or is an irresistible secret being kept from her? The Woman in the House won’t give us an answer, at least not until Netflix greenlights Season 2.
The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is streaming now on Netflix.
