Throughout the whole flashback sequence it was not registering. I even laughed a few times in disbelief.
I thought there was going to be some kind of catch, cliffhanger, anything that would disprove the revelation of ABC's "Whodunnit?" Killer. That wouldn't be unusual for a show like this.
But alas, Cris Crotz was revealed as the Whodunnit Killer and Kam won both his life and the quarter of a million dollars for the first season's finale that aired on ABC Sunday night, August 18.
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| There she is. This is our Killer, people. Photo from "Whodunnit?" Wiki |
I never really thought SHE would be the Killer. I was dead (haha) set on Lindsey as the Killer ever since she stated that she is a preacher's daughter. How ironic would it be if a PREACHER'S daughter was a murderer? Plus, Lindsey never seemed to know anything unless somebody told her and yet she would always be spared or even impressive to the Killer, much to the chagrin of the true Killer, Cris. She was labeled by the rest of the contestants as untrustworthy and a crafty liar because she bounced back and forth between two groups of people. And, of course, she often acted peculiar to make you suspect her. I actually thought towards the end that Cris was going to win. She carried herself very intelligently, which is not necessarily associated with beauty queens as much as other professions, so it would be terrific if she won this for all the beauty queens out there.
Even when the credits of the season finale rolled I still wasn't convinced that Cris was the Killer but that night and days after I began to think of clues that point to her more and more. I also guarantee you that if we were to re-watch the entire season, which is all on the "Whodunnit?' YouTube channel (AWESOME!!! :D), it would probably all make sense now that Cris is the Killer. Watching them now knowing that she is the Killer is pretty different than speculating them all.
Cris has been answering fan questions on her Twitter (@CrisCrotz) and her answers, as well as some articles I have read, have actually kind of helped me understand it all better to write this piece. :)
Just so we all know, Cris knew the entire time that she was the Killer and actually wanted to be it, but to prevent bias, she had to play the game as well. However, I am writing this as if she did actually commit the murders to better explain why it is fitting that she is the Whodunnit Killer.
Reason #1: Cris Takes her Beauty Queen Career VERY Seriously
The only way I was accepting Cris as the Killer is because how cool would it be to have a Beauty Queen Murderer??? No one would expect that because beauty queens aren't really known for their diabolical villainy or violence.
A lot of the other contestants had jobs in or related to the crime field. For example, Don is a former homicide detective, Ronnie, a bounty hunter, Ulysses, an attorney, Adrianna, a crime reporter, Sasha, a journalist, Dana, a cardiac nurse, and of course Kam, a homeland security attorney. It would be kind of odd to have someone that normally fights crime be a murderer, so that leaves very few people leftover.
To go along with this, we have possible female angst between Cris and Sheri.
Well, the two didn't have bad blood (haha, pun) between them, but I have an interesting theory as to why Cris used Sheri's death to kick everything off. Keep in mind that the Killer spared the people that she felt matched her in stature and smarts. As Giles always said, "the Killer's most worthy adversary."
Beauty queens are judged based on their elegance and posture, among other things, and they are very invested in their competitions. The motivation Giles gives is that the Killer murdered Sheri because she "had to make an example of Sheri because she showed her incompetence by breaking a champagne glass. Her clumsiness cost her her life." The worst thing a beauty queen can do to eliminate herself from a pageant is be clumsy or do something idiotic. The same thing goes for being a cheerleader really, which was Sheri's profession. Cris could've very well originally felt that she was on the same level as Sheri because her career requirements matched hers more than they did the others. But then, Cris felt that Sheri disgraced them both by dropping the champagne glass, so she took her revenge out on her because of her pageant competitive nature.
Then there is the use of the word "mortals." The Killer refers to the contestants as mortals, meaning that the Killer considered herself immortal, or to me, not of this world. Well obviously the Killer is immortal in the sense that he or she would never die on the show, but this word could take on a whole different meaning when regarding Cris. Not of this world could mean that the Killer is an outer space alien. A bit of a stretch, but stay with me. There's also such a beauty pageant as a Miss UNIVERSE.
Ehh? ;)
In the very first episode Cris is the first one to point out the "greetings mortals" thing to the rest of the contestants and evidently called herself a sociopath. From the very beginning she wanted to establish herself and instill fear in her, as Giles says, "compatriots."
Reason #2: Her Dad was a Cop
Another thing Cris establishes in the first episode is that her father was a policeman and throughout the rest of the season shares her knowledge about guns, especially in the episode where they are investigating Geno's death by a silent gun.
She even tweeted that she purposely was hinting at herself as the Killer by stating these gun facts.
Reason #3: Ulysses's Death Episode
Let's talk about the episode "Bum Ba Dee Da", which is the episode where they all investigate Ulysses's death.
First of all, what a lame murder that was! Seriously?! He was poisoned by a flower?! Oooh! Scary!
When compared to the rest of the very gruesome murders, this one is rather tame. Even when they were inspecting his body they had difficulty finding marks on the guy. But here is a theory as to why Cris was easier on Ulysses than she was on everyone else: She didn't want to kill him.
Their knowledge about the facts of the murders determines whether or not they are the next to be killed. Apparently Ulysses failed the most in regards to the previous murder and Cris had to kill him whether she liked it or not in order to follow the rules of the game.
As the season went on, the contestants developed two teams on their own. One consisted of Cris, Kam, Lindsey, and Ulysses, and the other consisted of everyone else led by Ronnie. It pained Cris to have to kill her teammate. If you notice, she and the rest of her teammates were the final three and she worked to keep it that way by conspiring with them. She took down the rest of the others beforehand.
Not only this, but it is a rather "girly" murder to commit, isn't it? It wouldn't surprise me to hear that an ex-beauty queen performed this one.
But she was a BEAST in this episode. I never really noticed her until this one and she was cracking codes like crazy and her sleuthing skills remained this way throughout the rest of the season. It was as if she wanted to work hard to avenge her friend's death that she had to commit.
Reason #4: The Shoes and other Stuff from the "All the World's a Stage" Episode
Here is another example of Cris's cunning in the following episode. She's really a beast in this one too.
This reason isn't as riveting considering anybody could've done this, but Cris was the only one to discover that the shoes used for Dana and Sasha's murders were stuffed. This means that the true Killer's feet are too small to fit this otherwise gigantic shoe, framing Geno for the murder, but therefore suggesting that the Killer is probably a female with small feet. Cris was the tiniest person there.
Cris kept the information to herself and whispered to Kam that she didn't look inside the shoes, and was the only one to find the hidden quarters where these murders were performed. She also knew exactly how to open the bedroom doors from the outside by using a metal contraption. It doesn't take her long to figure it out.
Of course she would be the only one to know this stuff so well. She's the Killer.
Reason #5: Giles Straight Up Suggests it in the Next to Final Episode
Giles the Butler, who plays the host of the show and was enslaved to Rue Manor until the Killer was revealed, pretty much pulled the same thing Chris Harrison of "The Bachelorette" did when he suggested that Desiree was invested in Brooks.
This was the exchange:
Giles: Have you ever been "scared"?
Cris: I have not.
Giles: Interesting.
Getting a "scared" card means that you are a person up for elimination. Giles here points out that Cris never received one all season, and was the only one not to, thus suggesting that she is indeed the Killer.
Gee, thanks Giles! :P That was totally unnecessary! Why did you have to ruin it?
Reason #6: Cris and Kam Have Pretty Much Been Best Friends the Entire Season
If you notice, Cris was kind of invisible during the first few episodes. She laid low a lot, which alone suggests that she is the Killer. The only thing we really knew about Cris is that she was on Kam's team early on and offered him more information than anyone else. She clearly had a loyalty to Kam until the very end and looks genuinely proud of him when she reveals herself as the Killer and proclaims him the winner.
Cris showed friendship to others as well of course, though briefly. In the episode where they investigated Geno's murder, Cris invited Melina to join her team to take her away from Ronnie. However, when Melina decided to take Cris up on her offer, Cris refused her in front of Kam, thus proving her loyalty to him even more.
A lot of backstabbing went on during this show, but Cris's relationship with Kam remained pretty close, so therefore it is no surprise that she is the Killer and he the Winner. When Giles drove Kam home I was wondering why the rest of the contestants were just awkwardly standing there not leaving themselves.
It dawned on me. It's because they're dead and their souls are symbolically trapped at Rue Manor forever. Cris and Kam, the two besties, are the only ones that come out alive. Kam gets to live his life like a normal person while everyone else has either died or been arrested, in Cris's case. He is the only person in the whole show that didn't have anything bad happen to him, and Cris helped him the whole time to remain this way.
A little eerie, isn't it?
Reason #7: Cris Kept Lindsey Alive Up Until the Very End Just to Take Revenge on Her
Cris's relationship with Lindsey was pretty much the exact opposite to hers with Kam. Even though Cris and Lindsey were on the same team, Lindsey was Cris's biggest competition as well. In addition to the fact that Cris had an on and off relationship with her, in the "state your case" segment of every episode Lindsey always accused Cris of being the Killer. Cris technically knew this because during "state your case" they are speaking directly to her. Basically Lindsey was Cris's biggest threat because of this. I don't think anyone thought Cris as much as she did so if Cris were to kill off Lindsey, it would look too suspicious.
Cris often accused Lindsey right back of being the Killer, therefore placing the blame and focus on her rival and taking it off herself. For the times Cris spared her, especially when Lindsey was named the best performer and Cris showed suspicion of this for the viewers, it was once again putting the blame on her but also like a peace offering to try to keep Lindsey from selling her out as the Killer again. But every time it didn't work.
Cris finally got her revenge on Lindsey in the final episode when she set up a death trap for her. A knight shoots her with bow and arrow. The arrow coincidentally lands in her throat, symbolically keeping her from talking anymore by puncturing her voice box.
Cris was very clever in keeping her friend (Kam) close and her enemy (Lindsey) closer so that they were the last three for the finale. What's interesting too is that the guy who never thought Cris was the Killer won (Kam thought it was Lindsey and even said this to Cris during her big reveal) but the girl who surmised her as the Killer every week died at the very last minute, so not only did Cris take away her rival's life, she also took away her victory that she worked so hard for the whole season and was so close to getting, making her revenge that much more sweet.
But one question remains here: Who was dressed as the knight then? Are we supposed to assume that it was a robot?
Reason #8: This Guy's YouTube Channel
His name is KingofJaperica and he has a whole playlist dedicated to his "Whodunnit" musings. They are interesting videos that actually brought some tidbits to my attention. He's pretty analytical and observant.
Then I thought about his videos' thumbnails. Check out who is featured in one of them.
WHAT. What is Cris doing there???
Here's why it's so weird. The thumbnail in which Kam is featured discusses him. Melina is featured in her thumbnail because it was uploaded after the most recent episode sparked debates that she was either killed or the Killer. The video with Giles in the thumbnail talks about the first episode when they all first meet Giles. The video with Cris in the thumbnail doesn't focus on anyone specific, so why is she featured?
There is no way this guy knew she was the Killer, in fact he clearly thought it was Kam, but it's still a coincidence to see her there.
Check out his "Whodunnit" videos when you're done reading this. He recently uploaded a brand new one. Enjoy! :)
Reason #9: Cris is a Great Actress
After all is said and done, I thought she did a great job acting the part. She wasn't suspicious like Lindsey or Kam but rather played the part of a clueless contestant well. Her wide-eyed shock and fear were very convincing. Even Gildart Jackson (Giles) said the Killer was "someone I completely overlooked." It didn't really dawn on many people, myself included, that she "dunnit." I mean, I didn't write her off completely, but let's just say that she was the last person of the final four that I thought would be the culprit.
Some of her tweets state that she has an acting background, thus proving my assumption about her having this kind of background correct. However, she now works in fashion but would like to get back into acting.
These are of course some clues that point to her and I'm sure there are more. How many can you come up with?
I know I went into this maybe a little TOO in-depth as I come up with these conspiracy theories, given that it is a REALITY SHOW, but it's still fun to think about and I enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoyed watching the show and reading my explanation of its outcome. :)
