NOTE: Major spoilers ahead for the season finale of “56 Days” on Prime Video
“56 Days” is now streaming on Prime Video, and it pulls viewers in with one key question: Who killed whom?
Based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s book of the same name, “56 Days” tells the story of Ciara (Dove Cameron) and Oliver (Avan Jogia), a pair of young Boston transplants who embark on a whirlwind romance fueled by dark secrets from their past. The series opens by revealing that someone has been killed, but police don’t yet know who the victim is — or who committed the crime.
Suspicion quickly centers on Ciara and Oliver, with investigators assuming one killed the other. From there, the story unfolds in a somewhat nonlinear fashion, with clues revealed along the way. So how does it all end? This is your final spoiler warning to turn back now.
Who was the body in the tub?
Roughly halfway through the series, we learn that the disintegrating body in Oliver’s tub is male, leading the cops to believe Ciara killed Oliver. And though it looks like that could be the inevitable outcome when it’s revealed that Ciara has in fact been stalking Oliver for revenge, there’s still another twist.
In the end, we learn that Ciara is the sister of Shane, who Oliver effectively sent to prison after Oliver himself killed a mutual friend in their childhood. Shane went on to kill himself while locked up, and Ciara’s family has blamed Oliver ever since, knowing that their brother was innocent.
The thing is, Oliver wanted to come clean years ago. He was encouraged not to by his therapist, Dan Troxler (Patch Darragh) who he still sees. The problem is, that therapist isn’t exactly licensed, and has been extorting Oliver’s father for years to fund his life in exchange for keeping Oliver’s secret. The boy has been emotionally abused for most of his life and, when Ciara comes into the picture, Troxler encourages Oliver to end it.
When everything comes to a head, Troxler tries to extort Oliver directly, and that’s when Troxler is killed. Yep, the body in the tub isn’t either of the lovers.
Who killed him?
Though Oliver was Dan’s target, it was actually Ciara who killed him in the end. She came up behind the man and gave his head an excellent whack with a sharp object.
From there, Oliver and Ciara decide to stay together, with all of their secrets now on the table. Although, it does look for a moment like Oliver might actually turn himself into the police so Ciara can go back to her family, knowing justice was served. He decides against it at the last minute, and series star Avan Jogia has an idea of why.
“I think he’s got a way out,” he told TheWrap. “I think that sort of, for better or for worse, the morality of this show, or like, the message of this show, is that there’s somebody for everyone, and he has an opportunity to be with someone who sees all of him. He would never have to hide himself, and who he is, in order to find love. And I think that’s really attractive to him.”
“I think that he spent most of his life hoping, praying that somebody will make him pay for the choices that he’s made,” Jogia continued. “And then he’s about to go and take personal responsibility for it, and then he also has this opportunity to be like, ‘Well, I don’t know if I actually have to take personal responsibility for this, because if one person loves me, regardless of what I’ve done, then maybe that’s enough, that makes a life worth living.’”
Indeed, Ciara does love Oliver, and the final minutes of the show even go on to reveal that they have a baby together in their new life in hiding. Jogia admitted that it’s a “complicated” move, and both he and his co-star Dove Cameron agreed that it’s not the right thing to do at all, but it did make for an interesting story.
“He pulls an interesting rip cord, as a person. He’s a survivalist, though,” Jogia said. “That’s what he does. He tries to exist. And, you know, at the points he gets his morality, or his guilt gets to him, but at the end of the day, he just wants to survive.”
“56 Days” is now streaming on Prime Video.
