‘Des’ Recap: ‘Episode 3’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘Des’.
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When human beings take the time to put aside their differences and work together toward a common cause, we can truly achieve wonders. Because everyone is focused on that singular goal and will do whatever it takes to achieve it and that really is quite the sight to behold when it happens… simply because such a result is quite rare, unfortunately. Because more often than not, there is always that one person that decides in the midst of a group project… to take charge and make their agenda and goals the priority. Which in turn leaves everyone involved scrambling for unity so that the carefully crafted endgame doesn’t fall to pieces and well, that kind of chaos is top of mind today, simply because it served as the focus of the final episode of Des.
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For when we catch up with DCI Peter Jay and all of Scotland Yard in the series finale, they’re scrambling and scared. For Dennis ‘Des’ Nilsen’s decision to plead not guilty to every single charge of murder, turned a slam dunk case into a fight for justice. For the defense was now planning to prove that Des was indeed mentally ill when he committed his crimes, allowing for a manslaughter charge to come into play and well, that forced Jay and his team to basically re-open the case and leave no stone unturned in trying to ensure that they had solid evidence to bring about a conviction and early on it sure seemed as though they did. For they had testimony and quality physical evidence that proved pre-meditation. But the defense was smart in how they approached the case, and it wasn’t long before they poked holes in everything.

Which motivated DCI Jay to get creative in how to bring about justice and he turned to Brain Waters in order to get his hands on every letter that Des sent the author, to use as evidence. A notion the talented scribe wanted no part of, initially. But once Peter made it clear what was at stake and what Des was able to do to everyone in this case with his charm and honesty, Brian finally relented and helped out, but even that was not enough to bring forth a conviction. Which meant that Peter had to figure out how to reach a young man named Carl. Who as it turns out, was the young man that Des killed and revived and cared for and well… Peter needed him to face his memories and express them in court so that the jury could truly understand what Des was all about. And while he was indeed reluctant at first, eventually he stood tall on the witness stand and told his harrowing story and apparently… that was all the majority of the jury needed to hear.

For eventually, they brought back guilty verdicts on every single count and that in turn put Des away for life and well, that is when this series once again brought forth some disturbing moments. Simply because Des was still un-remorseful after his conviction and he even pointed out that it was likely a good thing that the jury found him guilty, despite his plea. For there was a chance that he would never have stopped killing and the number of dead would have grown to an unfathomable one and well, that was a fine reminder that Des was in fact, a true monster through and through. One that thrived on attention and admiration and thankfully had that robbed from him in the end. For Brian’s book, in which this series is based upon… ended up portraying Dennis ‘Des’ Nilsen as a preventable tragedy, diminishing the power of this monster when all is said and done.

Yet while that should have made for a satisfying ending to a horrifying tale, in the end this finale was quite sobering instead. For we came to learn in the closing moments of this tale that only 8 of the supposed 15 victims were identified and that one was even a young teenage boy. Which serves to teach us that true justice for Des’ horrendous crimes… was never truly achieved and that such an act may never come considering the damage he did to the bodies and hopefully, Brian’s wish for this story to become a warning will indeed be taken to heart when another Des appears in in this world. That way the next police department forced to deal with such crimes… takes all the time they need so that the memory and voices of the innocent, won’t rot in a cell alongside a twisted individual that has zero respect for the majesty of life.   

‘Des’ is available to stream on Sundance Now.

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