Warning: Spoilers for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

Summary

• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
  examines how seemingly good people can make drastic decisions under pressure.
• Pip’s investigation uncovers the complexity of the Andie Bell case and tests her beliefs and morals.
• The series shows that even “good” characters are capable of morally questionable actions when forced into it.

Netflixs latest crime thriller, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murderis based on the young adult novel of the same name by Holly Jackson and deals with some serious themes. The series follows Pip Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers), who uses her EPQ to solve the case of Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies), which shook her quiet English town five years ago. After Andie’s disappearance Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), Andie’s boyfriend, apparently confessed to her murder via text message before deliberately overdosing in the forest. After his body was found, the case was seemingly solved, and the police never pursued other possibilities, even though Andie’s body was never found. Since then, Pip has never fully believed the official version, for reasons she can’t quite explain. Therein lies the inspiration for her EPQ.

As Pip begins her investigation, she realizes that her sleepy town holds more secrets than she previously thought. The more she uncovers, the more she realizes that the Andie Bell case is not as clear-cut as she had hoped. In addition, the people connected to the case shock her in ways she was not prepared for. As she discovers more horrific incidents related to Andie’s disappearance, She learns how morally questionable people can be when faced with difficult decisionsSuch circumstances cause Pip to reflect on her own moral compass and force the young detective to confront the depths of her abilities. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder will undoubtedly make viewers question their own morals.

Andie and Sal’s murderers are not fundamentally bad people

Contrary to what Pip initially thought, two people were responsible for Andie and Sal’s deaths, and neither of them was an inherently bad person who wanted to do heinous things. In fact, one of them was a person she trusted completely, specifically the father of her teacher and best friend, Elliot Ward (Mathew Baynton). Although he definitely did something terrible, the circumstances of his situation led him to make hasty decisions that he later regretted.

Amid his grief over his late wife, Elliot began a relationship with Andie but eventually ended his illicit affair. However, when she threatened to expose their relationship if he didn’t give her money, she became violent towards Elliot, who responded in kind, slamming her head on his kitchen counter. She fled his house before he could properly assess her injury, but Elliot always believed he caused her death, as she disappeared that same night.

Elliot worried that he would be blamed for what had become of her. caused him to act impulsively and kill Sal, making it look like a guilt-ridden suicide. Before such transgressions, Elliot was a loving father and caring teacher. He genuinely cared for his daughters and Pip. While he would have killed Sal, in his mind he did it to protect his family because he feared that if Andie’s body was discovered, it would lead right back to him. However, after she was injured in Elliot’s house, Andie’s sister Becca (Carla Woodcock) dealt her the final blow before disposing of her body.

When Andie came home, she confessed to Becca that she was leaving town the next day because of her strict father. Feeling abandoned by her older sister and angry that Andie sold Max Hastings (Henry Ashton) the drugs he used to rape her, Becca lashed out and pushed Andie against the wall. As she fell to the floor and vomited, Becca watched in horror and did nothing as Andie died. Becca believed she was the reason for Andie’s death, hid her body somewhere no one would find it, and kept quiet about it for five years.

Despite their actions, it is easy for viewers to see how Elliot and Becca’s choices ultimately led to their drastic actions. By having such normal, seemingly kind characters behave in such a despicable way, the series causes viewers to question their own morality. These were not inherently bad people who wanted to harm others. Instead, They make terrible decisions in the heat of the moment that anyone could make under the same circumstances.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder shows how people are capable of anything

As the series progresses A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder shows that people are capable of anything, no matter what their nature suggests. Even those who are considered “good” throughout the show behave questionably, which has serious consequences for othersAside from Elliot and Becca, Naomi’s (Yasmin Al-Khudhairi) decisions also have profound implications for those around her.

Despite being a friend of Sal’s, she lies to the police about his whereabouts on the night of Andie’s disappearance, even though he was with her and her other friends for most of the night. Just months before Andie’s disappearance, she had fled the scene of a hit-and-run accident on New Year’s Day after a drunk Max swore her to secrecy. The incident finally catches up with them when they are blackmailed into lying about Sal’s alibi, a plot Elliot unwittingly sets in motion to incriminate Sal even further.

Given the right circumstances, anyone can give in to the pressure of self-preservation and act in ways they never thought possible. When everything finally comes out and the truth comes out, not even Pip can say with certainty that she would never make the same choices as Naomi, Elliot or Becca.

The entire series shows how human morality exists on a spectrum in a grey world. Nothing is black and white. When people feel cornered and their livelihoods are threatened, they are capable of anything. At the end of the series A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder makes viewers question their moral compass. All episodes of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder are currently streaming on Netflix.