As Judith helps him get better, Dan begins noticing odd issues about her habits and inconsistencies within the story she’s instructed him. He additionally begins to know that he was fairly the asshole after making an attempt to pal round together with his slimy enterprise associate, Jeb Scott (Corbin Bernsen) so he decides to dig deeper into the occasions that led to his fateful accident with the assistance of a non-public investigator referred to as Gus (Hoskins, doing a hilariously over-the-top New York accent).
It’s not lengthy earlier than Dan uncovers an online of lies. He learns that, previous to the crash, his spouse had been having an affair with a man referred to as Jack Stanton, and he or she ultimately reveals to Dan that he’d came upon in regards to the affair and killed Stanton in a jealous rage. The 2 had apparently gotten rid of Stanton’s physique collectively at an previous, deserted shipwreck and had crashed the automotive after leaving the scene.
That looks as if a suitable twist within the story, however Shattered isn’t accomplished. Although Judith’s story sounds viable, Dan nonetheless isn’t satisfied, so he and Gus lastly resolve to resolve what the hell truly occurred the evening of the crash. Exploring the shipwreck, they open a tank of formaldehyde and uncover the preserved physique of the actual Dan Merrick. That’s proper, we’ve truly been following poor Jack Stanton with the surgically reconstructed face of Dan Merrick this whole time!
Judith reveals that she was the one who truly killed Dan after he attacked her in a jealous rage, and he or she and Stanton disposed of the physique. Stanton wasn’t snug getting away with it. He had second ideas and determined to go to the police, which despatched Judith right into a panic on the wheel that led to the late-night crash. In the long run, Judith dies in yet one more insane automotive wreck. Fortunately, Stanton escapes this one, and the police shut in to wipe up all of the mess because the credit roll.
It’s a implausible twist that you simply don’t see coming, regardless of a good quantity of signposting. That’s right down to some nice route by Petersen and canny modifying by Hannes Nikel (Das Boot) and Glenn Farr (The Proper Stuff) who collectively handle to maintain the reality from the viewers till the tail finish of the ultimate act.
Because of this, Petersen actually does his adaptation of Richard Neely’s pulp noir novel The Plastic Nightmare justice. Not solely does he pull off the 1969 e-book’s twists and turns in a extra fashionable setting, however he additionally deftly makes use of his middling finances to swing between automotive chase motion, soapy drama, and the spooky chills of the deserted shipwreck, the place his earlier expertise on Das Boot will need to have come in useful.
