The Beast in Me Recap ‘The Last Word’: Legacy

The Beast in Me Season 1 Episode 8

The Beast in Me ended on a fittingly unsettling note, a question unasked but ever lingering, on whether the father’s demons and debt to the universe were passed on to the son. Nina gave birth to the unexpected baby without her husband by her side. Aggie’s name was cleared, and with her new book, she was once more at the top of the publishing world. The ones who suffered the most were the ones closest to Nile, the ones he trusted and respected enough to show who he truly was. Martin had to be induced into a coma following a Nile-caused stroke. Rick decided to end his brother’s suffering himself with a pillow over his face, then turned state’s evidence against Nile. There were those who walked the darkness, and those who kept it hidden, but present nonetheless. And that was The Beast in Me’s story, a tale of what happens when a charismatic murderer reads through what is hidden by the so-called normal people, and acts as the blunt edge to their rage.

On the run from the police and the FBI, Aggie raced through the woods, hearing Nile’s voice in her head, getting flashbacks of what happened the day Cooper died. She tried and failed to reach Erika. She was able to reach Shelley, but she figured out quickly enough that Shelley was with the police. When she finally did reach Erika, Abbott’s ex-lover pretended to not know what Aggie was talking about when asked about the evidence that could help exonerate her and condemn Nile, Madison's birding journal. Left with no other choice, Aggie went to Nina at the gallery – Madison’s gallery, now Nina’s – and appealed to her instincts.

I highlighted a small scene in the past episode, of Nina looking at herself in the mirror whilst wearing the dress she borrowed from Madison, and which Madison later said she could keep. For a moment, it was as though Nina tried to imagine herself in Madison’s life. Soon enough, she didn’t have to. She married Madison’s husband. She took over Madison’s gallery. Madison disappeared, but Nina continued living Madison’s life.

When Aggie cornered Nina at the gallery – after having called 911 on herself – it did not really look like her words were having much effect on Nina, at least, until Aggie told her that she (Nina) knew how this would end. It was at that moment that self-preservation kicked in, because through all these years, deep within her, Nina must have suspected that Nile was a killer, but he was a killer who provided her with an extraordinarily life. That pretence had come to an end. 

Nina came home that night, shaking, having already decided to walk away, to save herself and her unborn child. She picked a fight with Nile, to force him to say the words, that he did kill Madison, all whilst recording their conversation on her phone. Nile admitted that he killed Madison, but, as with Aggie, he claimed he did exactly what Nina wanted him to do.

Was he right? Madison’s words on that fateful night cut Nina deep, it was entirely possible that Nina was angry enough to wish her death. But there lay the difference between a human being experiencing anger, processing it internally, and a psychopath. In a fit of anger, Nina may have wanted Madison dead, but she would never have killed her.

If Nina suspected Nile of killing Madison, why did she marry him? Nile would later in the episode tell Aggie that Nina wanted his money, so that was his point of view. What I would have wanted to see was more from Nina's point of view. Since we don't have much of that, we can only speculate.

Nile was the quickest and only route Nina had to the life she wanted, not just the money but a very specific kind of life, Madison's life. She did what Aggie did, she told herself the story that she needed to hear, that Nile was just misunderstood, because that meant that she was attaching herself, her life, to a man and not a monster. And with that story, she got what she wanted, at least, until she realised the time had come to break free, or fall victim like her old boss did.

Even after Nile admitted to killing both Madison and Teddy Fenig, Nina still found the strength to hold Nile, to comfort him. As Nile later told Aggie, Nina was a survivor. She did what she needed to do to survive that night.

The next day, at Olivia Benitez’s press conference, Nile spoke first, to announce his donation of one square block to be used to build up to 300 affordable homes. There were angry boos from the crowd, people who felt that Benitez betrayed them. After his short speech, Nile went up to Nina, whom he did not expect to be there. Nina told him she left him a message on his phone. It was there, the recording she made the night before, just when Nile thought that he could finally, fully, let Nina in to his life, the way his father and Ricky were. As the FBI led him away in handcuffs, he spotted Aggie, now free. 

Nile at first tried to plead his innocence, but when his Uncle Rick turned on him in exchange for a lighter sentence, Nile changed his plea to no contest and received three consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole. We never found out if he killed Theo, or the camp counselor, or the maid in Paris, as Madison suspected. Aggie did say that they talked for three hours, on that one time she visited, when she offered to give him the last word in his story. Perhaps if we get a second season, we’ll find out more. Aggie never did, because Rick exacted one final vengeance on the man he believed was responsible for his brother Martin’s death – Rick used his connections to have Nile killed in prison.

And what of the beast inside Aggie? We caught glimpses of this through the season, Cooper’s tantrum, Aggie’s stress. We finally got what actually happened on the day of the accident. Cooper had a doctor’s appointment. Shelley was upset because Aggie scheduled an interview with the Times without checking Cooper’s schedule. Shelley was feeling unsupported, the partner who earned far less, and who felt that Aggie could just do whatever she wanted with her career whilst Shelley needed to adjust for their family. Aggie was angry too, and though she insisted on taking Cooper to the doctor and for Shelley to do whatever it was she needed to do, she was snappy at their son.

Though the reporter from the Times offered to reschedule, sensing her stress and probably hearing Cooper’s tantrums from the backseat, Aggie insisted on continuing the interview as she drove. She was distracted. The last thing she did before the accident that claimed the life of her son was to look back and reprimand him for repeatedly kicking the back of her seat.

After four years of solely blaming Teddy for Cooper’s death, Aggie was ready to admit her part. She told Nina that she was not blameless, that her insistence on blaming Teddy was to cover her own guilt. ‘I told myself the story I needed to hear so I could survive’. 

She was similarly candid in her book. She took responsibility for her part in Teddy’s death. Perhaps that was the final part of her healing, facing her own darkness, admitting to the pull of retribution. And, as she spoke of karma, there lingered the image of Nina looking at her young son, Nile’s son, heir to his tainted legacy. Was Nile’s karma passed on to their son? Was his darkness inherited? 

'The Last Word' was a solid wrap to a solid season. I would have kept Nile Jarvis alive, but that's mostly the Matthew Rhys fan in me, and the one who has noticed recently that 'limited series' can become a 'series' if successful enough. And what better mark of storytelling success than wanting a story to continue on?

Rating: B

Strays

📬It was Nile who called the police to report a possible kidnapping, and they in turn called the FBI. The frame job Nile and Rick did was thorough. They even put Nile’s own video files of Teddy’s captivity in Aggie’s computer.

📬Erika went to Aggie’s house to talk to her boss, but whether she changed her mind, or if she was simply buying time, it was not exactly clear, at least at that time. When she was home, she called someone and asked to pull Madison’s suicide note. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Rick and two men, all wearing balaclavas. Rick took Madison’s birding journal and punched Erika in the gut. He also had his men search Erika’s house, in case there was further evidence she was hiding from him. Rick’s threat on Erika’s family was not subtle, but he had already turned away, and his face spoke of how he loathed making that threat. I wish I had spent more time discussing Rick in these recaps, he's an interesting character.

📬Rick found Martin in his cellar having a nice moment with his young son. Martin was celebrating what he felt was a win against Olivia Benitez. Rick told Martin that the book was no longer a problem, Aggie was wanted for murder. Rick was trying to keep the details to himself, but Martin knew Nile. Though Rick assured his brother he fixed things, Martin was aghast at the thought that Nile would never stop killing. He fell to the floor; he was later diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke and induced into a coma.

📬As Aggie read excerpts from her book, my mind immediately went to Teddy's mother. She was already furious with Aggie for blaming her son for the accident. Now, Aggie's association with Nile Jarvis -- along with her sustained fury -- directly caused Teddy's horrific final days and death.

📬Aggie and Shelley made their peace, and Shelley introduced Aggie to her new partner, Meg.

📬Thank you so much for joining me on these The Beast in Me recaps! I wasn’t at all certain I’d be able to finish them, given how busy the past weeks and months have been, but we made it to the end! As always, I appreciate you, and see you on the next show!

Episode Title: The Last Word

Episode Writers: Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle

Episode Director: Antonio Campos

Original Air Date: November 13, 2025

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