In the AMC series, the word “ragdoll” refers to a grotesque body made from the body parts of different victims. It is much like a scarecrow but scarier. In the series, one such body is recovered from an apartment in Deptford, London. British investigators DS Nathan Rose and DI Emily Baxter investigate the murders to find out the serial killer and his/her intention.
Ragdoll is a crime thriller series created by Freddy Syborn. It is based on a novel of the same name written by Daniel Cole. The plot centers on an agonized detective, Rose, whose past wounds affect his present investigations. Will he be able to overcome his fears to catch the serial killer?
Trigger Warning
‘Ragdoll’ Episode 1: Recap
A prologue sequence established detective Nathan Rose and his nemesis, a ruthless Cremation killer, Mark Hooper. Hooper burnt down a living man in front of Rose, a trauma from which Rose never really recovered. Rose used his personal vendetta to catch Hooper and tampered with the evidence. Hooper was presented in court, but the trial ended in mayhem. The judge dismissed the case, and Hooper was released. Rose couldn’t accept the rulings and, in a rage, thrashed Hooper in front of the judge. For his actions, Rose was sent to a psychiatric facility and was diagnosed with PTSD.
In two years, Rose came out of the facility and resumed his job. He moved into a dark apartment in Deptford, where he lived alone. In the morning, Rose’s only friend and colleague, DI Emily Baxter, informed him about a crime scene in 153 Hallcross House. Rose opened his window and found cops standing outside the opposite building. Rose quickly went down and teamed up with Baxter to investigate the crime scene.
Inside a dark and isolated apartment, Rose, Baxter, and new recruit, DC Lake Edmonds, found a grotesque body sewn from body parts of six different victims that belonged to different ethnicities. Baxter pointed the torchlight on the head and discovered it belonged to Rose’s nemesis, Mark Hooper. Rose couldn’t believe it because Hooper was in prison for a gruesome crime he committed after Rose was sent to a psychiatric facility. He inspected the body and observed that its finger was pointing at his apartment outside the window.
The detectives brought the body to the forensics department to investigate and locate the identify the victims whose body parts were sewn into it.
The Death of Cremation Killer
Edmonds and Baxter visited the prison facility where Mark Hooper was locked up. A morgue attendant told the detectives that Hooper had died of food poisoning. When the detectives took out Hooper’s body from the chamber, his head was missing. That established that the RagDoll killer thawed Hooper’s head. The warden informed the detectives that Hooper died of tetrodotoxin, a naturally occurring neurotoxin. Hooper recently turned vegan and his food had to be prepared off-site. The detectives surmised that either Hooper’s food was poisoned on the premises or in transit to the prison.
‘Ragdoll’ Episode 1: Ending
The serial killer sent another kill list before the detectives could identify the victims from the first Ragdoll. The list mentioned London’s Mayor, Ray Turnbull, Nathan Rose, along with 4 others.
The detectives acted quickly and brought Ray Turnbull to their office for protection. Turnbull was an asthma patient and consistently used an inhaler. While Rose was talking to him, Turnbull lit a cigarette that instantly burned him.
Turnbull was killed with an inflammable substance that was mixed in his inhaler. He was allergic to dahlias pollen that was sent to Baxter for arresting the killer of a fourteen-year-old boy named Rafael Orfo. Due to the pollens in the air, Turnbull increased the inhaler use and mentioned the pollen infection when sitting inside Rose’s cabin.
In the end, when Baxter inquired Orfo’s family, they denied sending any flowers. Baxter understood that the serial killer sent those dahlias. She tried to warn Rose, but it was too late. Through the air-ventilation system, the pollen spread throughout the office. Turnbull inhaled from the inhaler and lit a cigarette to relieve himself. The substance inside his body and on the lips ignited a fire that resulted in the death of Mayor Ray Turnbull.
The Faust
After Hooper’s death, Rose was mentally shaken. He went for a therapy session and, out of the blue, recalled a past incident when he was admitted to a psychiatric facility. At the facility, Rose had just one schizophrenic friend, Joel Shepton. Rose remembered the conversation with Joel on the day Hooper was arrested again and charged for his sadistic crimes.
Joel knew that Rose wanted Hooper dead and mentioned a higher power, a devil called “The Faust.” His sister, Teresa, was brutally murdered, but Joel didn’t have faith in police officers. Joel made a deal with Faust. He mentioned his sister’s murderer, and Faust killed him. But in exchange, Faust took Joel’s life too. When Rose went to meet Joel after 2 years, the doctors informed him that he hanged himself 12 months ago.
At the end of Ragdoll episode 1, Rose told his therapist that he took Faust’s number from Joel and called him to kill Mark Hooper. Throughout the episode, Rose had visions of the paper on which Joel wrote Faust’s number. Rose believed that Faust killed Hooper, and now, to finish the bargain, he was coming after Rose. That was why the kill list had Rose’s name on it. Rose told his therapist that he didn’t think that Faust was real, but he probably had doubts in his mind.
The upcoming episodes of Ragdoll will shed some light on the mystery of The Faust and the identity of the serial killer.
Ragdoll is a 2021 Crime Thriller Television Series created by Freddy Syborn.
