Apple TV+’s Black Bird Episode 6 is called ‘You Promised’. Dennis Lehane developed the series, and the sixth episode is directed by Joe Chappelle. The crime drama stars Taron Egerton as James/Jimmy Keene, Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall, Ray Liotta as James ‘Big Jim’ Keene, Sepideh Moafi as Lauren McCauley and Greg Kinnear as Brian Miller.
It is based on James Keene’s novel called “In with the Devil” a Fallen Hero a Serial Killer and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption. Black Bird last episode synopsis reads, “Jimmy reaches his breaking point; Larry becomes suspicious; McCauley and Miller talk to an important person in Larry’s life.”
Black Bird Episode 6 Recap/Review Contains Spoilers
Black Bird Episode 6 starts with Jimmy Keene having a nightmare. Larry Hall enters his prison cell and wakes him up. Larry tells Jimmy that it seems like his stories from the other day gave him nightmares. Jimmy questions him for lying to him with those stories. Larry denies it, but Jimmy leaves no chance to make Larry feel guilty for lying to a friend.
Jimmy tells Larry that he knew his stories were lies as he didn’t dig a grave for Jessica Roach, despite growing up digging graves for others. Larry says one needs the right kind of soil to dig a grave, and it was dark at night. A man pulled up across from his van. Jimmy again shows his disbelief which immediately changes Larry’s smile to a serious expression.
Larry says he wanted to go back but didn’t have the time to do it. Jimmy tells Larry it’s okay as everyone in prison tells stories, including him. For the first time, Larry gets mad, raises his voice, aggressively stands up, and says, “It’s not (a story). I’m telling the truth.” Larry lied when he told Jimmy that Jessica’s murder was just a story.
Jimmy tells Larry that he’s not a killer. Larry whispers, “I am.” Jimmy goes on to say that he’s looked into the eyes of a few killers, and he doesn’t have those eyes. “What eyes do I have?” asks Larry. “A wannabe’s”, answers Keene. Larry asks Jimmy to meet him at the woodshop to show him the kind of eyes he has.
The prison cop talks to Jimmy and says that some things are above them and Larry needs to get caught. The cop asks who he is working for. But Jimmy doesn’t believe in the cop’s nonsense and doesn’t tell him anything. Jimmy’s father meets his ex-wife and asks her about Jimmy’s funds. They’re at a restaurant where Jimmy’s father suffers a stroke.
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At night, Gigante tells Jimmy about a friend who had pancreatic cancer and died when his head hit after slipping off the icy church steps. The man’s last words were, “You just.. never f*cking know.” Gigante looks at Jimmy with anger, as if he’s giving a warning to him.
At night, Jimmy and Larry are in the woodshop where the latter carves 21 wooden birds. Larry tells Jimmy he will send them to his brother Gary. Larry says these birds watch over the dead and guard the spirits to ensure they’re okay.
We again see Larry Hall’s aggressive side when Jimmy disagrees with him about girls. Larry makes another shocking revelation. Larry shares that he folded a girl named Tricia Reitler’s clothes as an act of deity. He says how everyone is still looking for her. Larry narrates everything he did with Tricia and calls her a handful. Larry reveals he stabbed Tricia to stop her from hitting him, but it didn’t work. So he choked her.
Larry Hall reveals that he dug a grave for Tricia Reitler, and no one will ever find it. Larry tells he’s dug more grave than the number of girls Jimmy slept with. The entire conversation between Jimmy and Larry is full of tension. Jimmy tells Larry that he could give the girls’ family peace, the map to their graves. Larry tells him that he would never get out of prison if he did that.
Jimmy tries to convince Larry that he should tell the families where the girls are buried. But Larry laughs at him and refuses to do so. Larry says he won’t do it as he will win his appeal and walk out of prison. Jimmy yells at Larry that he won’t win his appeal.
Larry asks Jimmy if Beaumont sent him and starts choking him. The guards come on time and save Jimmy. The guards take Jimmy away as he asks for Dr Ziecherman’s number. But the officers don’t pay attention and lock him inside a smaller cell. The officers ignore Jimmy’s request to give him a paper.
Jimmy has no choice but to hurt his finger, make it bleed and use the blood to draw the map he saw on Larry’s table earlier. Officers Brian and Lauren meet Larry’s brother Gary. Gary tells them how they can’t force anything on Larry, and his brother will be out and have a normal life. Gary hands them a photo album to show how normal his brother’s life has been.
The guard is impressed with Jimmy Keene’s quiet behaviour. The guard asks Jimmy if he needs anything, except a pencil. Jimmy tells the guard that he was sent inside to get a confession from Inmate Hall. He was sent by the FBI to find out about the girls Hall killed. But the guard doesn’t believe him.
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Gary ends up talking about a hitchhiker he picked up with Larry once. The girl was 10 or 15 years old. Gary tells the officers how he fooled around with the girl. Gary says that when Larry took his turn, she said ‘no’ and meant it. Gary says that his brother looked like a wolf who would rip her throat out of his teeth. Larry hit the girl, choked her, spit on her and called her names.
Gary couldn’t do anything but only watch what his brother was doing. Eventually, Larry passed out that night. The next morning, the girl went out with a biker. However, Gary still refuses to believe that his brother could be a killer. Lauren asks Gary if he will be able to look after his brother all the time if he gets out. Gary is left wondering about his brother.
Officer Lauren finally helps Jimmy get out of prison. Jimmy immediately starts drawing the map Larry had drawn days ago. The dots on the map are the 21 graves. Jimmy tells Lauren that Larry used 2 belts to strangle Jessica Roach. Keene also tells her about Tricia Reitler. The court frees Jimmy of all the narcotics charges, as per the deal. Sadly, the bodies weren’t found.
Larry Hall’s appeal is denied as he knew the details of the confessed crime, which only an actual perpetrator would know. Black Bird Episode 6 ends with text on the screen that reads, “After losing his appeal, Larry Hall attempted suicide.” After the suicide attempt, Gary meets Larry in prison. Larry tells him he attempted suicide to escape prison life as he doesn’t belong here.
Gary tells Larry that he belongs here. Larry is shocked to hear what his brother said. Larry starts crying. Gary tells his brother to tell people what he did with those girls and get it out of his head. Larry is shattered to see his brother pleading with him to confess everything.
About Jimmy Keene, the makers shared, “On November 28, 2004, Big Jim Keene died of a heart attack. Five full years after his son was released from prison.”
The series ends with the text, “Gary Hall would eventually convince his brother to confess to 15 fifteen murders. Larry Hall soon recanted all fifteen confessions. As of this date, none of the burial sites have been unearthed. After his release from Springfield prison, Jimmy Keene embarked upon a successful business career. He continues to aid law enforcement in the profiling of serial killers. Larry Hall remains in prison. He will not be eligible for parole within his lifetime.
Black Bird Episode 6 Review: Final Thoughts
The last episode brought everything together with a good pace. The episode built a good tension and curiosity to see how things end. The transition in Larry Hall’s personality was indeed scary. Jimmy Keene was terrified but held himself quite well in situations with Larry where he was uncomfortable. The crime drama was precise and concluded by giving us major answers.
Actor Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser did an excellent job. Their conversations were the best part of every episode. It’s another brilliant show by Apple TV+ that is intriguing and worth watching.
Watch the series on Apple TV+.
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