WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Deep Water, now available on Hulu.
In Hulu’s Deep Water, Ben Affleck’s Vic has to contend with a one-sided open marriage, allowing his wife Melinda (Ana de Armas) to indulge in various indiscretions. It was her way of punishing him in their toxic, loveless marriage, making the jealous husband want her more.
The situation created a string of murders, though, with Vic killing some of her paramours. This led to a shocking finale where Vic’s sins finally caught up with him. But while he was exposed due to the movie’s smartest character, that person also turned out to be the most idiotic.
Traci Letts plays Don, a writer struggling to move books and screenplays. He was envious of Vic’s success in the tech field, which went into overdrive when one of Melinda’s flings, Charlie, was found dead in a pool. Don’s inner conspiracy theorist emerged, and while cause of death was suggested as Charlie hitting his head on the water’s edge, Don believed Vic did it.
After all, he gleaned how Melinda was, flaunting her flings around the place and whatnot, understanding they’d push Vic over the edge. This caused a quiet feud between the two, with Melinda wiring Don money for a private investigator. Vic later embarrassed Don in front his own wife, who seemed to have a crush on Vic as well, which infuriated Don even more.
He could tell Vic was a manipulator, sowing lies, even after making out the investigator, just to throw everyone off the trail. In culminated in Don discovering Vic at the gorge with the body of another dead fling, Tony, in the river. Don jumped into his van with this smoking gun, speeding off to relay evidence to Melinda. He’d finally gotten his man, leaving Vic in the dust because all Vic had was his mountain bike. However, Don made the stupid decision to speed as if it were an off-road vehicle. He was panicking but after a massive head start and Vic nowhere in sight, all he needed to do was stop and text his family. He let the adrenaline rush and ego get the best of him, though, endangering himself by texting and driving.
The sad thing is, with autocorrect and this breakneck pace, he couldn’t type properly, which reinforced how clumsy he was. He had even struggled to disarm and pop the van open, which painted him a lot more foolish than he gave himself credit for. Had he also exhibited patience, he might have realized that cell service was spotty so he needed to be careful getting out with the truth.
Unfortunately, when Vic took a short cut and fell off his bike in front the van, Don, struggling to find the phone when it slipped onto the floor, looked up and swerved off the track to avoid hitting Vic. It ended with him careening off a cliff and smashing his van to pieces, when all he had to do was display composure to save the day.
See how Don causes his own demise in Deep Water, now available on Hulu.
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