Murder in the First 1×10 – Blunt the Edge – Recap

by Allyson Koerner

Last night was the night. The Season 1 finale of Murder in the First aired, and it definitely wasn’t short of insanity. Did Terry and Hildy finally put Erich Blunt behind bars? Did Erich confess to anything else?

Read our recap of Murder in the First 1×10: “Blunt the Edge” to find out!

The Opening
The episode opens with Erich Blunt being a “good” grandson and meeting with his grandmother, Betty Harbach, after his grandfather’s, James Harbach, alleged suicide. He hands over a bank account with half a million dollars sitting pretty and ready to be spent. Supposedly, the account was set up in his grandma’s name by her late husband.

The Theory
After further investigation into the weapon that James Harbach “killed himself” with, we learn that it was also used to kill Kevin Neyers aka Erich’s biological father. Terry and Hildy soon discover that the gun used to belong to Salter. (We later learn that Salter did indeed given Erich the gun, but in Erich Blunt fashion he plays dumb with Salter and denies ever being give a gun. Surprise, surprise.) So with all this information, Terry, Hildy and the rest of the team form the following theory: Salter provides Eric with the gun. Erich gives his grandfather the gun for “protection”. In reality, Erich gives the gun to his grandfather (and pays him, enter that half a million) to kill Kevin Neyers and then he turns it on himself, or Erich really killed him. To protect himself, Erich can say he gave his grandfather a gun for home protection, since he lived in a bad neighborhood.

The Confession
In what was one of the most disturbing, creepiest and truth-filled scenes of the season, Erich and Bill Wilkerson have quite the chat. Wilkerson admits to helping Erich in the killing of his father aka he’s an accessory to murder. Not only did Erich give Wilkerson Salter’s old gun to give to James for “home protection,” but Erich kept his pilot in the dark about his true intentions. And here comes the butt naked part — Erich makes Wilkerson get completely nude to ensure he’s not wearing a wire. Well, it’s not on his body, but it’s in the obnoxiously huge watch Erich gave Wilkerson as a gift. Soon after Erich destroys the bug, he confesses to everything. He killed Cindy and her “fetus,” but it was quite “sloppy,” in his opinion. The real “work of art” came when he killed his father. After all, Kevin Neyers was a glitch and had to die. You know, Erich’s evolved for his age and is just getting a head start on population control. Oh, and he can’t blame his grandfather for killing himself (yes, he did commit suicide). He would’ve done the same thing. Um, can you say psycho?

The Catch
The next morning, Erich goes to the precinct to talk with Hildy and Terry. Oh no, he doesn’t go to confess, but rather to spin his twisted tale so Salter and Wilkerson take the blame. Of course, Terry and Hildy don’t buy it and it’s soon unmasked that (with a warrant) they turned a smartphone into a recording device and have Erich on record confessing to everything. His cockiness finally caught up with him. You know what they say about karma.

The Close
With Erich’s arrest, he wants to rehire Warren Daniels, but Daniels turns him down with the best statement ever, “And I want to go on a date with Beyonce.” Daniels also reveals to David Hertzberg that Erich never passed his polygraph — he lied about that. Poor, ignorant David always believed in Erich, but finally cuts ties with him at the jail. And with Erich all alone without his people and company he shows his true cowardness by hanging himself. Erich Blunt is no more.

Near the end, Hildy and Terry discuss Erich’s pure evilness and non-human nature. Terry thinks killers have a hunger and a hole that needs filled, just like he and Hildy need love (if the series goes on, these two will totally have a romance).

I’ll leave you with this. In the words of Wilkerson to Erich, “So, you killed your lover. You killed your own child. Paid your grandfather to kill your father, and then he took the gun you gave him and turned it on himself. So you killed them all. … You are insane.”

And we all thought Draco Malfoy was bad blood.

What did you think of Murder in the First 1×10? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments.