Monday’s Eye Candy episode brought us the identity of the Flirtual Killer, and looking back, we probably should’ve guessed who it was all along!
Note that there are spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen Eye Candy season 1, episode 9.
This week’s episode revealed to us that Jake was actually the Flirtual Killer. He had been out of the running since he had been arrested while the supposed killer murdered Reiss. However, his alibi fell apart when Tommy realized Reiss’ murder had been sold on Babylon, meaning that Jake could still have been the Flirtual Killer and just hired someone else to kill Reiss.
We’re probably kicking ourselves while we’re down, but maybe we should’ve known it was Jake all along. Let’s explore some of the clues throughout the series so far.
In episode 1…
Jake is the first Flirtual match Lindy meets, and while he’s quick to exit, there’s obvious chemistry there. If Jake had been stalking Lindy and realized she was his perfect ’10,’ he would be willing to do whatever it took to keep her within his clutches. Rather than risk the chance of Lindy falling for someone else, he decided to take matter in his own hands. Unfortunately, that ended in the pediatrician’s death. Poor guy.
In episode 2…
Red flags definitely went up in Lindy’s mind when Jake showed up at her apartment unannounced. How did he get her address? And why would he think it was okay to drop in on her when they were supposed to be going out? Especially since it was their first date! Jake may have made a fantastic meal for Lindy, Sophia, and Connor, but that doesn’t excuse his creepy behavior. It was too much, too soon.
In episode 3…
Jake discovered the spyware on his phone and turned it into the police. This was a good way to set Lindy against the cops, as well as have a good excuse for having taken the spyware off his phone. If he hadn’t reported the discovery, he could’ve come under scrutiny for removing it without raising alarm. This is also the episode where Jake was arrested after Lindy was kidnapped and witnessed the murder of Reiss, but as we already know, Jake’s incarceration actually provided him with a solid alibi.
In episode 5…
Episode 4 was devoid of any good clues, but episode 5 did bring us a minor one. Although the cutting of the episode didn’t allow us to put the pieces together at first, now knowing that Jake is the killer, it’s obvious he was at the club to keep an eye on Bubonic, Lindy, and everything else that was going on that night. Each moment with Lindy was another moment he used to make her (and us!) trust him that much more. By the end of the episode, Jake was also at the club and able to capture and eventually murder Oliver as a consequence of Connor annoying him.
In episode 6…
Jake was not around while Lindy was in the hospital, but he was watching her the entire time. Again wanting to gain her trust, he helped her solve the code to stop the virtual virus Erika used to shut down the hospital. While we still don’t know many of the specifics about Jake’s abilities, he does seem to have a lot of connections, and knowing the chemical formula needed to solve Erika’s puzzle no longer seems like such a stretch. Oh, and that present he left outside her apartment? It was oddly reminiscent of the present the Flirtual Killer left her with her sister’s bracelet inside.
In episode 7…
Jake bringing Lindy a case might be our biggest clue to him being the Flirtual killer so far. Lindy’s stalker has, from the beginning, promised that they’ll find her sister together. He used it as a way to draw her in — and boy did it work. So is it coincidence that Jake introduces Lindy to a friend who eventually leads her to the web portal Babylon, where she finds a picture of her sister? Not a chance.
In this episode, Jake was also the hero. He noticed something was wrong with the video feed and subsequently sent the police in after a kidnapped Lindy. We know from the man hired to brand Lindy that he never intended to hurt her — the Flirtual Killer just wanted to show her he could hurt her if he wanted to. It’s no surprise, then, that Jake was the one who put a stop to her torture — regardless of whether Tommy had it covered or not.
In episode 9…
The revelation of the killer came near the end of the hour, and there were plenty of clues ahead of that moment. For instance, Jake was so willing to help Lindy go to Hart Island where the body of her sister was buried. While this does not stick out on its own, we know the Flirtual Killer is obsessed with helping Lindy find Sara. It was through Jake that they had access to the files, which means he could have easily taken the picture of the Jane Doe that Lindy was after. Plus, his insistence that they sneak onto Hart Island to dig up the girl’s grave is just a little bit creepy.
Then there’s the fact that Jake obviously stepped out in front of the bike to get hit and have an excuse for the bruises he got from Detective Shaw when he attacked her earlier that morning. Lindy also wakes up feeling drugged, which allowed Jake to slip away during the night and murder Tessa.
But wait, there’s more…
There are several other hints throughout the series that Jake could be the culprit. The Flirtual Killer seemed particularly knowledgeable about the law and any loopholes that might allow him to get away with murder (or more), and Jake is a lawyer. The killer had also previously lost someone close to him, and we now know that his parents were killed in a car crash.
While these clues certainly add up, there’s always the chance that Jake isn’t the real Flirtual Killer. Hopefully, we’ll find out for sure one way or another during the Eye Candy season finale on March 16 at 10 p.m. on MTV.