Room 104 – The Murderer

“Room 104” kicks off its final season with a bang—or more appropriately a weathered and worn acoustic guitar. As Logan (Logan Miller) has procured a keg for what appears to be some sort of hotel gathering, his friends Jeff (Pablo Castelblanco), Billy (Kenton Chen), Katherine (Hari Nef) and John (Michael Sturgis) arrive to Room 104. It is in the room that Logan finally gushes over why they are all gathered: he has found Graham Husker (Mark Duplass).

While Katherine has never heard of him, we soon learn via Logan and his buddies that Graham Husker was a musician. During U2’s Grammy win in the 90’s Bono lamented that Husker should have won the Grammy instead. An unknown up until that moment, people began scouring music stores to find out just who Graham Husker was and unearthed his only album The Murderer. Comprised of five songs, the album details the story of a son and his mother, and the mother’s untimely demise at the hands of her child. By 1996 Husker had cracked under the pressure of losing his anonymity, effectively going missing. Husker was presumed dead as his car was wrecked on a bridge, only a note left that read “I am not a musician.”

Alas, Logan was at an open mic night recently and stumbled upon “Gary Horton” taking the stage, realizing that Husker had faked his death and assumed a new identity. Graham Husker was alive and maybe not so well, but Logan’s persistence paid off as Husker agrees for a fee of a keg of Keystone Light to come to Room 104 and perform The Murderer for him and his friends. As Katherine still does not quite grasp the enthusiasm of her fan-boying friends, there’s a knock at the door. Graham Husker has arrived.

Time has not been too kind to Husker with his scraggly attire, hair, facial hair and guitar that has seen better days, but he has arrived all the same to start the show. With a fresh cup of Keystone Light in his hand, Husker only has one more request: no phones during performance. While the guys are enraptured by Husker, it is Katherine who is quiet and reserved. She politely sits and pays attention while everyone else soaks up Husker sadly crooning the lyrics to “Cradle Me,” the first song.

When Graham bolts to the bathroom after downing the Keystone Light a little too quickly, Logan decides to procure his phone and record the rest of the performance against the musician’s wishes. This decision goes awry as during the second song “Hold Me Steady” Logan is caught and his phone is destroyed. Before he’ll play anymore music Graham asks Katherine to join him in the bathroom for a private conversation and she agrees.

Pounding back even more Keystone Light from behind the bathroom door, Graham laments over his decision to play for Katherine’s friends. Listening intently, Katherine is then told the story through music that we all feared – Graham Husker truly did kill his mother and buried her in someone’s backyard. The show can now go on with Graham ready to share a previously unreleased track to the rest of the group. While Katherine got the gist of the story, this song is a play-by-play story of the murder through Graham’s eyes. Finishing the song, he completes the note that he left in his car: I am not a musician. I am the murderer.

At first Logan, Jeff, Billy and John thinks it’s all part of the show, but soon realize that Graham Husker murdered his mother and chronicled the story through music. Graham may feel relieved, but the guys are ready to bolt. The awkwardness becomes a lit powder keg when Graham casually touches one of the guys on the shoulder, only to be beaten to a bloody pulp and left in the wake. Katherine remains in the room with Graham, helping him get up on the bed to lay down and moving the keg close by. Before she can leave Graham begins to hallucinate, asking for his Mommy and remorseful that he will never be okay without her. Katherine decides to pretend to be his mother and calm the battered musician, eventually laying down on the bed and holding Graham as she sings “Cradle Me” with him.