DTF St. Louis finally revealed what led to David Harbour‘s character Floyd’s mysterious death.
During the Sunday, April 12, finale, Floyd died by suicide after rejection from Carol (Linda Cardellini), Tiger Tiger (Chris Perfetti) and Clark (Jason Bateman). Floyd’s stepson Richard (Arlan Ruf), who was the reason for his Peyronie’s disease, ultimately watched Floyd put medication in his Bloody Mary can before signing “I love you” ahead of his death.
Showrunner Steve Conrad broke down the thought process to ending, telling TV Insider, “Well, if you think about the many times that Floyd had been kind of assessed and then rejected, there were multiple, but the one connection that was sound was Richard, that despite the failure of the therapy working and the multiple attempts to try to reach Richard, Floyd had found a way that summer.”
Conrad wanted to offer an emotional conclusion.
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“If you had asked him if anything good had happened that summer, he would have said something great had happened, like Richard and found each other flailing, trying to find some way to turn the volume down on all the other sources of pain for Floyd,” he continued. It ended up consequently having him create events that Richard was exposed to accidentally, and this full measure of Floyd that a child shouldn’t have because he’s too young, it happened, and it probably wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t that kind of recklessness that summer, so Floyd felt responsible for Richard being there.”
He concluded: “He felt like that if he were a better man, this boy wouldn’t be out there trying to figure out what it is he’s watching, even though what he’s watching is harmless and very human and ultimately understandable.”
Conrad also explained if Floyd would have always ended up in the same place, saying, “I think that’s a real keen observation because we started, one could have flipped the first scene for Floyd. … You can see in the last shot of Floyd in that therapy session, with the way David performed it … You’re not far away from that feeling. It’s only three months away, and it can’t show up for the first time there.”
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The screenwriter noted he knew “what Floyd’s fate might have been.”
“I think Carol and Floyd would have divorced. His tax debt was just a burden that he couldn’t even help chip away at. Intimacy was gone — they tried, but it had been a year. That failure of their intimate life that we see in episode 6, which would have happened in their bedroom. It was over, and I think they would have been divorced,” he shared. “I think Floyd might have had a relationship with Richard where he wrote him a letter every few months, maybe sent him a Christmas present, but every year that became less and less and less, and I think Floyd was bound for a really sad life like many people who have an inherent sweetness, but are also challenged to recognize that they’ve got to plant their feet and fight sometimes too.”
He continued: “Floyd doesn’t have any fight in him. He only has kindness, and some people are constitutionally like that, and they’re wonderful to have with you because they remind you that sweetness is also a quality of life. But if you’re married to one and you’re trying to fend off the worst possible thing together, that can be a very challenging partner.”
DTF St. Louis is streaming on HBO Max.
