SPOILERS AHEAD (obviously…)
56 Days is a romance thriller limited series based off of a novel with the same title. It follows Oliver and Ciara, a new couple who, at first, seem to meet by chance. However, as time goes on they come to learn the dark secrets they have been hiding from each other since their alleged chance encounter. Fifty-six days later, a decomposing body is found in the bathtub of Oliver’s apartment, leaving Lee and Karl, two established local detectives, to determine what transpired over those fifty-six days that Oliver and Ciara spent together.
The eight episodes that make up this mystery contain several clues pertaining to different secrets that eventually come to light. As Oliver and Ciara uncover each other’s secrets, the series’ audience does as well. Other pertinent characters also come to reveal secrets of their own pertaining to the investigation. These cues allow the details of the crime to slowly come to light and then be revealed all at once.
The Truth About Oliver St. Ledger
Oliver assumes the alias, “Oliver Kennedy” at the beginning of the series. However, it is revealed early on that he has stashed multiple identification cards, one reading, “Oliver Jennings.” This early discovery reveals that he has lived under several different last names. Later on, Ciara notices a scar underneath Oliver’s arm and he tells her that it was an accident. However, he really got this scar when Shane attacked him upon finding out Oliver framed him for murder. Oliver’s guilt then consumed him so much he worsened the wound on his own accord with a knife. Another early clue about Oliver is his distress call to his therapist, Dan Troxler, where he tells him that he doesn’t know what will happen if he doesn’t pick up the phone, hinting at his dependency on him.
At a later point, Ciara researches St. Ledger Ventures online and finds information about their wealth, solidifying both Oliver’s real name and Ciara’s true motive. Oliver also receives an empty envelope in his mail with “Oliver St. Ledger” written on it. Later he receives a second envelope with “Ollie St. Ledger” written on it and a piece of paper with a phone number written on it inside. Oliver also has several visions that include water, taking him back to the crime he committed as a teenager. As Ciara wakes Oliver from a deep sleep, he sees water and the beach where Paul was killed. He also has a dream where he is underwater and his mattress is above him, blocking the surface as he struggles to escape. Eventually, he begins floating to the surface as Ciara calls out to him, but she changes to Paul calling out instead. Later, when Oliver is awake, he washes his face and sees water again with Paul at the surface. These details all hint at Oliver’s true identity, a member of the wealthy St. Ledger family who covered up a murder he committed when he was a teenager.
The Truth About Megan Martin
Megan is referred to as “Ciara Wyse” for the majority of the series. When her apartment is first shown, there is very little décor besides a print that reads, “could this be the magic at last?” This could simply be because she and her family do not have an abundance of money, but it is also likely that she does not have much in the apartment because she was never planning to live there, but to stay with Oliver instead. Early in their relationship, Ciara tells Oliver that she thinks secrets are destructive. This is the first hint at her wanting to break down Oliver’s walls and coax him to admit what he did.
When Shyla calls Ciara and asks about Boston as well as whether she is seeing anyone, she is reluctant to answer. Shyla says that it is alright if she does not want to disclose this and tells her “whoever it is, he’s not good for you and you don’t want to hear about it.” She truly does not want to tell her because of who she is seeing and her ultimate plan with him because of their connection to the St. Ledger family. Shyla remains unaware of her plan for a lot of the series. To sell the story that she works for a technology company, Ciara prints fake employee identification cards in her apartment which seems to be proof enough for everyone around her.
On a lunch date, when Oliver pays for the meal, Ciara questions why he pays for everything with cash. She pries until he answers that he stores his account information in a “safe place.” While Oliver likely does not use credit cards because he would compromise his real last name, the fact that Ciara is so persistent about knowing shows her desperation for his fortune. He returns the inquisitiveness by asking Ciara why she is not on the internet at all. She replies that he life “isn’t very notable.” Shortly after the two make plans for Oliver to visit Ciara’s apartment. She secretly moves some of the termites that have infested her apartment to a more visible part of the wall so that Oliver will notice, and she sets an alarm for 8:32 AM which she plays off as a phone call from her landlord telling her she must evacuate for extermination for three weeks, prompting Oliver to invite her to stay with him. In this scene, Oliver asks if he is “the new Tyler Merkow” referencing Ciara’s first crush. She looks puzzled before replying yes and saying “I’m gonna get you” to which he replies, “not if I get you first,” signifying their cat and mouse game. This scene also hints that that this story was made up by Ciara originally.
When Oliver and Ciara lay in bed together in his apartment, Oliver mentions the “meatball” in the NASA logo and Ciara doesn’t know what he is talking about. He becomes concerned which quickly elevates to anger and anxiety as he is clearly paranoid about Ciara. This makes sense, as she claims to be very interested in space and Oliver views the “meatball” as common knowledge. She plays it off as if she was kidding to diffuse the tension. Ciara then takes a bath and a close-up image of her fingers under the water is shown, reminiscent of the murky water in the river where Oliver killed Paul.
Ciara receives warnings from others about Oliver but blatantly ignores them, and actually seems to find them annoying. Jane approaches Ciara twice to warn her about Oliver, and the second time Ciara tells her to stay away from her. Later, Jane and Alison both tell her that Oliver killed someone. She replies that she already knows which deeply disturbs them. Ciara’s true identity, Megan Martin, whose older brother, Shane, took his own life in prison after being framed by Oliver for killing their classmate, Paul, knows what Oliver is capable of and her anger and determination far outweigh any bit of fear she has. Her fearlessness foreshadows her true identity and intentions with Oliver. Shortly after this scene with Jane and Alison, Ciara spots a mural that reads, “if you are happy you can forgive a great deal,” a Princess Diana quote that is reminiscent of her situation and foreshadows her decision to be with Oliver in the end.
An Antagonistic Victim
It is revealed that Dan Troxler is both the victim and villain of this story, as the decaying body found in the bathtub belongs to him but he was the reason for Shane’s death and Oliver’s consistent isolation. Early in the series, Oliver briefly mentions that he is seeing someone, referencing Ciara, and Dan tells him to end the relationship as he should prioritize protecting himself emotionally over his desire to rid himself of loneliness. He keeps pushing this idea throughout the series.
Many medications are found during the investigation, and they all belong to Oliver. He takes propofol to sleep, and Dan also prescribes him chocolate bars with psilocybin, and other pills found in blister packs, as well as amoxicillin as a teenager. When Oliver talks to Dan after receiving a second envelope with his name on it, Dan asks if he is still seeing the same woman. Oliver lies and tells him that he broke it off, and Dan then dismisses the problem entirely and gives him more mushroom chocolate. His refrigerator is shown and it only contains the prescriptions he gives to Oliver, hinting that he likely does not see many patients. He repeatedly silences Oliver with different drugs and methods that only keep him isolated from others.
Oliver mentions an encounter he had with Jane where she spotted her multiple times in a blue fiat and determined she was sending him the mysterious envelopes. Despite it being clear that they do not know each other personally, Dan tries to convince Oliver that he is talking about his ex-girlfriend. It is revealed that Dan has used this sort of gaslighting technique for a long time, as he also convinced Oliver not to attend Stanford, which is how he “fell into” the architectural field, as he tells Ciara. Truly, Dan has manipulated his life for years since the incident with Paul and Shane.
False Alarm
A large part of the investigation includes who pulled the fire alarm. Karl and Lee know that the alarm was pulled, but the series’ audience knows that this person also went into the apartment and took a picture of the crime scene. All signs point to Kevin, but this theory is gradually debunked. Kevin stands in the doorway as Karl and a security guard look at the footage of the building. This looks as if he is watching because he is nervous, but, in actuality, Kevin simply desires to help and ultimately join law enforcement himself. In another scene, Kevin tries to convince Karl that a piece of security footage had deleted itself, but he really did not want Karl to see the footage because he let Oliver pay him to punch him several times.
The first clue that Kevin is innocent is that when he enters the apartment, he is repulsed and cannot stop gagging. The person who pulled the alarm had entered the apartment and taken a photo. They did not gag or show any signs of remorse. The true whistleblower is Jane. Oliver follows her inside the building and menacingly tells her to leave him alone. It is quite clear from this interaction that they do not know each other personally, which suggests that Jane has another motive. She later reveals that she is a reporter and sent the envelopes because she thought if Oliver knew his identity was compromised, it would convince him to share his side of the story. When his response to this was very negative, her last resort was to break into his apartment and look around. Upon uncovering the body and taking a picture of her own to add to her shrine of evidence stacked against him, she pulled the fire alarm to bring attention to the matter so that she could get her story out.
A Twisted Conclusion
The murder weapon, a statue that Ciara uses to bludgeon Dan Troxler, is shown up close a couple of times before the murder is revealed. Ciara and Oliver casually walk by it upon entering the apartment and it is shown again when Karl examines it with an officer. Although Ciara is the culprit, she and Oliver escape from their life of crime and Linus Finch is framed instead. Linus is having an affair with Lee upon bribing her to keep his guilt of another crime a secret. When Lee tries to break it off, he threatens her, but Karl shows up in time to save his partner. Karl finds Linus’s necklace on the ground and keeps it in case he needs it, as he tells Lee. He ends up putting it with the evidence and Linus is framed, serving an odd form of justice. As twisted as the story goes, the strange pieces of the mystery dropped throughout the series come together to form its convoluted ending.
