Murdaugh: Death in the Family Ending Explained: Did Alex Confess to Murder?

Murdaugh: Death in the Family has come to an end — but where did the Hulu show choose to wrap up Alex Murdaugh‘s scandal?

During the Wednesday, November 20, finale of the scripted true crime series, Alex was found guilty of wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh‘s murders. He continued to maintain his innocence as viewers saw a glimpse of his time behind bars.

Alex and Maggie’s eldest child, Buster Murdaugh, initially sided with his father but ultimately questioned why he wasn’t invited home the night Maggie and Paul died. His doubt led to a final scene where the night of the murder was shown again — except this time Alex was seen holding the gun. The patriarch looked at himself in the mirror in prison before seeing the version of him in the bloody clothing.

“The thing about not seeing who did it [earlier in the season] is there’s one of two ways that can go. If you see Alec doing it then you’re just watching this guy lie to everyone for the rest of the season,” creator Michael D. Fuller exclusively told Us Weekly. “We wanted to emotionally pass the baton to Buster and also live a little bit in the space between the initial murder and what Alec did.”

The writing team leaned into how things played out in real life.

“It worked a little bit. There was a lot of sympathy and the civil suit was dropped against him. So we let the audience live a little bit in that but also we didn’t want to do it in a who did it way. It’s not a procedural show,” Fuller continued. “It then allows us to connect with Buster and we’re seeing this kid grapple with what really went on.”

He continued: “It’s just living in the shock of that — of just the event itself — and the loss of them. Then in episode 8, Alex was found guilty.”

Based on the “Murdaugh Murders” podcast, the Hulu series, which premiered in October, followed journalist Mandy Matney as she investigated and blogged about the powerful family leading up to and in the wake of their downfall.

Matney began looking into the Murdaughs and their alleged crimes after Alex’s son Paul Murdaugh’s indictment for friend Mallory Beach’s wrongful death. Alex later killed Paul and his mother, Maggie, in 2021. Alex was found guilty on all four counts related to their murders.

Alex was previously accused of misappropriating funds from his law firm, clients and the government through a scheme involving embezzlement, wire fraud and money laundering. He is currently facing a total of 102 grand jury criminal charges and 19 indictments relating to fraud and drug offenses. He was disbarred, had his assets seized and is serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul.

“The real Alex denies what he did — and likely always will. But he’s been convicted legally. So for us, our version was that you can’t deny the role you played in this anymore,” Fuller added. “Now we’ll see what they went through and not relive all the gore and just be with him. But there’s nowhere else for him to hide or deny.”

Murdaugh: Death in the Family is currently streaming on Hulu.