‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 3 Ending Explained: Who Killed [SPOILER]? And What’s The Deal With Rob Delaney?

Every episode of Apple TV+‘s Bad Monkey brings Yancy (Vince Vaughn) and Rosa (Natalie Martinez) closer to cracking Nick Stripling’s mysterious severed arm case. But Episode 3, “Nobody Said He Was Alvin Einstein,” ends on a surprising cliffhanger that gives viewers a serious leg up — or rather, arm up — on the investigation.

Per Apple TV+, Bad Monkey Episode 3’s official synopsis is as follows: “Yancy and Rosa continue their search for more information about Nick. Caitlin confronts Eve, leading to a shocking revelation.” As you probably guessed, that shocking revelation has to do with Caitlin’s (Charlotte Lawrence) father Nick and the unshakable suspicion that her stepmother Eve (Meredith Hagner) killed him.

In the first two episodes of Bad Monkey, we watched Caitlin mourn the loss of her father while Eve acted suspicious as hell and attempted to cry fake tears in front of Yancy in a parking lot. As rumor spread that Eve already had a new developer boyfriend named Christopher (Rob Delaney) in the Bahamas, suspicions of her guilt swirled. And after Yancy and Rosa found blood and bone shards in her shower drain, all signs pointed back to Caitlin’s murder theory.

So did Eve murder Nick Stripling? Who exactly is Eve’s boyfriend, Christopher? And what the heck does that last-minute Episode 3 twist mean? We’ve got answers! Decider is recapping the jaw-dropping final moments of Bad Monkey Episode 3 and looking ahead at possible explanations. So buckle up and be warned: Bad Monkey Episode 3 spoilers are ahead.

Bad Monkey Episode 3 Ending Explained: What The Heck Just Happened?

From Bad Monkey‘s very first episode, Caitlin had a strong hunch that Eve killed her father Nick. She told Yancy he was a great swimmer so she didn’t buy that he “had some stupid accident and drowned,” but the more Eve laid on the charm, the more Caitlin started to wonder if her stepmother was innocent after all.

Turns out, the peace she made with her dad’s death only lasted so long, because with five minutes left in Episode 3, Caitlin rang Eve’s doorbell and said, “We need to talk. I can’t do this. You killed my dad, Eve.” Eve told her they’d been over the accusations already and offered to make her a drink, despite her being sober. In an unexpected twist, Caitlin whipped out a gun, pointed it at a terrified Eve, and mentally prepared to pull the trigger.

With Eve’s hands in the air, Caitlin tearfully said, “All I need is for you to admit it. Just once. Just say it, Eve. Tell me you killed my father. Please.” Eve was surprisingly calm with a gun pointed straight at her, and we soon saw why. Her boyfriend Christopher was peering down at them from upstairs, mere steps away from saving Eve’s life. With the knowledge that she’d be fine, Eve stuck to her story and told Caitlin, “I’m never gonna tell you that I killed your father. Because I didn’t.”

As Caitlin was considering her next move, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to find Christopher standing behind her. She looked at him in near disbelief before uttering a single unexpected word: “DAD?!” He replied, “Hey sweetie.” And the two tightly embraced. WHAT!?

Before Bad Monkey‘s end credits rolled, the camera zoomed out on their hug and revealed that Rob Delaney’s character was missing (yep, you guessed it) his left arm! GASP! So what does it all mean?! And why didn’t we notice his missing limb earlier?! Here’s that eventful Episode 3 cliffhanger explained…

Who Is Caitlin Stripling’s Dad? Rob Delaney, And Christopher, And Nick Stripling — Oh My!

Turns out, Eve’s boyfriend isn’t some random developer after all! Rob Delaney’s character Christopher was just an alias for Nick Stripling this entire time, which means Caitlin’s dad isn’t dead! He’s just missing his left arm, starting a new life as a developer, and faking his death with help from Eve!

If you revisit Rob Delaney’s scenes in Bad Monkey‘s first three episodes (minus that Ep 3 cliffhanger), you’ll notice that each time he appears as Christopher, his left arm — aka the arm Nick Stripling lost — is conveniently out of frame. At the end of Bad Monkey‘s premiere, as Neville (Ronald Peet) watches Christopher wade into shore, he’s wearing an oversized rain poncho that hides the missing limb. In Episode 2, Christopher’s left arm is submerged in a hot tub to throw viewers off, both arms are later hidden by loose robe sleeves, and our view is even obstructed by steamy glass shower doors at one point. Finally, in Episode 3, Bad Monkey pulls some poncho magic again, and Christopher hides his left arm (or lackthereof) by his side when he’s sitting on the beach with Eve.

So How Did Nick Stripling Lose His Arm?

As a reminder, Bad Monkey is based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel, which means that tons of spoilers already exist in the world. But we’re not here to rob you of an organic Apple TV+ viewing experience. You’ll have to keep watching to see how Bill Lawrence’s adaptation fills in the mystery’s many remaining gaps. In the meantime, we can lay out the clues that have already been presented.

After finding the bone shards in Eve’s shower, Rosa’s theory was that “she killed her husband, chopped him up in the shower, and then dropped the pieces in the ocean as fish food.” It sounds like a solid story, but it’s a little too neat, don’t you think? Plus, if we’ve learned anything about Eve in these first three episodes, it’s that she doesn’t like dirty work — or any work for that matter. She doesn’t even get her own smoothie! So do you really think she chopped off her husband’s arm?! I’m not buying it.

Yancy’s theory was that her boyfriend Christopher helped take care of Nick, but now that we know Christopher and Nick are the same person (Rob Delaney), that theory is dead, too. So if Nick’s missing limb wasn’t an accident, the top two most logical theories are that Egg (David St. Louis) — Christopher and Eve’s muscle — was in on the plan and lended a hand in sawing that arm off (though Eggy seems innocent in my opinion). There’s also a chance that Israel O’Peele, aka Izzy (Zach Braff), chopped off the arm to help his pal play dead. After all, the guy was a former surgeon, so he had the medical skills needed to amputate a limb. And it’s clear from Episode 3 that the tortured addict was keeping some damning secrets about Nick’s disappearance for Eve before he was killed.

While We’re Here, Who Killed Izzy?

Speaking of Izzy, who the heck killed him at the end of Episode 3? While we’ll have to wait and see what answers Bad Monkey has in store, if you pause that frame where a blurry figure is holding a gun to the back of Izzy’s head, can’t you sort of make out…a mustache?! It seems like Christopher/Nick/Rob Delaney (and Eve) have some serious explaining to do in these next seven episodes! And I, for one, can’t wait.

New episodes of Bad Monkey premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.