A lot has happened over the season of the latest Max true crime series, but with the series end now in hand, one can’t help but immerse into thoughts of the Love and Death ending and how the story wrapped up eventually.
Starring Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery, Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe as Betty Gore, Krysten Ritter as Sherry Cleckler, Elizabeth Marvel as Jackie Ponder, Tom Pelphrey as Don Crowder, Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery and others, the series has been created and written for TV by David E Kelley, and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. In addition to the two crew members, Nicole Kidman and Per Saari were also few of the executive producers of the show.
The Love and Death Finale is titled ‘Sssshh’, and it premiered on May 25, 2023. Based on Texas Monthly articles and the book Evidence of Love by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom, this series maps out the real life story of a Texan housewife, who was ultimately accused of brutally murdering her friend in the ’80s. While we all know what really happened at the end of the case, not everything is known about how it all panned out the way it did.
To shed light on the matter, we’ve covered the Love and Death Episode 7 ending below. We hope this clears your doubts on the issue.
Love and Death Ending Explained
How Did Don Crowder Handle Candy’s Case?
He understood early on that there was little he could do to prove that Candy hadn’t murdered Betty. All situational evidence worked against Candy’s favour. Therefore, as soon as the court proceeding commenced, he came out with the confession that Candy had in fact murdered Betty, but her actions weren’t pre-planned or pre-meditated, rather they fleshed out in the heat of the moment as a means of self-defence.
His strategy always relied on the jury finding Candy a vulnerable and humane individual instead of a criminal with plans to go about someone’s murder. And so, to have the upper hand throughout the hearing, his first first move pushed him to spill the truth in order for him to build up the case in Candy’s favour, even if it required him to play on the jury’s and Candy’s emotional side.
Despite all that, one can’t just turn a blind eye to the fact that Candy actually swung down the axe on Betty 41 times, which couldn’t account for self-defence. Yet he played along to his strategy to gain the court’s sympathy and pull the jury into Candy’s corner. For his plan to take full shape, he then called up Candy to the stand. However, due to being on Serax to help calm down her nerves, and to avoid being seen as a hysterical woman in public, Candy wasn’t much help to Don’s plan.
He tried his all by pushing her buttons to gain some kind of reaction out her. For this tactic to work, it was needed of her to break down in front of everyone and express her guilt and regret. When nothing came to his aid, Don resorted to bring the murder weapon, i.e. the axe covered with blood to her. And as expected, it instantly drove her to the edge and exacted an emotional outcry from her.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t merely rely on Candy’s word for the jury to agree with her case. Later, he called on Dr Fred Fason, the same psychiatrist he’d taken her to for consultation in Episode 5. His testimony focussed on the fact that Candy had just snapped during her altercation with Betty, and that it could’ve happen to anyone and wasn’t to be considered a symptom of a mental illness.
Living in a Texan community, Don also understood the psyche of the people therein well. Announcing the same to Candy that “folks can forget murder, Adultery, not so much”, his next move relied on calling upon her husband Pat because if the jury saw that he had been able to move past her mistake and was equally rooting for her now, they wouldn’t see any reason to condemn her affair any further either.
With this in mind, the jury would be able to reverse process the whole thing as they’d all been holding on to the idea that Candy killed Betty as she was still in love with Allan Gore. However, seeing Pat on her side would help turn the case around and prove that she neither had any intentions of continuing her affair with Allan, nor did she hold any grudges against Betty.
Furthermore, he uses the power of the church to mould the narrative around Candy’s life and her “benevolent” soul. Having been painted as a “monster” by the media, he counted on the new Pastor – Ron Adams – to turn the whole perspective upside down, which led him to question Betty’s intentions instead, and make her look like the actual antagonist in the picture.
What Really Happened Between Candy and Betty?
Looking at it objectively, we can never know for sure what went down between both the women at the Gore residence. With only Betty and Candy present at the scene, it’s evident that only they could’ve known the truth. However, in this case, with Betty out of the picture, we’re only presented with Candy’s side of the story. Therefore, the court proceedings hinge more upon the performance of everything and how well each lawyer can mould the story and compel the jury to submit to their respective narratives.
As per the version spilt by Candy, Betty invited her into the house and they got to talk about their daughters and went on about a “friendly, normal conversation”. Soon, it took a drastic turn when Betty caught Candy off guard by asking her if she’d been having an affair with Allan, to which Candy said yes.
Following this brief talk, Betty went inside and later came out with an axe in her hand. It did the trick and threatened Candy a bit, but Betty eventually placed it on the floor and continued about to get the towel for her daughter. Candy went into the utility room and grabbed Alyssa’s bathing suit and when Betty returned, Candy tried to console her and apologised. Betty couldn’t handle it and she shoved Candy back and picked up the axe again. While Betty tried to attack her first, Candy felt feared for her life and eventually snatched the axe and hit her with it.
When Betty came down, Candy tried to leave but she was again trapped inside and the tussle between the two continued. Scared for her wellbeing, she then started almost chanting that she didn’t want Allan, which was followed by Betty continuously shushing her, and that’s when Candy finally snapped, overpowered the other and kept on bringing down the axe on her.
This wraps the nature of the altercation described by Candy, according to which Betty came on as a threatening presence at first. However, it doesn’t wrap up the full story, the prosecutor introduces a new evidence – the lens of her goggles – found in the garage. Candy had admitted to never having stepped inside the Gore’s garage and yet her lens was found there. It seemed that she’d been caught in a trap, and so came up with the only explanation that she could’ve – she possibly kicked it in there by mistake during the violent exchange with Betty.
Did the Court Find Candy Montgomery Guilty?
It’s safe to assume that the jury hung on to Crowder’s build-up about how Candy snapped. Dr Fason’s testimony further helped add more weight to it from a professional stand. Anyway, she couldn’t have been found innocent as we already know that she committed the crime, but she was eventually found not guilty as the crime was proved to not have been premeditated.
What Happened to the Montgomery Family After the Trial?
Despite Candy’s insistence that they’ll attain normalcy again upon having been announced not guilty, it’s well understood by her husband, Pat, that things will never go back to the way they were before. They take up their legal team’s advice and decide to start afresh in a different town. Pat grasps the idea of how the jury couldn’t “find her innocent, (they could)..only find (her) not guilty” better than Candy at the time, who’s bent on pushing the thoughts of the accident aside as soon as possible.
Few days later, they pack up their stuff and move to Georgia. However, soon after, they divorced upon relocation. Pat continued living in Georgia and worked in defence technologies. Candy, on the other hand, picked up a job as a family therapist in Georgia
What Became of Allan Gore?
The postscript messages listed at the end of the show revealed that he married church organist Elaine Williams shortly after Betty’s death, but they eventually divorced as well as it didn’t work out between them. His children – Alisa and Bethany – were adopted by Betty’s parents, while he went on to get married the third time.
Now that you know all about the Love and Death finale. Do check out our episodic reviews of the series here.