Mrs. Davis Finale: The Death Apparatus Explained
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1 Episode 8
The "Mrs. Davis" season finale finally reveals what the titular algorithm-slash-artificial intelligence is all about, but who could have thought that it actually winds up being the second strangest piece of technology in the episode? As we find out that Mrs. Davis is actually a rejected and overgrown Buffalo Wild Wings customer care app, our attention turns to Wiley's (Jake McDorman) predicament as he prepares to pay the ultimate price for his wings. The manner of his death? A lethal rollercoaster.
You might be surprised to discover that the apparatus isn't as out there as one could think. Based on the description of how it works, the device — which is intended to provide a pleasant death with a series of loops that are ultimately too much for a human body to take — is based on a real design concept known as "Euthanasia Coaster," originally thought up by Lithuanian engineer Julijonas Urbonas (via MoMA). It's designed to create a variety of pleasant emotions before tunnel vision and ultimate death.
Mrs. Davis provides a strange final ride
The coaster, of course, doesn't actually exist in real life except as a concept, but it's actually very much par for the "Mrs. Davis" course for the algorithm to pick such a wild apparatus as the final price people have to pay for their wings. Of course, the coaster in the show is somewhat different from Urbonas' concept, but it does feature the distinct series of lethal loops. As for tunnel vision, the ride does rather pointedly give Wylie a "light at the end of the tunnel" experience by taking him to Jay's (Andy McQueen) restaurant for the first time during it.
There's also the fact that the ride is ultimately nonlethal because the whole "wings" thing is actually just Mrs. Davis' long con to cause people unhappy with their lives to gain a sense of self-worth. Still, the inspiration from the real-world concept is pretty clear — the show just takes things in a rather wild direction, as it so often does.