Oh, Gunnar. While “Orphan: First Kill” initially encourages the viewer to sympathize with the murderous Tricia, Gunnar (Matthew Finlan) is a bit of a joke. When Esther first comes home, he’s rude to her, his friends are horrible, and he’s obsessed with his crossbow. That last tidbit is particularly suspect; why does a teen who lives in a suburban mansion need hunting gear, anyway? Everything that we learn about Gunnar makes us dislike him, so we believe it when we discover that he killed his real sister. As such, when he pleads with Tricia for permission to kill Esther in order to solve their problems, it’s such a wild thought that it’s hysterical. Like his mother, he’s entitled, and this makes us root for his inevitable death.

Gunnar shows no remorse for killing his sister, and while we don’t know how Gunnar “played too rough” with her, my hunch is that the crossbow played a major role. Regardless, Gunnar still sees the weapon as a source of power, and having Esther turn it around on him is deliciously brutal. Esther shoots him in the heart and stabs him in the back repeatedly. Metaphorically, this feels like a way to acknowledge Gunnar’s betrayal. Overall, it’s a fun moment, but it would have landed harder if we had a stronger emotional connection with Gunnar. As it is, his death doesn’t have quite as much meaning as Anna’s or Tricia’s.

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