Painkiller’s Director Explains The Meaning Behind The Netflix Series Starting And Ending With A Fire Alarm And ‘The Sound Of Silence'
The show really comes full circle with these matching moments.
Spoilers for Netflix’s Painkiller are ahead. If you haven’t streamed the limited series on the 2023 TV schedule, you can watch it now with a Netflix subscription.
Right after Painkiller’s disclaimer is read, the Netflix series opens with a fire alarm going off in a massive mansion and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” playing in the background. This unique opening is how we are introduced to Richard Sackler, the man who led the charge to get OxyContin on the market and in the hands of anyone he could. It’s also what we hear the very last time we see the antagonist played by Matthew Broderick.
As I watched the series, I was really struck by how it began and ended with Broderick’s Richard Sackler by himself, in his mansion, with a fire alarm going off and the lyrics “hello darkness, my old friend,” playing. It was incredibly thought-provoking, and to me, it signified the loneliness this guy might have felt having made all this money but simultaneously caused an insurmountable amount of pain. The show’s director, Peter Berg, had a similar thought as he started out his explanation about this choice by telling CinemaBlend:
This book-to-screen adaptation is based on Barry Meier's Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic and a New Yorker article by Patrick Radden Keefe called “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain,” and it follows the rise and consequences of OxyContin. At the center of the story is Richard Sackler, who worked to distribute and sell the drug. He made billions, as Berg said, but the drug has also caused lots of addiction and death.
Thinking about the weight those consequences might have on someone, Berg explained why the opening and closing scenes show us how Sackler could have felt about what he had caused. The Friday Night Lights creator said:
Based on Berg’s comments, it seems like he wanted to illustrate how Sackler might have felt when he was alone and had a moment to contemplate the consequences of his actions in that massive house. To me, the alarm signified the persistent calls to put a stop to the selling of OxyContin on such a mass scale, and the Simon & Garfunkel song alluded to how this guy had acted in a way that left him all by himself. It’s a illuminating and fascinating choice, and opening and closing the show that way really made me think about what Richard Sackler did, and how much pain this drug has caused.
If you want to see if your interpretation of these two scenes matches Peter Berg’s, you can stream Painkiller now on Netflix.
CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.