All The Suspects In Netflix's Clickbait, Explained

In Netflix’ new murder mystery show, Clickbait, everyone’s at least a little sus. Throughout the eight episodes, viewers are introduced to a host of characters who could have killed Nick Brewer, a doting father and loving husband who becomes accused of having a double life as a womanizer and, potentially, a murderer too. But just when one individual seems to fit the bill, the show introduces a twist, and Nick’s family and Detective Amir, along with viewers, are back to square one. So, let’s walk through all the suspects in Netflix’s Clickbait.

Spoiler alert: This post includes spoilers from Season 1 of Clickbait. What makes the mystery even more difficult is the fact that everything happens through the anonymity of the internet, allowing the real killer to hide behind a screen most of the series. But that doesn’t mean the audience is in the dark the whole time. Each episode in the limited series occurs from a different character’s point of view, providing a unique perspective and a ton of clues as to who the murderer could be. But as the series progresses, the list of potential killers gets longer and longer, making it hard to pinpoint who really did it.

Curtis

In Clickbait, Nick and his wife Sophie were basically the perfect couple... until cracks showed up in the Brewers’ marriage. Throughout the first few episodes, Sophie insisted she and Nick were happy and that her husband was never abusive. But after Detective Amiri found footage of Nick getting into a brawl with an unknown man at a bar, it was soon revealed Nick didn’t fight some rando, but rather his wife’s former lover, Curtis.

Caught red-handed, Sophie admitted to the affair and said Curtis was still in love with her, which is why she ended their relationship. The video footage, coupled with the fact that Curtis wasn’t over Sophie, gave him plenty of motive to harm Nick and even spread rumors about him being abusive toward women.

AL_2005

By the end of Episode 1, it became clear that Nick’s life was in danger, leading his eldest son, Ethan, to search for answers on his own. Holed up on his computer most of the day, trying to find any info on his dad, Ethan got contacted by an online user who went by the screename “Al_2005.” Though it was not clear who exactly AL_2005 was, the anonymous person kept asking Ethan for information regarding his father’s case and Ethan obliged, providing sensitive information only his family and the police were privy to.

But in Episode 7, things got even more suspicious after Al_2005 told Ethan they could not meet in person due to their social anxiety, making it highly possibly that this mystery person could somehow have been involved in Nick’s murder.

Simon

In Episode 5, viewers were introduced to Simon Burton, the brother of Sarah Burton — a woman Nick allegedly had an affair with. Not only were the two emotionally and physically involved, but it appeared Nick drove Sarah to take her own life after he ignored her pleas for help.

It turned out, to avenge his sister’s death, Simon and his friend kidnapped Nick and posted a video of him online — the video from Episode 1 that ended up going viral. Throughout the video, Simon made Nick hold up damning signs alleging he was an abuser and murderer. If Simon was the one who kidnapped Nick, he also murdered him, right?

Dawn

Present throughout the entire series, but more of a background character, was Nick’s colleague, Dawn. At first, Dawn made no sense as the killer. But it was revealed that Nick trusted her entirely with setting up his work computer, meaning she had full access to his photos and email accounts. As viewers learned more about Dawn, it became clear she was unhappy and, honestly, quite bored in her marriage, making it a possibility that she could have been more interested in Nick’s life than her own.

Matt

Throughout the series, Nick’s longtime friend and work colleague, Matt, helped the Brewers navigate their loss. From providing emotional support to Nick’s sister, Pia, to helping Sophie with errands around the house, Matt seemed to be a good friend and a decent person... at first. After word got out that Nick may have been involved with one of his volleyball students, Tara, Pia tracked her down and found out it was Matt, not Nick, who had an inappropriate relationship with the teen.

Pia then found all of Nick’s photos uploaded onto Matt’s work computer, which could only mean one thing, Matt was catfishing himself as Nick, right? And being Nick’s best friend, Matt would know personal details that gave him an advantage in impersonating Nick.

The Answer?

And the killer is... none of the above. Well, technically. Turns out, Dawn’s husband, Ed, killed Nick, but only because he was trying to clean up his wife’s mess. By the final episode, it was revealed that Nick was innocent. He never cheated on Sophie and never harmed any women. Instead, Dawn was impersonating Nick the entire time. The moral of the story? The internet is a scary place... and don’t trust secretaries, I guess?