Building a thriller parody around a woman grieving over the death of her child is dicey territory, but The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window (or The Woman in the House for simplicity's sake) goes there. And it does it in the most heightened, absurd way possible. By the end of the first episode, viewers know Anna's daughter is dead and that she still sometimes sees and talks to her, but it takes the show a little bit longer to explicitly state how Elizabeth died. (Warning: Spoilers to come...)

When it does, it's so jaw-droppingly unbelievable it's hard not to laugh, and it's even harder not to feel like a horrible person for laughing. Because the thing is, Kristen Bell plays Anna's grief with the utmost sincerity. Even as the character is slurping comically large glasses of wine and making truly disgusting looking chicken casseroles, the loss of her daughter feels real even when everything else is the very definition of silly.

That's due in large part to Bell's decision to keep her portrayal of Anna as authentic as possible, despite the whole parody setup. "I definitely leaned more into the authenticity [than the satire]," Bell said in a recent TVLine interview. "I was confused about how to accomplish this tone, because the first couple of episodes are much more sincere, and then once we hook the viewer with the suspense, the absurdity starts to kick in."

So while Anna's pain is apparent, Elizabeth's death is so horrifying and bizarre it's hard to figure out whether the show is giving viewers permission to laugh or daring them to. The only thing I know for sure is Anna's ex-husband, Douglas, is an idiot.

What Happened To Elizabeth?

Let's breakdown the chain of events that led to Elizabeth being murdered, shall we?

• It's Take Your Daughter to Work Day and Anna insists Douglas take Elizabeth with him because she works from home as an artist, so it won't be as much fun for their daughter to spend the day with her.
• Douglas agrees even though he's a forensic psychologist for the FBI who spends most of his time treating the criminally insane.
• Douglas somehow gets permission to take Elizabeth into what I can only guess is a maximum security prison, where he's set to interview a man known as "Massacre Mike." In case you were wondering, Massacre Mike has murdered and eaten at least 30 people.
• One of Douglas' superiors needs to chat outside the meeting room, so he's just like, "Okay, honey, stay with the nice serial killer, I'll BRB."
• The guard somehow locks Elizabeth in the room with Massacre Mike.
• Massacre Mike eats Elizabeth, presumably while her father watches.

Is This The Most Bonkers Thing To Ever Happen On Television?

Probably? I mean the Fonz jumped over a shark one time and the island on Lost turned out to be a giant sink drain for evil, so your mileage may vary. But the idea that anyone would take their child inside a prison to interview a serial killer and then leave them alone with said serial killer for even one second is pretty outlandish. I mean, Elizabeth could have been at home painting with her mom, which is a far more suitable activity for a 9-year-old.

All I can say is, The Woman in the House came up with an awfully creative/nightmare-inducing scenario to inflict on little Elizabeth and her parents. Even for a thriller parody, having a 9-year-old get eaten alive is pretty bleak, but it's also a plot twist I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Images: Colleen E. Hayes/Netflix; Netflix