HBO Series 'Sharp Objects'

Trailer.

The book was creepy as hell. Well done but I wouldn't want to re-read it.

Love the way the interiors are lit. A perfect summer show, I think, even though the subject matter is a bit heavy. I'll watch it for Patricia Clarkson alone, Amy Adams I could take or leave.

Is this a remake of Running With Scissors?

[bold]Marti Noxon on Sharp Objects, Joss Whedon, and Going ‘Toe-to-Toe’ With Jean-Marc Vallée[/bold]

Uh-oh.

[quote][bold]What was it like working with Jean-Marc Vallée on Sharp Objects?[/bold]

[quote]It was difficult, I’m not going to lie. I find that many artists are incredibly … what’s the right word? Incredibly sensitive. And it wasn’t without its toe-to-toe screaming matches. [Laughs.]

[quote][bold]What was the biggest fight?[/bold]

[quote]Oh, it was always over language. It was over the nuance of language because Jean-Marc is from Montreal and he doesn’t share the love of the English language that I do and Gillian does in the same way. He’s much more interested in imagery and telling stories through pictures, and he’s brilliant at that. He has a comfort level with visualizing things to music, and he gets very attached to certain pieces of music. I totally understand that now as I’m learning more and more as a director, but I love language. I studied theater at Wesleyan before I became a writer, and the beauty of language, particularly in the Southern Gothic tradition, is so important to me. I kept talking to him about The Night of the Hunter, and he didn’t want to listen to me! [Laughs.]

Her weakest book, imo. Still curious to try this as I adore Amy.

amy boring hag adams?

nope

pass.

The critics quite like it. It's around 80% on Metacritic as well.

I hope it's not as graphic as the book was.

Hopefully it's better than the lame film version of Flynn's DARK PLACES, with a miscast Charlize Theron (too old to play the heroine).

GONE GIRL was a meh movie. When Tyler Perry is like a breath of fresh air in your movie, you're in trouble.

“A reporter confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.”

Replace “reporter” with “detective” and you have the plot of Top of the Lake.

Are they the same story?

Aren't we just glad Patricia Clarkson is back in our lives? I mean, when was the last time she was attached to a prestige project like this one anyway? I remember watching her on Six Feet Under and wanting to see her in everything forever, and she just kinda disappeared. Was she doing Broadway or something?

Sounds like "Delores Claibourne" to me

I loved Gone Girl, but Dark Places was so insufferably boring. I hope this is decent.

R12 Patricia has been working pretty consistently since SFU. Did you miss The Bookshop?

r15 I'll check it out but it hasn't exactly made a splash, has it? I mean, it's marked rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, with not a single review from any of the Top Critics. So that's kinda rough. Was it a direct-to-video sort of thing?

R12

Are you serious she’s in HOC and her role has increased for this upcoming season.

Women screaming and getting stabbed and stuff?

No thanks.

r17 Wait, she's in HoC?! I'm definitely watching now that Spacey's out so this is only a bonus. Though you did rob me of an epic surprise, but whatever.

Patricia is a solid supporting actress like Agnes Moorhead or Thelma Ritter. Last time I saw her she was in one of this Maze movies.

I thought Spacey was terrible in HOC so I stopped watching years ago.

Oh, wait, I now remember she was also in that movie "The Party" which I was really excited about but then the critics were sorta meh on it.

Okay, so I concede that she was and continues to be in things, just not where I'd like her to be. I want her in prestige TV shows; every single one of them. I wouldn't mind seeing her in faux-tige TV like Westworld either. Can't get enough of her! Her and Robin Weigert. Is it the perma-squint that does it for me? Because that's about the only thing those two have in common. Well, that and a gorgeous voice, a shittonne of acting talent, presence coming out of their asses etc...

Oh, man, her scenes with Adams are going to be [italic]nuts,[/italic] I can see it already. Just two more days now!

"Siri, show me a list of the nearest Sharp Objects premiere viewing parties." - half of DL gays tonight

Hank Steuver in the Washington Post gives it a mixed review based on the first 8 eps. Very slow-moving, protracted, and fragmented for a pretty cliched small town sex abuse and murder plot.

I'll watch it for Clarkson.

I wasn't that excited but then Saraiya gushed over it and now I'm all in.

Is it me or does Amy Adams look like she's gained weight?

She's always looked a bit pudgy from certain angles, I think.

Since it's set in rural small-town Missouri, nobody in the cast should be thin. If it's going to be realistic, that is.

Adams is going to give you so much quiet devastation, you won't know what to do with yourselves.

Here she is, drinking some sort of alcoholic beverage in a quietly devastating manner.

Amy Adams "breaking bad" consists of guzzling minibar vodkas and driving around in smeared eye makeup.

r27 Are you implying I should have gotten fat for this role? And throw this perfect little taut bod away for a [italic]limited[/italic] series?!

I don't think so, honey.

[Quote] Last time I saw her she was in one of this Maze movies.

The Maze Runner trilogy

[quote]This is Gonna Be a Frautastic Extravanganza of Cliches!

Isn't that the best kind, though?

When you catch yourself giving an Emmy speech in your head while shooting a scene for a project [italic]you know[/italic] is going to get you an Emmy.

Can you even begin to imagine Clarkson's acceptance speech for Supporting? I am beside myself just thinking about it. Notice the little hand movement she does to subtly convey all sorts of things? Now that's ACTING!

Fun fact: one of Clarkson's best roles was in the catfishing-and-man-sex drama THE DYING GAUL (2005). Executive produced by none other than Paul Manafort!

DL fave Elizabeth Perkins was fun in a Geraldine Page like cameo

Jean-Marc Valee loves Amy Adams.

R19

That isn’t a spoiler unless you didn’t watch any of last season.

A small town in the Midwest and everybody's thin and fit. That's fucking hilarious!

First episode was solid

I didn't think the book was good. I knew what had happened to her the whole time

So is this show as unpleasant as it sounds? Is her character a cutter?

I tried to watch the first half hour but was bored and shut it off. Does it get any better? I couldn't take the boring flashbacks.

UGH. No thanks. When does Veep come back?

Loved the first episode. I smell an Emmy for Miss Amy.

[r44] looking at Miss Amy in the trailer, I certainly smell something...

I loved the novel, it's sordid and creepy

Underwhelmed with the first episode.

There's the distraction of Perkins's botoxed forehead to contend with. And the hateful "music" on the soundtrack.

And the cliche of the solitary female alcoholic sucking booze right from petite bottles. Why doesn't she have friends she can have bottomless mimosas with at brunch, like most female alcoholics?

St. Louis looked more bombed out than Dresden in 1945.

I'm going to say something controversial and game-changing: this is what True Detective season 2 should have been AND it's already better than Big Little Lies. Yes, I fucking went there.

I was wondering what shot to gif but the whole episode is just one huge gif. Vallée's direction is so good, despite some inelegant decisions like the Obama poster and the watch closeup. But whatever, he's straight, he doesn't know any better.

LOVED Clarkson doing her Baby Jane shtick. Adams just radiates A-list stardom, doesn't she? Chris Messina is a cock in human form. I was glad when the waiter didn't use the word faggot. I thought "Progress!" But then we get it five minutes later. You wouldn't put the n-word in the mouth of a white person in a prestige TV show that's set in the teens, would you? So why is the f-word coming from a straight person any different? Really disappointed in Marti Noxon there; she's talented enough to convey homophobia in other ways. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Also, we get cutting marks/white tattoos, courtesy of HD television. Imagine having to film that even ten years ago and having it come across semi-decent on the screen?

After being victimized by the horribility that was Gone Girl, I just can't. I didn't even see the movie, even though it starred NPH. And Ben Affleck's penis.

I still...just can't go near Gillian Flynn. No.

Gillian Flynn’s characters are rarely likeable. I thought everyone in Gone Girl were idiots, especially the husband.

I'm going to stick with it, but it really did drag. When the episode was over, my partner asked me how long it was. I said about an hour. He said it felt longer than that. I think that sums up the pace.

Still, it's a testament to Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson that I want to see where this goes. Although she didn't have a lot of screen time, Eliza Scanlen as Amma also has me interested in her character.

r5, in that article, does it mention if she's still singing and/or dubbing?

I've not read the book so will stick with this to find out what happens.

I checked its Wikipedia page and whoever added in the actor who played the dead girl's father has described him as 'hot'.

I haven't been able to watch AA since I saw her as Lois Lane. She was so badly miscast that it took me out of the scenes she's in. I did try to sit through Nocturnal Creatures but I couldn't get through it either.

** Andrea Risenbourgh was delightful in NC and I wish she had more to do in the film.

[Quote] I thought everyone in Gone Girl were idiots, especially the husband.

The only one i liked was the sister.

[Quote] I did try to sit through Nocturnal Creatures but I couldn't get through it either.

Did the opening scene put you off?

Wait? A character who's supposed to be homophobic can't say fag anymore? Must have missed that memo. How else are we supposed to know they're homophobic? I don't like that word, but if it's said by a character we aren't supposed to like, I don't see the issue.

Thought the book was too creepy. Won't be watching this.

The creepinest is exactly what i liked from the book. Flynn is a very sordid writer, in fact Gone girl is the lighter one (i think it probably says something bad about me but i found Amy very funny bitch)

R48, my sister is an alcoholic and she does not have “female friends to drink endless mimosas with” at all. Everyone is sick of her. She chugs from the bottle alone in her car—just like Adams’ character. I’ve known a couple of other women who also did this.

[Quote] in fact Gone girl is the lighter one

The wine bottle scene does seem fairly tame compared to the other novels.

Same with R60, I have a female friend who finally quit drinking. Her husband used to find her passed out in a drug store parking lot after drinking a whole jug of vodka. She was definitely not drinking endless mimosas.

I usually enjoy Patricia Clarkson but this seems like another True Detective 2 and I don't know if I can sit through all the episodes.

I think DL hero and living legend, Michelle Pfeiffer would have been great as Ma

Watched it twice now; it's just too good. Did you see Clarkson sporting those insane heels during breakfast? Who [italic]does[/italic] that? I'm calling her husband as the serial killer right now. Who's the homo holding the teddy bear in the screenshot below? Is he fucking the dead girl's brother? What's with Amy Adams' boss' Chekhov's cough? Is it just an acting choice?

One thing I want to see way more of in this show is sweat. I want Chris Messina's face sweating bullets in every single shot. I want to see a visible sweat line in his ass crack at all times, shot from a leering angle in an exploitative manner. Just objectify Chris Messina to the fullest extent possible while he's still hot, is what I'm basically saying.

r64 I think Clarkson works way better than Pfeiffer in this ethereal role where she needs to be lost in glory days long since gone. Pfeiffer is too severe to pull that off.

Also, could someone please explain to me the thinking behind this staircase design? Why is that part closed off so you have to walk [italic]all[/italic] the way around to get to the room in the background? Seems really inefficient.

ms adams alwys looks like she wandered in after a week long LSD binge.....

LOST AS FUK

R56, No it was sometime after the trashy people run them of the road. I nodded off. I remember the scene with her mother and I could swear that creepy Jenna Malone was in there somwhere. Meh. Did you enjoy NC?

Nocturnal Animals was nice because it was so stylized but I had to mute the chase as it was making me physically ill. My worst nightmare.

r60 I had a female roommate who used to come home from work and drink bottles of wine in her room. I didn't even know until one day her brother showed up to move her things out because she had hit bottom. Her trash can full of wine bottles and a few on the floor.

Imagine having to walk film equipment up those stairs r66. It was brutal.

It's a glorious house, though. But what constitutes "old money" in small-town Missouri? Coal?

Fifteen producers in the credits seems like a lot (approaching ST: DISCO territory) but I don't mind it when the end result is so gorgeous. Maybe they're all just there to pitch in for the royalties for all those expensive songs being used.

I know Adams has to hide her cuts with long pants and shirts but why those leather boots in that heat? Gurl, get yourself some sensible flats or you're going to get a heat stroke, especially being hammered like that all the time.

I liked it despite some reservations. Sordid is a good word for it. Or lurid?

I know it's annoying when people bitch about how certain careers are portrayed on screen. But, as a metro newspaper journalist myself, I will tell you there's no newspaper in a city the size of St. Louis (or much bigger, for that matter) that would send a reporter off on an open-ended quest to get to the bottom of a small-town murder. They should have made her a freelance journalist.

Have I interpreted it correctly that he intentionally sent her on this assignment because of some Dr Phil shit he had seen on TV, so she can deal with her demons? That is the part which seemed especially icky to me. I know they're all like family at these smaller newspapers, but I always prefer a more professional depiction of the journalistic profession. That's particularly important in these awful times. I completely understand that he's her father figure but still...

R75 is asking for the impossible: a Gillian Flynn scenario to bear any correspondence to the real world.

[Quote] No it was sometime after the trashy people run them of the road. I nodded off.

So you missed the toliet scene with Aaron Taylor Johnson.

[Quote] I remember the scene with her mother and I could swear that creepy Jenna Malone was in there somwhere. Meh. Did you enjoy NC?

Jenna does appear for about 2 seconds. And i'm not sure [italic]enjoy[/italic] is the right word. The scenes with Amy got repetitive after a while.

[quote] I usually enjoy Patricia Clarkson but this seems like another True Detective 2 and I don't know if I can sit through all the episodes.

It's not another True Detective. There shouldn't be anything supernatural in it except for the memory sequences. The highlighting of the word on Camille's skin in the final second was just supposed to be a trick of the light for the audience's knowledge, so we notice that a word has been carved by scars into her body.

[quote] Also, could someone please explain to me the thinking behind this staircase design? Why is that part closed off so you have to walk all the way around to get to the room in the background? Seems really inefficient.

Very much what new money wanted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This allows you to have long walls upstairs that you can use (as Adora does in the show) as an art gallery upstairs where you can display large expensive paintings. Also, it adds to the drama of the grand staircase.

[quote] It's a glorious house, though. But what constitutes "old money" in small-town Missouri? Coal?

They said on the show the principal industry in town was hog-butchering.

I think it would also have been a stretch for Michelle Pfeiffer to play small town. She always comes across as a sophisticate.

Solid first episode- I knew it you guys would hate this. Datalounge is so predictable.

I've been reading on Reddit and elsewhere that this is most people's least favourite Gillian Flynn book. So what I'm basically hearing is that you can, in fact, polish a turd if there's big enough talent involved in the polishing process?

[quote]They said on the show the principal industry in town was hog-butchering.

Thanks, I caught that, I just didn't think there was that much money to be made in hog-butchering. I thought that bit of info was thrown in to explain those pieces of meat in the shed where Adams experienced her sexual awakening. The staircase explanation makes perfect sense as well.

r80 I haven't gotten the impression that people here hate this at all. I'm on my third watch now and it's already my favourite thing ever. So if it goes totally off the rails later in the season, I'm just going to kill myself...

Isn't Chris Messina just the least douchy straight guy ever? I mean, if a committee of gays and fraus were to cast a season of True Detective, I feel like they'd definitely pick him as the lead. He looks so infinitely cuddly to me; you just can't imagine him ever sexually harassing you, can you?

I hope Adams fucks him later on and we get to see him shirtless, at the very least.

He's pretty dreamy.

He’s like a younger, hotter, straight Tony Danza

Perfect description 84

How perfectly cast was Sophia Lillis in this role? Mainly because she looks like Adams, of course, but look at her eyes in this shot. She's giving you "I fear for my life but I'm also strangely aroused by this danger" realness. So good.

Although part of me just wants her to get out of that nasty-ass body of water because of the brain-eating amœba. I mean, she obviously survives, but still.

Amy Adams had had a baby not long before the series was filmed which is why she is heavier than usual.

I read a couple of books by this author, including "Sharp Objects" and really didn't like them, but I am completely intrigued after the first episode.

Amy's daughter is like 7 [R87]

She mentioned in an interview that she stopped working out for the role. An alcoholic who eats bar food and 7-11 type snacks (like the character) wouldn't have a great body.

Her legs look great to me in those skinny jeans, although who knows what's hiding underneath those long baggy shirts?

[quote] Thanks, I caught that, I just didn't think there was that much money to be made in hog-butchering.

The big money in the history of Chicago was in hog-butchering & meat-packaging. It created the Armour and Swift family fortunes.

From THR:

ADAMS I'm not an exhibitionist, I'm not somebody who naturally feels comfortable parading myself around in front of people, so I had to have a false bravado standing there naked. There was also a mirror right there and I had to confront my body and I'd stopped working out to play Camille because I thought, "She's not gonna be toned, it's gonna be annoying if we see her naked and she looks like me in American Hustle."

FLYNN She's not someone who takes care of herself.

ADAMS She eats Kit Kats and drinks beer, whiskey and whatever else you put in front of her. She's bloated.

NOXON When I was still in my mini-alcohol-bottle era, I was so skinny-fat it was crazy. It's not a good body.

know it's annoying when people bitch about how certain careers are portrayed on screen. But, as a metro newspaper journalist myself, I will tell you there's no newspaper in a city the size of St. Louis (or much bigger, for that matter) that would send a reporter off on an open-ended quest to get to the bottom of a small-town murder. They should have made her a freelance journalist.

I thought about that too R75; what newspaper would have that type of budget these days when they could get some local blogger type? You're right - make her a freelancer, or make her a big name journalist like the daughter in Delores Claiborne.

Amy Adams is fucking fabulous. It’s a crime that’s she Oscarless when much less talented actors have been awarded.

Agreed [R93]

[quote]NOXON When I was still in my mini-alcohol-bottle era, I was so skinny-fat it was crazy. It's not a good body.

Wow, that hit just a bit too close to home there. And it really is an awful body type.

Obviously the paper knows she has a problem and maybe sending her there more to confront her alcoholism instead of investigating the murders R92.

And thanks to Dr Phil, everyone these days thinks they're a therapist who can treat others. I guess that line was the writers' admission that this is not how you properly deal with alcoholism in the workplace [italic]in real life.[/italic] They should've airlifted Robin Weigert to St Louis to do a sesh with her. Although then we wouldn't get this great drama that's unfolding right now.

It got great reviews and that first episode was boring as shit. Adams is the most overrated actress.

I liked the book. How I rate Flynn's books: Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, Dark Places.

When I first heard that Amy was cast, I honestly thought that it was all wrong. If you read Flynn's books, Amy Adams should have been in Dark Places and Charlize Theron should have been in Sharp Objects.

That complaint aside, I like how Valle really captured that southern (maybe more like midwest, but it feels so southern) gothic vibe.

My other big complaint is the editing. Jean Marc Valle just can not let scenes breathe or fully develop. The thought cuts in this show were annoying. It worked in Big Little Lies because a lot of it was so dialogue heavy so along with those quick cuts you had scenes that were allowed to breathe and go on. This just felt like a bunch of tiny scenes cut together. it felt very ADD

r99 I don't know, it felt to me like he was trying to create maximum tension with those cuts, to convey the inescapability of your past or something.

I could barely breathe when they found that girl's body. Even the pigeons flying above came across as oppressive with that flapping sound they made. No relief to be found anywhere, even in the skies. That whole sequence was making me ill and it had nothing to do with the corpse on display. That's kinda masterful, in my opinion.

Charlize Theron is an interesting choice. Why her? Because of the physical description in the book or something else?

R100 I just felt like he took what worked in Big Little Lies and he blew it up to a 100. I think there should have been less cuts at times.

Yeah I had Charlize in mind because of the book description. Like in the book she's described as being supermodel pretty, blonde, and tall. I love Amy Adams and I think she's super cute, but she doesn't match the book description at all. She matches the character description in Dark Places perfectly.

Oh, man. This was a slog.

BEAUTIFUL direction, solid performances, chilling atmosphere... it's superbly done. Decent script, too.

BUT, HBO killed it by at least not putting up the first two episodes.

Imagine what a surprise it would be - and a gigantic fuck you to Netflix - if HBO announced it would all be available on HBO GO instantly following the premiere. I, for one, would have watched at least the next 2 or 3 eps, if not the whole thing.

As it is, having to endure this every Sunday just is not appealing. It's not compelling/interesting enough to warrant weekly viewings. And it's such a downer. At least BIG LITTLE LIES had major star power and was thrillingly constructed so as to elicit weekly tuning in. This just lays there. Bad move.

I wouldn't want to binge this as it's too heavy but I also wouldn't mind seeing at least the second episode immediately after the premiere.

On the other hand, it's just so wonderfully crafted that I really don't mind sucking on it for a week.

[quote] and was thrillingly constructed

Mary!

I thought BLL was much more of a straightforward story than this one seems to be, at least judging from the first episode.

What about BLL's construction thrilled you so, r102? That it all came so neatly together at the end?

That was an honest question, by the way; I'm not being bitchy or sarcastic. I love BLL!

Do people these days have the attention span of a fruitfly that they found the premiere of this show to be such a slog?? My main objection was that the sound mixing left a lot to be desired: sometimes it was hard to hear the dialogue clearly over the background music and noise. I was almost tempted to turn on closed captioning.

I'll try watching it without the CC on next week because I've seen people complaining elsewhere about the dialogue being too quiet.

I lasted ten minutes into it.

I find amy adams vanilla and boring as porridge.

Way too slow. Dropped it.

[quote], I like how Valle really captured that southern (maybe more like midwest, but it feels so southern) gothic vibe.

Missouri has elements of both IMO.

Is this the remake of Scissoring With Runs?

Are all the eps on at once like netflix?

r113 No, one per week.

[quote]Isn't Chris Messina just the least douchy straight guy ever?

I have no idea what he's like in real life, but he's played plenty of douchy straight guys on screen. I agree with you that he's awfully cute, though.

I don't know, even when he was playing a douche on The Mindy Project, I never quite bought it. I get zero bad vibes from him.

[quote]It's a glorious house, though. But what constitutes "old money" in small-town Missouri? Coal?

R72, they own a pig slaughterhouse in the book.

I can imagine that those who called the first episode slow or even a slog would probably experience any given episode of True Detective as actual torture.

Well, they have Greg Berlanti-produced CW shows to binge on. George W Bush truly failed us: many children *were* left behind.

Clarkson's "I can be hearing any of that" princess bullshit sounds even more ridiculous now that I know every single thing she owns was bought with hog-butchering money. God, I love her so much, but I also want her to be utterly destroyed by the end.

Also, how is she not completely eyelash-less at this point?

Led Zeppelin is to drunk driving as Beyonce is to workouts.

So underneath all that artifice, she's just a basic Missourian frau, is what you're saying?

Just watched 2 series on Netflix, the French series Witnesses. Very creepy, great lead performance from the actress I'd never heard of. Incredibly convoluted but managed to tie up all the loose ends.

Camille's stepfather is played by hot daddy Henry Czerny.

I was listening to a podcast today that had this show as a topic and they zeroed in on exactly the thing that stood out to me with Chris Messina, i.e. his adorableness. I think they called him a manic pixie dream boy who's just there to give Adams a shoulder rub at the end of the day. So spot on. Apparently, his character isn't in the book that much but I'm sure they'll use him more in the show.

r124 I associate him with Revenge so much that it took me out of this show immediately whenever he popped up on screen. I don't think his casting is bad, I just wish I had never watched Revenge in the first place.

r95 For those of us not well versed in body type what is skinny fat? Is it when someone has a protruding gut but skinny arms and legs?

r126 Yes, it's exactly that.

Anybody else have a problem with how darkly lit Valee's interiors are? He uses no lights when he shoots, just daylight for exteriors and ambient lighting for interiors. It was a problem for in the bedroom scenes in BLL and it was a problem in the kitchen scene in SO.

Whenever i hear skinny fat i think of KStew.

I thought that skinny-fat meant thin, but with no muscle tone and a crappy unhealthy diet. Most British men epitomize skinny-fat.

r128 You mean the breakfast scene? I found it weird that the light was turned on in the morning but I thought the lighting in that scene and just in that house in general was gorgeous. The light was so wonderfully rosy when she first arrived back home.

r130 Yes, that as well.

R128 didn't notice though I remember recalling Vallee explained that on Dallas Buyers they couldn't afford lighting so everything had to be shot by natural daylight

I wondered if it had anything to do with budget. When you don't have to light a scene it also makes the shooting go quicker so you save money that way as well.

I doubt he had to watch his expenses too carefully with this particular project.

No we did. We used what we could from Big Little Lies to save money. This second season of BLL is even cheaper on the below the line costs.

r135 Perhaps that bit of info will convince some BLL fans to give this show a try. Because we all know how stubborn those Renata gays can be.

I did notice the weird lighting (or lack thereof) in the kitchen scene with Patricia Clarkson. You couldn't see her face at all until she walked back to the window. When she was coming towards Amy and confronting her, her entire face was dark. Very odd choice, but I liked it, because you never really see stuff like that. Everyone always has perfect hair, makeup, and manage to find their light in movies and TV shows.

For me the acting is a bit odd, like stage play odd. Not something I'd usually expect to see on a TV show. But I think it adds to the scenes feeling a bit creepy, awkward, and unsettling.

Didn't read the book, but watching the first episode the the step sister seems like a sociopath who'd find pleasure in being some Manson type telling her minions to kill for her. Just look at that dollhouse she plays with.

137 I wanted to see Clarkson's face. I'm sure Patricia would have been happier to have her performance seen. I think other than cost he may not know how to light, or what he wants because really the gaffer is the one who lights the set. But the director needs to know what they want and be able to communicate that. Valee was notorious for asking for things right as we were beginning to shoot. Department heads would ask him on the scouts and ask him along the way what he wanted but he woudn't say anything. Then when we are getting ready to shoot suddenly motherfuckers got ideas!

The lighting was fine and I could see Clarkson's face at all times. Besides, there are seven episodes left and you'll be getting more than enough close-up shots of her face to satisfy you.

Gillian Flynn's writing strikes me as too try-hard. She's trying very hard to be edgy, and subversive, and yet, it always reads to me as totally basic. I've read three of her books now, but I found them boring and neither the characters, nor the plot arcs felt real. Her writing seems like it's for the 50 Shades fraus. If anyone can find me a female writer similar to Donald Ray Pollock, please let me know. I really want to support more female authors.

I had overlapping social circles with Flynn in high school. She always came across as the most genuinely kind popular girl I'd ever met. All the bitterness cracks me up. She performed generous adult as a teen and now performs cranky teenager throughout her adulthood.

There was some DL gossip about her a few years ago. A lesbian who had a thing with her and suggested Gillian was rather intense.

Marti Noxon? No thanks. She ruined Buffy.

Trivia: Amy Adams had a small part in a Buffy episode before she became famous.

She acknowledges they went too far in season six but she also says Whedon still had input at the time. So it's not all her fault. Besides, she's made Unreal, Dietland, and Sharp Objects after that so it's not like we should be judging her based on Buffy alone.

[Quote] Trivia: Amy Adams had a small part in a Buffy episode before she became famous.

And also played Kathryn Merteuil in that terrible Cruel Intentions sequel.

Another amy adams dud. she is sominex to anything she is in....

Amy Adams was also in Psycho Beach Party. That was the first thing I saw her in.

The Lolita Amma is the killer and Adora killed her young daughter and this is the reason Camille is an alcoholic mess as an adult. The death of her beloved sister still haunts her.

I was so starved for anything connected to this show that I actually searched for a podcast that's covering it, which I never do. I found this one from two writers at Vanity Fair, which goes through the episode almost scene by scene and which answered most of the questions I had upthread, except for that staircase design.

If you have an hour to kill and prefer a podcast to write-ups, you just might like it. The last five minutes are devoted to book readers so you can just tune out if you haven't read the book.

r148 I don't know if you were joking or not but it's considered incredibly rude to dump book spoilers like that in a thread about its TV adaptation.

I also couldn't help myself and watched this "In the weeks ahead" preview. But without the sound on because I could still muster that much wllpower.

It's going to be so great. The shot of Adams looking at Clarkson while she's engaging in her little trichotillomania alone got me pumped. And is that shot of Chris Messina crouching in the forest stream while looing all radiant and perfect not the sexiest thing ever? Looks a bit like a guido faun.

There is something Nicole Kidman-esque about Amy Adams in that preview at r150

r151 Yes! I couldn't quite put my finger on it but that's exactly what it is.

Counting down the minutes until the new episode of this show drops is my personal hell.

Anyone else noticed how long Adams fumbled with those earbuds? Like she's never done it before in her life. She so rich, she probably pays someone to listen to music for her.

I finally watched the entire first episode. On episode two now. I'm enjoying it.

Not much happens in each episode but it is very engaging. The pacing is also slow but it simmers in an interesting way. It's weird.

You described the show to a T, R155, there's a sense that something appalling might happen at any second.

I can't believe they're going to drag this out for 8 episodes though!

I hope they change the ending from the book.

Is Amy Adams really that beautiful? I think she’s ok/attractive.

Did everyone lose interest in this show?

NO! I am trying to collect my thoughts before posting as I'm currently still too overwhelmed by this episode.

I thought the second episode was rather disappointing.

Favorite scene in episode #2 : The wrestling over the ink pen at the little girl's memorial service.

Amy Adams' character is boring as shit. I'm really hating this so far. Unless the next episode improves, that's it.

Okay, I managed to compose myself a bit after the second viewing. Where do I even begin...

I had to stop ten minutes in the first time around as there was glee overload happening in my brain. The scenes between Adams and Clarkson were more magical to me than all of the Harry Potter movies combined and Clarkson trying to wrestle the pen out of Adams' hand is all the wrestling this homo could ever need. Furthermore, Clarkson's "Jackie, inside voice. It's a funeral." to Elizabeth fucking Perkins is now my ringtone and I want it to also be the last thing I hear before I die. Clarkson's fixed head on Adams as she fled the memorial service and Chris Messina's head bopping up and down from that car immediately after gave me more life than all the vogueing on Pose. Speaking of that handsome bastard...

I would cum on the spot if I were a barber and Chris Messina walked in for a shave. I would cum the second time if he took my tie, tied it on himself, and then put it back on me. Is that not the most charming thing you've ever seen? God, he's perfect. And so meticulous!

The sound mixing when Adams comes to that gathering after the ceremony? Unreal. The flashback to Patricia Clarkson using her [italic]heels[/italic] as weapons pointed at young Amy? Iconic. Clarkson offering to cut the apple and the maid taking over? Clarkson entering war mode after Adams' mischievous smile at the table when she says "just doing my job" and later in that girl's room? We. Do. Not. Deserve. This. Show.

Some questions: What the fuck is wrong with Amma? Was that a fit or is she just spoiled? Who is that guy Adams was eyeing at the gathering? He later appears in the bar and storms out. I can't recall him from the premiere. Why was the maid using that small cloth to clean the floor? I get that it needed to tie in with the next scene but it just seems really inefficient.

I *LOVE* the SHARP OBJECTS troll (kisses, R165), but this show is DOA. I can't imagine they get more than a million viewers an ep (including streaming) and this boring ep coming after the underwhelming premiere is not going to engender an audience going further. HBO really should have put the whole thing up as a binge if this is how slow and monotonous the series is going to be. It's beautifully done with some intriguing elements but the extreme behind the scenes drama between Valee and Noxon is evident in every moment and I fear it will only fall more out of favor as it drags on... hope I'm wrong.

r118 I loved True Detective, this not so much.

I am not understanding all the Chris Messina lust. He is... not appealing to me at all. Very meh.

Are you guys "millenials" ? I hate when these bitches complain how "boring" a show always is.

R165 Do you want a book spoiler on that? I love how the show did this( the fade from the housemaid cleaning the Crenlin floor to Amma polishing her dollhouse floor). Those did not look like teeth though?? Or Amma filed them perfectly I guess.

This is a great adaptation of the book so far. Amy and Patricia are amazing.

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ is my fav miniseries to date, R169. It's not a "millenials" [sic] thing. The show is boring and meandering. Now that we know Noxon and Vallee hated each other its much more obvious why this series is a misfire. I don't hate it, but it's a slog and certainly attention spans have shortened since the Stone Age and most will be far less understanding or interested than this, ahem, "millenial."

R171 Stop watching then .We don't need to hear the same complaint all over the thread.

Keep your advice along with your opinion and I'll do the same, R172. Can't wait for this to get better!

R171 you are one of the few that your opinion about a show is meaningless. Rex Reed you are not.

R173 You're insufferable . Do you really think your opinion is relevant here?

Keep preaching to the choir...

[quote] The sound mixing when Adams comes to that gathering after the ceremony? Unreal. The flashback to Patricia Clarkson using her heels as weapons pointed at young Amy? Iconic. Clarkson offering to cut the apple and the maid taking over? Clarkson entering war mode after Adams' mischievous smile at the table when she says "just doing my job" and later in that girl's room? We. Do. Not. Deserve. This. Show.

DOWN, Mary!!!

The writing is pretty clunky. When the group of nasty classmates of Camille cornered her at the house of the dead girl after the funeral, they should have flashed a subtitle in huge letters; "ENTER JEALOUS BITCHES."

And for the life of me I cannot figure out why Camille, who is adult enough to live on her own in St. Louis and have a flashy job as a newspaper reporter, would still stay at the home of her nutso control-freak mother when they do not get along at all, and her mother was clearly going to keep her from doing her job from the get-go.

The book made the latter point much more believable--subtlety is not at all Marni Noxon's strong suit.

Elizabeth Perkins (who is wonderful) has had so much work done on her face I can't tell how old her character is supposed to be. She looks much younger than Patricia Clarkson, but in real life they're only a year apart in age.

I don't get the Chris Messina love here. He looks like Alan Rosenberg in the 1980s.

I think Elizabeth looks good. Patricia looks too old to have a teenager.

If you look very closely, you can see God in this shot.

Vallée is a genius.

Huh, [R182]?

r183 You either feel it in your soul or you don't, I'm afraid. And the lack of religious symbols is half the point.

Is the book worth reading at this point?

Will it enhance or ruin my enjoyment of this series?

I loved the book.

Chris Messina is a problem. Doesn’t read “Missouri” at all.

[quote] [R183] You either feel it in your soul or you don't, I'm afraid.

Mary!

Messina does give off more of an east coast vibe, but his hotness makes up for it.

Amy Adams is married to gay painter.

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, that's a little funny.

The podcast I mentioned upthread had a lovely little interview with Gillian Flynn in its second episode. She sounds so delightful and cosy, I spontaneously started cradling the nearest (empty) mug and felt fibro flare up out of nowhere. However, I was shocked to find out she's only 47. Is it just me or does she sound like she's in her 60s here, at least? Must have been a dodgy mic.

She really knows her stuff when it comes to narrative devices, both in the books and how they translate to the screen. I liked that they also touched on the ethics in journalism and was surprised that both of the journos thought Adams' boss was their dream editor, when we complained about his behaviour in this thread. Chris Messina's sweat gets a mention, which should be mandatory for all podcasts, if you ask me.

Anyway, I'm going back to my mug cradling now. Would you believe that it's very hard to stop once you've developed the grip for it...

That podcast is fantastic.

Caught myself thinking today: "I can't wait to hear all the Sharp Objects jokes on Will&Grace next season!" and it was definitely one of the most homosexual thoughts I've ever had. Top five, easy.

New episode tonight! Praying to Clarkson's Holy Stiletto that it be as transcendent as the previous two. More Chris Messina taint action like demonstrated in the attached gif, please.

Big Little Lies had real estate porn. America loves real estate porn, especially since HGTV made it their main theme.

ok- i looooove this show. Amy Adams has become my favorite actress. Something about her is so real and unpretentious, and its not airs- it seems genuine. Anyway I love psychology and I really want to understand the pathology of her character in this. Something I noticed is that shes always listening to music on her cracked screen iphone, she also wears headphones all the time. I can relate to this, Im constantly listening to music to turn out the outside world, but I dont know why. Im definitely a loner and antisocial. I believe I have avoidance personality disorder. Can someone breakdown what her character is suffering from and also the clues that point out her pathology?

I started watching it yesterday. Adams is good. I feel like I've seen Clarkson do the same thing before.

Can someone give me the SPOILER, please? I can't fucking stand Jean-Marc Vallée's choppy "memory inserts". Such a cheap editing trick.

What happened to her sister when they were kids?

If you're going to give out book spoilers, please clearly mark them as such at the beginning of your post so those of us who don't want to be spoiled can skip them. Thank you.

Flashbacks are usually cumbersome and lazy but Vallée does them masterfully, I think. Just the right amount to whet the appetite. I personally cannot with linear storytelling and exposition dumps; too basic.

r194 From what we've seen on the show, she's got self- harm, alcoholism, and some infantilistic ticks going on. It's probably to do with her past trauma, and I'm not just talking about her sister's death. We'll see what/if something happened with those boys in the forest as well. Or something worse still. Her mother clearly has an impulse control disorder with that TTM of hers.

[quote] Flashbacks are usually cumbersome and lazy but Vallée does them masterfully, I think. Just the right amount to whet the appetite.

I think they are quite pedestrian and lazy. Actually, quite film school.

I mean, the way Vallée does them. It's cheapest way of doing them. ^^^

I disagree, I think they're tremendous and work really well with the character and the story in general. It's like the oppressiveness of that town is squeezing them out of her, drip by drip.

I think they are pedestrian and completely lack sophistication, R199. They can and have been done much better.

[quote] It's like the oppressiveness of that town is squeezing them out of her, drip by drip.

I think the idea of them is fitting (although, he used them in Big Little Lies, so it's a narrative/visual device that he is generally found of), but the execution is most definitely inelegant.

meant to day "fond of"

I just don't get why Camille can't stand up to her mother now she's an adult. I can't feel any sympathy for her.

I HATE the mom! Is she the killer? Ughhhhh……..

Why the fuck doesn't Camille stay in a fucking hotel??? This show is maddening.

So boring. Beautifully shot... but, so utterly devoid of inspiration. Recurrently obvious the director and creator hated each other - the editing and "storytelling" is such a mess. Seems like everyone onscreen is phoning it in, except Amy Adams who is over-dialing everything. Thank God for Clarkson and Messina to add something of value, flop sweat included.

I'm beginning to hate the show. It's treating Camille's self-mutilations as if they're glamorous.

The twink is adorable. I hope he gets naked in a future episode.

I hated it. They did find a good match for young Amy Adams though.

I want to bitch-slap all the people in this thread who keep calling this show "boring"

I wonder if they'll change the killer or will it be the same ending as the book?

Great episode tonight. And sad too.

Don't you come after winter, gorgeous Chris Messina!

r207 The story is told mainly from her point of view and to her, cutting and scars [italic]are[/italic] glamorous and a point of pride. It's hard to wrap your head around it if you haven't suffered from the same pathology. I felt exhilarated whenever I saw my starving body in the mirror as a teenager and that sounds totally insane to me today.

R182,et al. is posting while high on X.

Oh, and he’s a retard.

The actress portraying Alice in the psych ward flashbacks also portrayed Eden in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Interesting that bootheel Missouri is the setting. Didn't GONE GIRL take place there? Is Gillian Flynn from Missouri?

That part of the state is most assuredly southern in culture. Since most of the show is shot in Georgia, it's no surprise it has a southern gothic sensibility, rather than a midwestern one.

Adora's beautiful house, though, is in Northern California and looks it.

It’s weird to me that batshit insane Adora is married. All of the crazy women I know past menopause are single.

r217 And it's been revealed that she doesn't even sleep with Alan. She has him and Amma trapped in her mansion, and both are trying to escape constantly; Amma by acting out and sneaking out, and Alan by getting lost in his music. A commenter on the AV Club described Alan as the three wise monkeys all rolled into one person, and I thought it was very apt.

Adora is just such a controlling monster and the juxtaposition with all those floral dresses she wears makes her appear even more monstrous somehow.

Gillian Flynn is from Kansas City, Missouri which is why she uses Missouri a lot in her books.

In my hometown, people referred to Missouri as “Misery.”

Well, now we know what Chris Messina looks like when he starts drunkenly flirting with you.

Anyone else surprised at how quickly those two went from 0 to 7? Or were they just playing the game and pumping each other for info? I imagine it's getting tougher and tougher for him with each passing day being holed up in that motel, away from all that trade in Kansas City.

SPOILERS AHEAD - DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.

R195, In the book, Adora has manchusen by proxy. She killed marian by going too far with deliberately sickening her. Amma inherited her illness in a reverse way. She knew what adora did and let her sickened her deliberately in exchange of exclusive love and attention. She was friends with the two dead girls and killed them when adora started paying them more attention. She also kills another of her classmate when she is living with camille in the city because she gets jealous of the attention camille gives the other girl. That's how camille finds out amma is the recent killer not adora. Turns out adora;s mom took her to a forrest and abandoned there. That's where the sickness came from, not getting her mother's love in her childhood.

[bold]Patricia Clarkson’s Provocative Women[/bold]

[quote]The 58-year-old actress has made a career out of playing dark, alluring characters — none more terrifying than her latest on HBO’s [italic]Sharp Objects.[/italic]

She's just divine, isn't she?

Chris Messina looks so much like English actor Tom Cullen.

Yeah, I can kinda see that. Especially from certain angles.

Patiently waiting for him to drop trou already. It's HBO, Chris, go big!

I'm now imagining Skarsgård giving him advice on penis prosthetics while they're having a beer. Oof.

[quote] I feel like I've seen Clarkson do the same thing before.

I'm going to get flamed for this, but I don't care. I agree with this comment completely. She always resorts to this low tone whispery voice and I am so sick of it. She is very one note to me.

*sits next to r227*

I thinks she’s a decent actress, but she doesn’t disappear into the roles I’ve seen her play. I’m always aware it’s her.

I like Patty Clarkson, but I agree...she's kind of phoning it in, so far.

I couldn't place her r35 but I didn't want to google who it was because it seemed more fun to try and guess. I never would have guessed Elizabeth Perkins. The Geraldine Page analogy was spot on. Didn't read the book or read the spoilers above but I'm guessing that the Woman in White is/was Camile's mother. The step-father must play a bigger role in the story because he is being portrayed as deliberately vague but I'm not sure if the step-sister acting all Norman Batesish is just a red herring.

Messina and Adams have great chemistry. Love looking at him.

You want Clarkson to do something with her acting that she's never done before (what, burlesque?) even though the script calls for exactly what she's doing right now? I don't care if you think she's phoning it in or if she is, in fact, phoning it in - what she's doing right now fits the character perfectly. I completely get what she's trying to convey at all times and I'm both scared and repulsed by her. She's giving me ruthless Demeter and I'm loving it.

The "disappearance into the character" thing is pretty subjective; I think she disappears into her character as well as Adams and Adams is one of the best there is. Also, why would anyone phone it in on a prestige project with Vallée, especially seeing how BLL blew up? That makes zero sense to me. Everyone's bringing their A-game here.

I think I just naturally in this moment became the official Patricia Clarkson Troll and you know what? I'm fine with it and it feels fucking amazing and liberating. "Look what you did!"

It is actually GREAT. So well made, interesting. Love it.

I’ve never understood the reverence for Patricia Clarkson. I can only surmise that so few actresses in her age group are given work in Hollywood that she must stand out to some people.

Did I hear right that all 8 episodes are streaming?

No R235.

I liked his stereo system so I looked it up. It is only $80,000.

Simaudio is not all that.

The critics disagree with you R238.

R222 "She also kills another of her classmate when she is living with camille in the city because she gets jealous of the attention camille gives the other girl. "

I 'm confused, who's living with Camille, Amma or another girl?

I like Patricia Clarkson but I thought she has looked 60 for years.

Yes I actually thought that she was around 70.It doesn't matter though,at least she doesn't look like a plastic barbie.

second year in the row: adams voted LEAST INTERESTING BOZO ACTRESS EMPLOYED TODAY.....

[bold]The scariest part of 'Sharp Objects' isn't the murders. It's the teens.[/bold]

I've always thought teen girls were the most vicious monsters ever just in general, but Amma's attack on Camille in that parking lot was next-level cruel. It was straight-up bullying, really.

Yeah, those are some fucked up chicas.

I will continue to watch it but I am a little tired of the trope of alcoholic, lonely, and desperate woman.

"Fucked up chicas"

Hahaha. I like that .

Couple of things I noticed on my fourth rewatch of the third episode. By the way, I am expecting a baby with this show eight months from now. And before you ask - no, none of you are invited to the gender reveal party.

When Ann Nash's father says "Who would do such a thing to a kid?", Camille immediately asks "Are you talking about your wife or?" and he replies "No, I'm talking about the killer." How telling that she immediately thinks of a mother figure when he brings up child abuse. Such delicious writing.

Also, Adora at one point says to Amma when she's scolding her: "Do you understands me?" With an "s". Never heard that sentence being phrased like that before. I've listened to it several times now and it was definitely intentional. Is that a Missouri thing or a posh thing or what, exactly?

r246 How is that a trope? Where have you seen a damaged alcoholic female character leading a prestige TV show before? That shit has [italic]always[/italic] been reserved for men and I'm glad the times are changing.

Also, I found another podcast in addition to the one I mentioned upthread which features a gay critic and a frau editor at Vanity Fair. This one is made by two straight guys. They're both "civilians" and non-book-readers, so it's interesting listening to their perspective that's maybe closer to the casual viewer. I'm usually really wary of straight guys' podcasts but I've been so starved of Sharp Objects content, I gave them a shot as well. Remarkably thorough and insightful discussion.

My life: ruined.

Boring as shit. I watched 2 episodes. That's it. Can't stand Amy Adams.

Amy Adams is attractive, but her nose job is awful. Just awful. It's distracting.

That annoying windchimey score is distracting.

New episode tonight! We're not even halfway in and I'm already experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. Whatever, I'm just going to rewatch it constantly for the next seventy years. And I now totally understand those eldergays still discussing Ethel Merman's performances from fifty years ago. It's so hard not to cling when you've found something you deem perfect, isn't it?

By the way, this pic is so zoomable, you can literally count Chris Messina's chest hair. He so delish.

^^^^^^^FRAU ALERT^^^^^^^^

Please kill yourself immediately, r254.

A series about a frau cutter? And this gets traction on DL. Boys, snap out of it!

It should be re-titled THE GLAMOUR OF FUCKED-UP WOMEN.

It's so unrealistic. They all pound premium booze and never slur, stumble, say anything stupid (repeatedly) or even act buzzed. A real alcoholic would be slamming Popov and shitting their pants

It's because it's all a relentless exercise in style, r259. This show is about how fabulous it is to be drinking and abusive (and.or abused) and wealthy.

People here are so stupid. Don't watch it if you find this show "unrealistic" or "boring".

So far I hate it. As R259 states they're the most sober bunch of drunks. I am hating Patty Clarkson's Blanche Dubois impersonation in this. The picking of the eyelashes?? Disgusting. I usually love her. Amy Adams acts like she is in a coma, but not drunk just comatose. I get it she is detached but jesus. She brings nothing to this so far. One bright spot is Elizabeth Perkins, otherwise a great show if you like to watch someone drive and drink.

I "get" that he character of Amma is SUPPOSED to be fucked up and annoying, but god damn it I just can't stand her and she's nearly ruining the show for me. Was she this irritating in the book?

luv pat Clarkson but amy adams is pure zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Boring fukwad Amy Adams soils every movie she is in.

She must give good head, is no other excuse for her fuking up so many flix.

r260 I disagree completely. I see nothing fabulous in the alcoholism or the wealth on display. It's all shown to be thoroughly rotten and overflowing with dysfunction on the inside, so you read that wrong. Relaying the story with style doesn't render the story elements themselves stylish. You'd think people would have no problem with that distinction in the age of Peak TV, but I guess not.

r262 To me, it's about soaking in the atmosphere of it all. Totally fine if that's not your thing. And I actually think Elizabeth Perkins isn't all that great in this. I mean, she's serviceable enough, I guess. But then again, she hasn't had that many scenes so far.

r263 I had a cousin like her. The worst. You just end up hoping something bad will happen to her and feel like shit in the process.

I usually love Amy Adams, but I'm not loving her performance in this. I agree with r262.

Amy Adams is like semi-animated white bread.

[quote][R222] "She also kills another of her classmate when she is living with camille in the city because she gets jealous of the attention camille gives the other girl. "

[quote]I 'm confused, who's living with Camille, Amma or another girl?

In the book, Amma is sent to live with Camille after Adora is arrested. Amma then kills a classmate there. In the book, Camille lived in Chicago. In the show, they changed it to St. Louis.

It's a slow burn. I don't mind. I really liked the latest episode because we are getting a glimpse of the real Adora. A Steel Magnolia who may or may not be the murderer or is complicit because she knows who is. Camille never had a chance. I liked the scenes between Vickery and Adora because it more than hints at an intimate past between them that has caused Alan great pain. Great work by the actor who is playing him. Unfortunately he has one of those names that is difficult to remember. Henry ? Love the chemistry between Craven and Clarkson. He's so good. Back on point, Amma's hostility towards Vickery leads me to believe that he suspects she's involved in the murders, the daughter who is dangerous. Or she may be his daughter and she suspects as much. Last but not least I liked that Camille and Kansas City hooked up. Of sorts. And I'm looking forward to seeing more of Alan and Adora's tortured relationship being revealed.

What was the last scene at the bar about? I did not get the conversation?

The detective told Camille that Amma knew the dead girls very well, R271.

I really like the show, but, I found all the flashbacks a bit confusing in end of episode #4, who is the girl lying dead on the floor in the porno cabin?

Not the detective, [R272]/[R271]; it was one of the dead girl’s older brothers that told Camille at the bar that Amma was basically best friends with the two dead girls and was constantly breaking up fights between the two of them and that all 3 girls were constantly hanging out in that creepy ass shed in the woods. He seemed to know Amma pretty well himself.

Camille freaked out, thinking that Amma may be the next target of the killer or even that Amma might be in the creepy shed alone that late at night since she wasn’t at home in her bed.

But, basically, because Amma never told Camille or anyone that she was besties with the dead girls—and never cries over them or shows fear—it seems to me that she’s more likely to be the killer than the next victim...

Right, R274. Thanks for clarifying.

Did you see the creepy "smile" meme of the bloody mouthed guy that the girls were giggling about?

My impression, [R273] was that the flash of a new dead girl in the cabin was just a flash of the fear racing through Camille’s mind at the moment that Amma—since she was always hanging with the other two dead girls in that cabin—would next be found dead and decaying in the shed (because the cop also told Camille earlier that he personally believed that the killer had been stalking the girls and watching them all in the shed before he killed the two girls).

I think the flash was Camille’s sudden fear of finding Amma dead in the shed when she didn’t find her at home in bed and was going to race through the streets to try to find her before the killer does.

It could also have been a quick “flash forward” in the series of them finding a new dead girl in town in the creepy shed in a future episode—but my personal impression was that it was a manifestation of Camille’s sudden fears about Amma’s safety...

Four episodes left. If one of Amma's new besties ends up dead then we know she's knee deep in the middle of this mess. I thought one of the flashbacks insinuated that Camille discovered one of the dead girls in the shed. And didn't report it. And then her sister was murdered which accounts for her guilt.

Not a big Amy Adams fan but loved her as the con woman in "American Hustle"

Patricia Clarkson can be one note but the first time she came to my attention was in the lesbo drama "High Art", where she plays a completely fucked German lesbian junkie. When i looked her up online i was shocked to find she was American. Here's a great blurb about her performance in High Art

[quote]Greta in “High Art” - Clarkson’s breakthrough role was as Greta, the heroin-addicted girlfriend to Ally Sheedy’s renowned photographer. Clarkson takes this supporting role and turns it into pure magic. Her Greta is like Marlene Dietrich stuck in a Warhol Factory film, and she steals every scene she’s in.

R277, thank you for your kind reply & explanation, I re-watched the episode tonight & it certainly looked liked Amma as the victim.

One thing I'd like to see: Camille hauling off & slapping the piss out of Adora.

R269 Thanks for the spoiler alert. Not all of us have read the book.

“Sharpe Objects” — so the British Army finally starts a war that even Richard Sharpe can’t support?

R281 don’t count on the series following the book, they never do.

It's been impossible to avoid spoilers for this. They've been everywhere, unfortunately.

Well R222 was kind enough to put a big bold spoilers tag at the top of their post, then R269 quoted it without any type of warning.

You can avoid them if you're careful. It's common courtesy to give a warning so people can skip over a post if they're trying not to be spoiled.

Even that Vanity Fair podcast has had to admit they didn't do enough to announce spoilers in their segment where they discuss the book.

The book was published 12 years ago but it's not really fair to expect everyone has read it. The people posting spoilers are doing it out of spite, like the one near the beginning of this thread who told who the killer is.

I avoided the spoiler post and scrolled down fast when I realized the asshole at r269 was giving away the big reveal. I only read recaps of the episodes on other sites. Have not read any spoilers in those recaps. DL has a long history of a few miserable assholes trying to spoil it for everyone else. Like the jerk who revealed the name of the killer in the first season of True Blood right before the finale aired. I still hate his guts.

I joined a FB page about The Handmaid’s Tale right before the season 2 finale and immediately realized there were spoilers so I unfollowed it until after I saw the finale. If I hadn’t read Sharp Objects but was watching the series I’d be avoiding this thread.

But the point is, we shouldn't HAVE to avoid a thread about a buzz worthy show where it is clear that most of the posters have not read the book and who are here to discuss what happened and what MIGHT happen next. We are all adults aren't we? The fun is in discussing the latest episode after it airs. Not eight weeks from now. What would be the point? I was pleasantly surprised that Big Little Lies wasn't spoiled even though it was based on a book.

Marti Noxon was on the Keep It! podcast this week, talking smack about Goop and her NYT interview. She's such a delight. I do wish she talked more about Sharp Objects but I can understand why she'd be more passionate about Dietland and her new gun control movie, than this literary adaptation that's ending four episodes from now.

Also, I stumbled on this video yesterday and realized that everyone is white. I hope I haven't been enjoying the show because I'm a raging racist deep down. In truth, I was more on the lookout for homos. But there are just two black women on this show and BLL was a wipipo show as well, wasn't it? Hmm, I'm seeing a pattern here.

r289 Agreed 100%. If all of the book readers would be considerate enough to start their posts with SPOILERS (literally just eight letters), there would be no conflict in the first place. I'll enjoy reading those posts [italic]after[/italic] the show wraps up.

To be fair, BLL takes place in Monterey which is indeed mostly white people. I live near it. The 4th of July parade there this year included pro-Trump displays and his MAGA slogan.

Noxon gave Ira Madison this fabulous Patricia Clarkson figurine when she was on that podcast and I have never coveted anything more in my entire life.

[quote]The 4th of July parade there this year included pro-Trump displays and his MAGA slogan.

That's fucking deplorable and no, I'll never tire of saying that.

What is the timeline of the flashback when Camille is in hospital with the young girl who drank bleach? I'm asking because Camille from the flashback looks the same age as Camille in the present story.

Gang rape, suicide of a hospital roommate, dead sister, emotionally abusive mother... anything else? Does Camille not have A SINGLE happy memory?

r293 I've heard both book readers and non-readers speculate about that particular timeline on the podcasts I listen to. Maybe they'll clear it up eventually. I just want to know what was the event that got her drinking on the job, which subsequently gave her boss the idea to send her to Wind Gap. Perhaps [italic]that[/italic] was the triggering event? So she got out of rehab after that girl's suicide, resumed with her job, but started drinking heavily?

[quote]Does Camille not have A SINGLE happy memory?

Forgot to add... didn't the first episode open with her and her sister roller skating down the road, free as birds? That seems like a happy memory to me.

I forgot that one, R295, because it's only shown at the beginning. That hardly makes up for all the other horrors, though.

[Quote] Does Camille not have A SINGLE happy memory?

She wouldn't last a day in Neverland.

How fucked up is it that this town has a tradition of gang raping the cheerleaders and no one bats an eye? Like does shit like this actually happen in small towns?

The gang rape encounter isn't necessarily a horrible memory for Camille. She argues with Chris Messina about the nature of that encounter, and also mines it for sexual gratification. Of course, we don't know if coming back to Wind Gap triggered that one instance in her in the first episode or whether she returns to that imagery constantly to get off. However, we've seen her climax twice now and that shed was included each time so it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that it's her main reference point. She might not even be able to get off without it.

r298 That scene with young Camille looked like she was waiting for the boys to come to that [italic]well-known[/italic] gangbang spot and have her way with her, so as to defy her mother on her birthday. It was definitely statutory rape, but I don't think it was violent or forced. We'll see but I doubt they'll show it in graphic detail. It's a really tricky question of whether she's a victim if she herself doesn't perceive that as sexual assault.

R299 In the book, Camille's first time having sex was with four boys one after the other. It doesn't really play out like it does in the show. It was something that was quick and that she got it over with.

I forgot that scene where Camille and the sister are rollerblading. And then in the latest episode when Camille becomes panicked that Amma is in danger we see two girls rollerblading down that dark road and then only Amma is there illuminated by the car headlights doesn't seem random. What happened to the other girl?

I saw Adams & Messina on The View.

What rock have I been living under that I had no clue he was married to Geena Davis?

She's had bad plastic surgery in the photo they showed of them.

Great post, r299. I agree that whatever tramspired in the woods that day was something that she seemed to set into motion on a subconscious level even if it was due to fool-hardy behavior. She followed the boys to the shed. She made herself visible to the one with the gun. Even after he aimed the gun at her she continued to follow them deeper into the woods. They were obviously up to no good. Did she have a crush on the boy with the gun? She wasn't shocked by the photos. They seemed to arouse her. I wonder if she returned again and again to the shed and on one occasion her sister followed her and never made it home?

Messina isn't married to Geena Davis. His wife is a producer and runs Matt Damon's film company. Or something like that. He was married to Rosemarie DeWitt for twelve years.

I didn't read r298's post because if I wanted to know what happened in the book I would read the book. Which I might do after the show is over. Here's an idea. Start a thread where book readers can discuss the show and the way it differs from the book.

Exactly, [R305]; until the finale of this show airs, none of us care about the book or its ending.

Anything before the show finale airs are just spoilers; otherwise, we could all read the Wiki on the book and spoil it for ourselves.

Not knowing what happens at the end is a big driving force to actually watch the show...

The use of red and green colors in the show is a language in itself. Too bad DL-ers can only analyze a film or a TV show on the level of plot or story.

Yes, too bad the world does not possess your lofty and superior intellect, R307.

I've told this story here before, but Clarkson used to be a regular at a mani/pedi place I used to go to in the West Village. I sat next to her many times. She treated the Russian pedicurists like specks of dirt and made them call her "Patricia." This is back when she was with Campbell Scott and she was always talking about "her husband." I always wanted to pipe in, "you ain't married, bitch."

[quote] Yes, too bad the world does not possess your lofty and superior intellect, [R307].

Just basics of film language, it's what I meant. And I wouldn't mention it if DL-ers don't pretend to be so knowledgeable of cinema.

F & F and Ignore for r269.

R307's a douche. He sweats vinegar.

Does HBO upload four episodes at a time?

I’m three episodes into this and it already has a distinct whiff of self-parody (becoming more and more like an unwavering stench).

It makes me laugh that these Jean Marc Vallée mini-series's always have the DJ/audiophile character with the never-ending playlist of mood-enhancing tunes. Is that supposed to be the gateway for the director’s own cool persona?

Let’s play a game: what actresss would be better cast in Amy Adams’ role who neither convinced as a former debutante or a former deb on a downward spiral or an alcoholic, no matter how convincing she looks as someone who smells bad.

Chris Messina? Are they kidding? Isn’t he a little short for this role? He don’t believe for a minute he’s from Kansas City. Who cast this thing?

Enjoyably campy. Big fan of Patricia Clarkson but she’s waking a razor thin fine line in this True Detective/Big Little Lies mashup. I don’t actually consider Gillian Flynn a writer of note.

I find the following a little too precious, however I'm willing to overlook these things:

The name "Wind Gap"

The maid's uniform and all that food on display in a house full of drinkers

The abundance of vintage murals on old buildings-- a town like this would have painted over most of those (but not all); likewise, there would be some gaudy payday loan type places, Dollar Trees and a Walmart.

The young people not glued to their phones.

But I'm enjoying the story.

Will someone grab screencap of Chris Messina's ass and dick?

Nothing ever happens on this show.

Except for Chris jerking off.

Surely Amy's character, living down south and all, would at least own some long-sleeved t-shirts or blouses.

The jacking off was pretty graphic for tv.

I want a gif of the jacking off.

R316, it was really dark on screen but that was worth sitting through the episode for.

And I wonder if Adora finds something to cry about at every one of those festivals.

That was a waste of an hour. Nothing happened to advance the story. We already knew that Vickery and Adora have a history and he's still acting like a dog in heat. That the wife knows is not a revelation. Adora is jealous of Camille. So is Amma but that doesn't explain why both of them are growing increasingly uneasy with her budding friendship with Kansas City. Adora's not so subtle attempt to undermine Camille's credibility. And the little drama queen running off to the shed was directly related to seeing the two of them together. Obviously attracted to each other, but more importantly, collaborating to solve the case? Was her panic attack real or just a Trumpian level distraction? The only thing good about this episode was ending it with a shot of Messina's fine body.

[Quote] And I wonder if Adora finds something to cry about at every one of those festivals.

Was her husband Alan the young photographer in the flashback?

All the reviews I read said it was good but it dragged. I concur. And the daddy that everyone suspects killed his daughter is Luke from Nashville! I knew I recognized the actor (Will Chase), but I couldn't figure out from where. I haven't watched Nashville in years, so it took me a few episodes to figure it out.

[quote]I knew I recognized the actor, but I couldn't figure out from where.

Speaking of that -- who's playing the teacher who has the hots for Amma? He played the piano to accompany the "play" in last night's episode. I know I know him but I can't figure out from where.

I hope Elizabeth Perkins gets a few showy scenes before it’s over. I know Clarkson will be the Emmy nominee for supporting, but it’s criminal Perkins didn’t get the Emmy for Weeds.

I know Amma got high right before the play but was it X? t first I thought LSD because of what they put on their tongues but that’s way old school.

It was strange. They took whatever the drug was supposed to be as if it LSD but the effect seems to be more like that of ecstasy since she didn't seem to be hallucinating.

[quote]who's playing the teacher who has the hots for Amma?

Is it Jackson Hurst? He was also on NCIS: Los Angeles

R328

Perkins & Clarkson looked beautiful last night.

The interesting thing we've learned from episode #5 is the killer is re-living "Calhoun Day" with the victims ( a young woman raped & tortured by Union soldiers), minus the rape, which leads to the possibility of the killer being female.

So if Ashley is the woman in white and she lured the victims to the shed who did she do it for and why? The boyfriend doesn't seem interested in having sex with her. Impotent? But if John Nash is indeed the killer why did he kill his own sister? Next week's preview shows Amma giving Camille a pill, most likely Ectasy, and leaning in to kiss a female. Please don't let it be Camille. This story is sick enough. Amma has acted out twice after seeing how Camille and Richard are attracted to each other. Is she dangerously jealous but not for the obvious reason? The only way it could get any sicker is if Amma and Adora have an incestuous relationship and having sex with her own sister wouldn't be out of bounds for Amma.

Amma and Adora's relationship is already abnormal and borderline incestuous. It wouldn't be too much of a reach for them to have a sexual relationship though I think if that were the case in the book some cunt would have already spoilered it already like they have everything else.

I like the show and enjoy many aspects of it (particularly the performances, cinematography, and direction—as well as the general idea of the story).

The past two episodes (4 and 5) are the only ones that have felt slooow to me and light in content—though I did still enjoy them in some way and will continue to watch.

The show is definitely a “slow burn” though as a whole, so I really think it could have benefitted from HBO releasing all of the episodes “Netflix style” (all at once) and allowing us to binge watch them.

I think that would have helped “Sharp Objects” feel more cohesive and like a long film with several chapters, rather than like it’s being “drawn out” a little . I would much prefer to watch the show that way and am actually thinking of just waiting 3 weeks so I can watch it all at once like a movie...

*not like it’s being “drawn out” a little bit more week after week.

[quote]Is it Jackson Hurst?

Yes, thank you! I've never watched NCIS: LA, but looking through IMDB, I must remember him from Drop Dead Diva.

The song at the end of this week’s episode (5) was aaaawful!

I also kind of miss when Camille only listened to Zeppelin...

(She also seemed to be able to stand up to Adora more when she only listened to Led Zeppelin)

The girl playing Amma is actually not very attractive.

SPOILER: In the book, Camille tells Richard about the cheerleader she heard about who got gang-banged in the woods. Then she cops to the reader that it was actually her. However, the book does not portray it as a gang-rape, just Camille being slutty. The way it's been hinted at on HBO looks like it's going to be presented as a gang-rape. The Jackson Hurst character was part of it, it seems.

Also, who gets together to watch "Beaches" now with their girlfriends? Is it 1990?

Wondering if anybody was caught off guard by what, to me, was a revelation. Amma is only 14? Granted, I didn't read the book. But I just always assumed she was 16. Fuck!

I feel like Amma was 13 in the book but I haven’t read it in years. She’s royally fucked up.

Amma is 13 in the book.

I'm surprised at how obvious the movie is being about who the killer is.

My son figured out who the killer is halfway through the first episode. I didn’t tell him he was right, but I was disappointed. I did not know while reading until I got to the end.

If you watch the opening credits closely, they also show who the killer is. It's pretty subtle but I got it.

I guess I'm a dolt because I haven't figured it out.

I've been leaning toward the step=father.

I don't know either, but I usually just go along for the ride. The weird sister/sister relationship is starting to bother me - seems like a male gazey-thing for the "lesbos are hot" crowd.

But man, Camille is the QUEEN of bad choices.

My friend think's it's the hot brother's girlfriend.

That scene at the end of last week’s episode where the monster mother says to her daughter, “...and that’s why I never loved you, Camille.” That was shocking to me. I gasped. And then I reminded myself that was what the woman I used to call “mother” said to me 13 years ago and that’s why I no longer have a relationship with her.

It was something, to empathise with Camille and feel the full force of it, and then finally feel the weight of that in my own life.

I think it is the wacky mother.

Messina's smokin hot but that vocal fry is a boner wilter.

R354, THANK YOU. It's insufferable. I'm really surprised he was chosen for this role, in a prestige series. I had to mute his parts in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Interesting . . . just rewatched "Fix" and I only now noticed she threw Alice's iPod away on the road.

Damn, I keep getting John Keane and Bob Nash mixed up. Someone up thread said that the killer is identified in the opening credits but the only people in the credits are Camille, Marian, Amma, Adora, and Alan. But I swear someone in a pig mask is in that pen with the real pigs. I read the reviews of the book and no one gave away the ending but several reviewers said it had a major twist. Even if Amma is sixteen on the show wouldn't Adora have been way too old to have given birth to her? Alan said he lost a daughter too. So Marian was his, Camille was born out of wedlock, and it's up in the air as to who Amma's real mother is? Please let something happen tonight to move the plot along.

[quote]Someone up thread said that the killer is identified in the opening credits

That poster's talking out of their ass.

And why was John Kean's girlfriend scrubbing the carpet with bleach?

"And why was John Kean's girlfriend scrubbing the carpet with bleach?"

There was blood on the carpet, R358.

What if Chief Vickery's the dead girl's father? I first thought maybe Camille's father, but that's not likely.

Blood from what?

her period

If someone was singing that goddamn Pa'lante! song in a bar everyone would be heading outside for a long smoke break.

WHET Campbell Scott?

I can't stop hate-watching this horrible show. I can't get over how incredibly passive Camille is when people (like those bitchy girls from her high school years) treat her badly, and how bizarre her expectation is that she can be put up in her horrible mother's house forever when her mother can't stand her and gets so furious over her investigative reporting. Staying there even for just the first night seemed ridiculously improbably given how her mother treats her.

[quote] Even if Amma is sixteen on the show wouldn't Adora have been way too old to have given birth to her? Alan said he lost a daughter too. So Marian was his, Camille was born out of wedlock, and it's up in the air as to who Amma's real mother is?

Camille is Adora's child by her first husband, who died when Camille was young. Then she soon after married Alan, and they had Marion together, who was thus Camille's half-sister, and who died. After Marion died and Camille left for college, Alan and Adora had Amma, who is supposed to be about fifteen now. Adora is supposed to be in her late 50s--she had Amma very late in life (close to menopause). Patricia Clarkson is perhaps even so a little old to be playing Adora.

[quote]WHET Campbell Scott

He had a recurring role on Dietland, which finished its inaugural season just a week or so ago.

In the book, Adora is supposed to be about 48. Clarkson looks about 63.

In the scene on the veranda with Camille it sounded like Adora's dentures were loose. The sound is so muddled at times that I'm not sure that it isn't deliberate. I have no idea who the murderer, or murderers, are.

It seems like Camille is supposed to be traffic-stopping supermodel gorgeous. Amy Adams is attractive but falls way short of that description.

I hope this series doesn't have a "Fuck you" ending, and we never learn the killer's identity.

I thought the Ecstasy scene was odd both in the book and in the episode. It didn't move anything forward.

It looks like the show is indicating that the police chief and literal "cute ass" detective think the killer is different people. Perhaps the show will have an ambiguous ending, leading to a season 2. This is what Gillian, the novelist, wants. There are more layers to explore in this town.

This show does not need a season 2.

Didn't Amy Adams say she wasn't up for a second season?

I think it showed that both Camille and Amma have trouble with boundaries and are a tad perverse. POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!! Someone mentioned that Adora has munchhausen by proxy. Is it possible that she poisoned all of the girls, including Marian, and then staged the deaths to look like a sadistic serial killer did it? Perhaps Alan is the one who removed the teeth. Could the teeth verify that the girls ingested a substance that was toxic? The roomate killing herself with Drano was too close to the truth about how Marian died. Only not by her own hand. Amma, you is in mortal danger girl. The reason Camille avoided their fate is because Adora didn't "love" her but she did love the others. So Vickery and Kansas City thinking that there is more than one killer is close. One killer, and one to stage the deaths and cover for the killer.

[quote] The sound is so muddled at times that I'm not sure that it isn't deliberate.

I'm having the same issue - the quality of sound mixing on this show is rather poor given the budget it must've had. It might be deliberate, in order to contribute to the hazy feel of the entire thing: memories, images, sounds...

If the series follows the book’s plot line there will be no need for a second season.

[quote]I can't stop hate-watching this horrible show.

Neither can I. Except that the past 2 episodes have been so dull I keep falling asleep mid-way. "Slow burn" my ass. Nothing fucking happens.

R370 I imagine in a town as small as Wind Gap, a Amy Adams type would be a legit supermodel to them.

I love Amy Adams. I think she's doing a fine job. But it's kind of jarring that she's at least 10 years too old for the character she's playing. Adams is 43, isn't Camille supposed to be 28?

Any suggestions who might have been more appropriate casting? Kirsten Dunst maybe? Shalene Woodley?

When I was reading the book, I pictured someone who is a young Charlize Theron because in the book, Camille is blonde and striking and I remember her being described as tall too.

Another here who also cannot stop hate-watching this show. Hoping there will be a decent payoff in the end for suffering through it but definitely not counting on it.

I think they should have played down Camille's attractiveness for the series. In the series, she's about as plain as someone her age can be, especially next to her sister and her friends. It's distracting when everyone keeps telling her how hot she is, like the teen boy in the SUV last night. Every time I hear that I spend the next five minutes thinking about the casting.

And again with all that damn food in the house!

^I'll add that I like Amy Adams she was the reason I was interested in watching Sharp Objects, but this constant "beautiful", "hot", "SOOO pretty!" is just not compatible with the sullen, washed up woman with overgrown hair and dull complexion on the screen.

"Played down the attractiveness"-- I should have said 'played down the references to her attractiveness.'

OMG YES. Those constant references to her beauty are ridiculous when she mostly looks like shit. (I keep wanting to brush out her hair.)

They tried to play down her attractiveness in the show. That is what Amy looks like with no make up, blackish clothes. little sleep and no lighting.

[QUOTE]That poster's talking out of their ass.

Yeah, um, no I'm not. Maybe you're just too slow to have caught it. It's subtle, but it's definitely there.

Umm, R388 the fleeting image of a young girl twirling is hardly a spoiler. I read the book and I know who the killer in the novel is but who knows what the series will do.

[quote] I think they should have played down Camille's attractiveness for the series. In the series, she's about as plain as someone her age can be, especially next to her sister and her friends. It's distracting when everyone keeps telling her how hot she is, like the teen boy in the SUV last night. Every time I hear that I spend the next five minutes thinking about the casting.

Many scripts are written describing main characters as beautiful (or attractive in some unique way) even when it is not relevant to story. I always assumed this is how actors get hooked on doing a project.

I am not sure that there is a meaning behind Camille being considered beautiful, but I doubt Amy Adams minds it.

Conversely in Dark Places they cast Charlize Theron as the protagonist and her character in the book isn’t tall blonde or beautiful.

R391 yeah Charlize should have been in Sharp Objects and Amy in Dark Places. IDK how they mess that up.

it's good. I hope that they do a season 2.

If the series follows the book’s plot line there will be no need for a second season.

There was no need for 8 episodes let alone a second season.

I continue to watch because I have come this far. However, it’s sonewhat depressing and strange.

Amy Adams is lovely, you misogynistic queens. What a bunch of whiny little bitches. Good god.

I thought HBO already announced that there would no season 2.

The first episode was pretty boring. Is it worth soldiering on? ALL the beats of the production we've seen before. It's like an amalgam of past HBO series.

The interview excerpt at R91 is a good example of Noxon's need to make everything all about her.

I adore Adams, but Noxon's insufferable.

R399 Absolutely not. I've continued to watch because I keep thinking that it MUST get better at some point. Hasn't happened yet.

Thanks, R401.

I will be pissed if Camille dies after all of the shit she's been through. I don't see a happy ending with Kansas City but at least she got laid by someone who didn't treat her like shit.

[quote]at least she got laid by someone who didn't treat her like shit.

. . . yet.

The author must have had a real happy childhood. At least you confirmed that she doesn't die, r404;) I'm kind of glad that I didn't read the book. This is a sick story.

[quote]And the hateful "music" on the soundtrack.

Led Zeppelin is "hateful" music? How old are you, twelve? Or 90?

I thought it was interesting that the one guy who participated in Camille's gang rape that apologized to her wasn't able to actually get it up and rape her back then. From his first moments on screen during that rehearsal with Amma and the kids for the show, he has had that pained, haunted look on his face. It's a small role (and one I'm not even sure was in the book), but I think that actor has been a stand-out so far.

Amma is a complete cunt and a little psycho.

R407, it's also interesting that Camille is assertive with men, however, when she deals with females close to her, she turns to putty (her mother, sister & nasty high school friends).

Amma told Camille that the best thing about getting fucked up is that mama takes care of her after wards. So Adora knows that her little angel takes drugs and drinks alcohol and is out at all hours. And she doesn't care because it gives her an excuse to play nurse and administer her homemade "medicine". MBP.

This has to one of Patricia Clarkson most corrosive roles, she talked about it on some talk show. She said she had never played such a horrible character.

Her character is awful, always laying on guilt on Camille, yet spoiling the annoying bitchy Amma. It's as if she's jealous her daughter left their shithole hick town and became a journalist.

Adora murdered her own daughter.

Just to be clear, this is pure speculation but I think anyone who didn't read the book and has a working braincell can figure out who killed those girls by now. And why. Tonight's episode will get to the truth with Camille and Kansas City coming to the same conclusion. I suspect Camille has always had an inkling but it will still be a shock when the truth is confirmed. The self-mutilation is about more than the incident in the woods. One killer, one to cover up the killings. I suppose the final chapter will explain the killer's motives. SPOILER: It's a family affair.

In a recent interview Messina says that Richard has genuine feelings for Camille and that those feelings are clouding his judgement and getting in the way of doing his job. Perhaps Kansas City suspects that Camille is involved in the killings but doesn't want to be right. I like him. Interesting that they both intended to use the other for ulterior motives and it has backfired on them because they are obviously in love. And don't sully my romantic notions about that fine detective with any god-damned spoilers that it is all an act;)

R412 You May be a little surprised by the ending.

Keep in mind that Camille could be an unreliable narrator of the story just like Amy was :-)

I hope I am surprised by the ending. It might make watching Amy driving and driving and driving worth it.

I finished the book, then tossed it and I rarely ever throw out books. I'm watching the series on HBO more for Patricia Clarkson and Amy than for anything else. Chris Messina is annoying. I hate his hair.

[quote]I finished the book, then tossed it and I rarely ever throw out books. I'm watching the series on HBO more for Patricia Clarkson and Amy than for anything else. Chris Messina is annoying. I hate his hair.

I gave away Gone Girl after I read it. I often read good books over again but that one was never going to be on my re-read list.

With Flynn's books, once you know the twist, there is no reason to re read it. However, with the movie Gone Girl, I've rewatched it so many times. It's so good.

[quote]Doesn’t JC have the slip n slide advantage since he has a low center of gravity?

I love his hair. And I don’t find him annoying at all. Chacun a son gout!

I find the whole cutting aspect just awful. I've never known anyone who carved on themselves and I certainly never did. So the scene where Amy shows her cuts is gross to me. Eww.

Gone Girl (the movie, I haven't read the book) was a total frau schlock, basically a Lifetime movie with a mega budget.

R422 that's what makes it so re-watchable honestly. I love it so much.

Well, I'm stoned now r414 and re-thinking my theory. I think Vickery and Kansas City are both right. Two killers, different crimes. Both killers have an accomplice who covers for the murderers. Someone is being slowly poisoned but this victim isn't the first. That's killer number one. The two girls were murdered by someone with a grudge which means it's someone who knew them, is most likely female, and claims to have inside information. Throw in the mangled earlobe and who could that be? The twist is that the person being poisoned has been doing the same thing to someone else? Am I warm?

This show is also vastly superior to Gone Girl (the movie). That said, I'm probably going to be proven wrong by some grand guignol nonsense reveal coming up in the finale... No spoilers please, those of you who've read the book.

Gone Girl was awful, I didn't read the book, but figured out the plot immediately. Bad acting too.

The acting is better in this. Amy Adams has a range, imagine that. It's great she doesn't always play the same types of characters.

[quote]Chris Messina is annoying. I hate his hair.

Does he act with his hair? Who gives a shit about his hair.

I am Amy Adams’ age and I couldn’t get an 18 year old who looks like John Keene to fuck me if my life depended on it.

The Camille/John thing took me by surprise, I thought John might be gay (a few of the townsfolk seem to have drawn that conclusion). As much as I like 'Sharp Objects", I'm a bit tired of seeing tweens on roller skates.

The Camille/John hookup's in the book.

I'm starting to think it's the sheriff who killed those girls.

Fairport Convention on the juke box in a little hick town? I don't think so.

It's hard to root for Camille when she makes dumb mistakes like going to that teen party, and sleeping with John.

I wouldn't call sleeping with John a mistake.

Not sleeping with John would be a mistake.

[quote]It's hard to root for Camille when she makes dumb mistakes like going to that teen party, and sleeping with John.

She's an alcoholic who was gang raped, give her a break!

It sucks the actor who plays John seems to be a fundie. And his girlfriend is a Tomi-wannabe who has had some BAD plastic surgery. She looks like the tranny that was obsessed with Michael Phelps

next week is the finale right? There is just one more episode left in this series.

R429 I must agree about the roller skating teens, they're starting to remind me of the Wheelers.

I miss so much watching it on t.v because of the lighting but I'm actually scared to watch this episode on the iPad because some of the scenes are as scary as anything in a horror movie. Adora biting the baby. Amma looking like she's possessed wearing that flower crown. The scene with Richard and Camille was the most heartbreaking because she has no clue when someone actually cares for her. Connecting with John made sense because they are both damaged and emotionally closed off and the one genuine and loving connection they had to another human being was through their sisters but it was still fucked up. I honestly don't know who killed the girls but I did guess that Adora killed Marian. The implication is that Adora is the Lady in White but why would she have killed the two girls? Were they hateful like Camille and rejected her sick brand of mothering? So many goddamned twists in this story.

This show is such a missed opportunity. All the elements are in place for it to be good or even great, but it's rancid week in and week out. So depressing. Too bad everyone hated each other making it, it might've been decent otherwise.

What a bunch of babies. Go watch Kardashians if you find this too scawy and sad.

It's not scary or sad, it sucks.

Are you serious, r438? You are truly baffled by this story and who would kill these girls? No wonder this show lost over a 1/3 of its audience despite no competition. Should have been a movie or 4 episodes.

And yes, Gone Girl is a jumped up Lifetime story.

r436 I think Villamour's girlfriend looks like Cameron Michaels from RuPaul's drag race.

Yes, I am baffled by who killed the girls. And I'm not alone. Is it Ashley? Amma and her new clique? Lacey's wife? The sheriff? If Adora did it she had help. The bodies were moved from the kill site. And what is the motive? They were bad influences on Amma? Is it truly a family affair and all of them did it? Is Camille disassociating and we are only seeing the story through her eyes and SHE killed them? Of course, I could sneak a peek at the spoilers and then come back here and declare who done it and feel superior to the rest of us dopes. If the show lost a third of it's audience it isn't because they figured out who the MURDERERS are. I do agree that it could have been told in four episodes. But it is a character study as well as a murder mystery.

"It was dat butler".

You sound slow, r445. Everything confuses you. It is pretty obvious as to who would be that bold, hateful and weird to murder those girls, especially in that fashion. Camille is slow, too. She doesn't know MBP and she is supposed to be educated???

R445, they dropped hints in the scene where john tells to camille that adora is the only one who reached out to the girls and how she came coming back ot care for them. Now imagine why adora would do something like that and who would be jealous of her attention being divided. Adora and amma have an unspoken pact, amma willingly takes the medicine in blue bottle that she knows keeps making her more and more sick in return for adora giving her undivided attention and love;. Imagine what happens when one of them breaks that pact. We saw how adora reacted to amma refusing to take the medicine. Imagine how amma would react to adora lavishing all her attention to those other two girls she kept reaching out for. Yeah,

I welled up throughout most of this episode. John and Camille’s conversation, Richard’s reaction, Camille breaking down, Amma’s Dad remembering her as a little girl. It was such a sad episode.

Whatever else one might say, I think Amy Adams will win the Emmy for last nights episode. I think Clarkson is good but hasn’t been given the scenes yet for a win. Perkins will likely get a courtesy nomination and last night might be her most screen time, but she was short handed as well. I think the whole thing would have been better served on Netflix where you could binge all eight episodes and fast forward what bored you. I think Adams has been amazing but I’m sorry she was let down by the producers.

Maybe, but I am thinking of three other people, depending on if their shows are any good, who could knock her out.

[Quote] The interview excerpt at [R91] is a good example of Noxon's need to make everything all about her. I adore Adams, but Noxon's insufferable.

Sounds like nothing's changed since her Buffy days.

I was appalled & floored to learn last night that Perkin's character believes Adora killed Marion.

If you believe that then how the fuck do overlook that & remain friends with Adora.

I think it was Adora and her weird husband. he makes my skin crawl.

One thing this program does is demystify and strip away anything resembling the Hollywood version o small town America. Shit. Who the fuck would ever want to stay in Wind Gap. It is about the most depressing, bleak place. Not even in the Joyce Carol Oates Gothic sense. It's just drab, and incredibly dull. And they own a fucking pig farm where pigs are raised and slaughtered? It's beyond gross.

There's 'something' off about that weirdo husband, always listening to music and doing nothing. I guess he lives off Adora's pig farm money?

Pretty much every character has some kind of creepy backstory. Which makes the viewers think any one of the town weirdos is suspect.

Since we know about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, it's easy to figure Adora killed her other daughter, well duh. We see her mixing some type of poison, she clearly poisoned that daughter and is poisoning Amma.

I think I figured who killed the two girls. Ssssh. Some might be shocked, others not at all.

Adora is nuts and so is Amma. Do the math.

So no one wonders and asks how Camille was able to carve all those words on her back and other hard to reach places? John is just a dumb kid, but the detective? He's a dimbulb, too.

I'd never heard of this show Untill stumbling on this thread this morning. Just watched 1st episode and hooked. I'll have to binge watch before reading the thread properly.

What did Chris Messina say about John and his sister to Camille right before he called her a drunk slut? I didn't catch it.

Actually it is a very depressing show. It gets more so each week and here I am still watching.

R458 they carve with a mirror, it's very common. Please don't ask me how I know this.

Thank you r458. I have been wondering this whole time. I was expecting john to go "whoa, how did you carve those words into your back?". r462, mirror or no mirror it would be very difficult to do unless you have very long arms and you are double jointed.

I guess there's some poetic license there, but it's doable R463

it is a good series. It is twisted, but done well.

Not slow. I posited the theory that Adora poisoned Marian because of MBP. Also that Natalie and Ann died in the same way and then her accomplice, Alan, staged the deaths to look like a serial killer was at work many posts ago. Also that Adora was the woman in white. I'm still not sure that Amma isn't involved in some way too. The entire family is out of their minds. It's just that with every episode there is just enough reasonable doubt presented and new suspects added to the mix that I think it's more complicated than just Adora did it! And so what if I keep changing my mind. It isn't meant to be easy to figure out.

NO spoilers here

I read the book spoilers and I know what happened. I still think this show is interesting and well done. In a weird way, knowing what happens helps me appreciate the show more because I am not trying to solve the crime, just enjoying the southern Gothic artistry of it.

I think you are right, r448. Also, Amma asked Camille if she gave her "the blue". There is a photo of Adora pouring a liquid out of a small red bottle. And we saw her mixing up a new batch of medicine. Maybe this is the mix that kills rather than just makes them sick. But I still think Alan is involved more than just being a passive observer. Moving the bodies and pulling the teeth requires strength. Both Amma and Adora are on the delicate side.

Did Ann and Natalie go missing at the same time?

R469, no they did not. Ann went missing and her body was found many months before Natalie went missing.

Imagine not only discovering that your batshit mother murdered your beloved sister by feeding her poison to keep her sick and dependent but that she intended to do the same to you. Only you were spiteful and willful. Just like your Daddy. How, pray tell, did HE die?

Ok so noms we see:

Miniseries

Lead Actress (Adams)

Supporting Actress (Perkins and Clarkson)

Supporting actor (Messina)

Writing, directing, costumes, production design.

What else?

Unless the field is incredibly weak, Perkins and Messina are not getting in, nor will the writing. The little annoying sister may. Wins are a different matter. Earlier this year I would say they were all locks, but too much competition is coming down the pike from now until the end of next May. Directing will also be a bloodbath.

Wouldn't Messina be a Lead? Craven for Supporting. Great chemistry with PC. His weathered face really lights up when Adora is around. Watched The Untouchables and Far From Heaven recently and it is remarkable how dark and sinister this character is from the many that she's played over the years.

I recently saw Patricia C in a movie on premium cable, Cairo Time. It's listed as woman having a love affair, but it was more an emotional love affair she had with her husband's former business partner. If they had sex I must have blinked and missed those scenes.

It was an indie film, but quite good for it's low budget, PC is always excellent. PC's co-star Alexander Siddig reminded me of a young Giancarlo Giannini.

Messina won't get lead. I'll be surprised if he gets any nom.

It was Amy Adams birthday today. She's on three premium channels at the same time. SO, The Arrival, and Nocturnal Animals.

[QUOTE]Earlier this year I would say they were all locks, but too much competition is coming down the pike from now until the end of next May.

Like what?

Helen Mirren playing yet another queen for an HBO movie. Michelle Williams in the Fossey miniseries, Florence Pugh in La Carre's Little Drummer Girl, Patricia Arquette in Dannemora for Showtime. I am sure I am forgetting a bunch. And who knows what will go into production soon to qualify for next year?

Now those could all suck, but right now only those who worship Amy and this show are blind if they think it is a slam dunk for her like it was Kidman last year because people were still yapping about the show months and months after it ended. I will admit that they ran a very effective awards campaign.

R477, she deserved an Oscar nomination for either arrival or nocturnal animals

R480 It doesn't really seem like she did much in Nocturnal Animals.

American Hustle is one of my favorite movies of all time. She looked like a god-damned Goddess. One of her best performances. Great chemistry with both Bales and Cooper. The fact that JLaw stole the second half of the movie cannot be disputed. I still laugh out loud at her revenge dance to Live And Let Die but Amy's character was much more complex and she had to be believable in order to sell the truth is stranger than fiction TRUE story of ABSCAM.

Ugh JLaw was horrible in that movie. First time I'm seeing "JLaw" and "stole the show" in the same sentence.

That's your opinion and you are welcome to it, r483. I think she was fantastic. She held her own with a lot of heavy hitters.

"Big Little Lies" was completely overrated. HBO and Showtime have some great shows, but I sure didn't get the hype for BLL at all.

The storyline was absurd and the acting was 'meh', they sure did win because of their relentless awards campaign. I also don't get the obsession with Alexander Skarsgård, he's not such a great actor and many know it. His fans simply like him because they think he's hot looking and they want to fuck him. That should not be the basis for any award.

Even Skarsgård himself seemed to realize that he didn't really deserve it when he was awarded the Emmy.

Well, the audience, critics, guilds and academy liked it. So much it is getting a second season, and with Meryl as his mother, you can bet he will be back. You didn't have to like it, but trashing BLL won't uplift SO. Some unhinged asshole ruined the Feud threads with that shit.

If he won just a GG,m (Gaga won over Dunst!?!), I might agree, but he got SAG and some critics awards, so it had to be more than wanting to fuck him. I think he was shocked because everyone hated his character, who was in no way rootable. I can't stand people like Taylor Swift giving those fake "who me" speeches, when she was told last week she won.

[quote]Well, the audience, critics, guilds and academy liked it. So much it is getting a second season, and with Meryl as his mother, you can bet he will be back. You didn't have to like it, but trashing BLL won't uplift SO. Some unhinged asshole ruined the Feud threads with that shit.

WTF does that no-talent Taylor Swift have to do with any of this?

I wasn't trashing the BLL to UPLIFT Sharp Objects. My opinion of BLL had absolutely nothing to do with SO. I think so many people at DL have reading comprehension problems.

btw, not the entire audience liked BLL. I'm one of the paying audience, I sure didn't think the show warranted the hype surrounding it.

The Night Of had much better acting and didn't need any big names to carry the series. The most all known performers in that series were John Turturro and Micheal K. Williams. TNO made a star of a little known UK actor Riz Ahmed. Even if many didn't like the writing in TNO, it was one of those series where the acting transcended the writing.

The main problem I had with BLL, I didn't enjoy the subject matter, the vacuous lives and dramas of wealthy people don't interest me. People who create their own problems are of no interest to me. Yes, I recall one character was raped, she didn't cause that, but the rest of the characters didn't interest me.

Dumbass, no one cares what you personally think or couldn't relate to the rape or domestic abuse (which I guess is a poor person's issue according to you) in BILL. Maybe you should write HBO for a refund. I obviously was referring to the general audience which gave BLL a 94% and SO a 74% and falling on rotten tomatoes. I like TNO, but again, who gives a shit? Too bad the more famous Adams with bestseller material is not enjoying the continous rise in viewship it had.

And if one only win awards because people want to fuck them, then Zac Efron should have a mantle full of them according to DL.

This is a good show. I can't wait until next Sunday for the finale.

R479, you mean Michelle Williams will be playing Dian Fossey in an HBO miniseries???

Ugh if you have a bad relationship with your mamma this needs a full on trigger warning. 😆

ALan is the murderer. Adora convinces him to do it. She's like Charles Manson. She manipulates him into doing it for her. At least that's my hypothesis.

Hold on to your hats!

R489, needs a big hug, Poor thing, getting this involved with a fucking TV series. Sad.

[quote]Maybe you should write HBO for a refund.

I pay so little for my cable, Internet and phone service, with three premium movie channels, a free modem/Wi-Fi, all that for only $60 a month and with two cable boxes! There's no need for me to ask HBO for a refund! You're absolutely ridiculous. You sound unhinged and extremely bitter.

If you get this worked up over a silly HBO series, how angry do you get over truly serious issues, such as what's going on in the US right now with that pathetic excuse for a president and his merry band of grifters?

I am a sucker for HBO movies and series and I finally said life is too short and dropped this after the 3rd episode. Also dropped Succession and I usually am the type once I start a show I finish it. HBO needs to get some better material, they better hang on for dear life to the Big Little Lies franchise.

[quote]I am a sucker for HBO movies and series and I finally said life is too short and dropped this after the 3rd episode. Also dropped Succession and I usually am the type once I start a show I finish it. HBO needs to get some better material, they better hang on for dear life to the Big Little Lies franchise.

I enjoyed the HBO film with Laura Dern about the molestation. She was really good in that.

I couldn't get into Succession at all. It had nothing to do with the performers, the subject did not interest me. Who gives a shit about wealthy psychotic people stabbing each other in the back and their childish nefarious bullshit? Succession is as absurd and uninteresting as Showtime's Billions.

Do these channel's execs think the public is obsessed with sociopathic wealthy people? I'm not. Even if it's fiction, I could give two shits.

R496

How the fuck do you get all that for $60 ?

What company?

[quote]How the fuck do you get all that for $60 ? What company?

I've always had Time Warner, now it's Spectrum. My co-op complex, which is more than one building, guarantees Spectrum that at least 90-95% of the tenants will subscribe, then we are guaranteed locked-in rates for three years. This is the fourth three year contract the co-op has signed. I made a mistake, the phone isn't included, but I don't need their phone service.

There are deals out there but customers are afraid to ask for them. Threaten to drop them, then you'll see how fast they'll reduce your bill. My parents just got their bill lowered by $25.

In certain states, Spectrum also gives a discounts to school teachers. Guess it depends where you live.

What do you think happens in the finale? They never released the finale to reviewers.

They release the episodes early to the people who create the subtitles.

Ashley told Camille that if she wanted to know about Natalie she should ask her mother. She never did. Considering what he learned about Marian and Amma a good cop would have asked if Natalie or Ann had any serious health issues or had been hospitialized in the past year. Kansas City was more interested in Camille than solving the murders. Both Camille and KC are really bad at their jobs.

[quote] What do you think happens in the finale? They never released the finale to reviewers.

I think they did, because Alan Sepinwall tweeted: "Word to the wise for Sharp Objects fans: watch the finale all the way through the end credits. All the way."

[QUOTE]So much it is getting a second season, and with Meryl as his mother, you can bet he will be back.

Well, his character is dead, so it would have to be in flashbacks.

I think Amma is the killer and used the slaughterhouse equipment to remove the teeth. Adora definitely has MBP. When she bites baby Amma as Camille watches from the stairs is horrific. I wonder if Adora knows Amma is the killer, and that’s why she’s pestering Vickery for leads? I kind of get that feeling.

Amma is cuckoo....

The ivory floor in Adora's house...

That's not ivory. It's the teeth of all those little girls!

Damn dude if that’s true those girls had giant teefers.

The ivory floor in Amma's dollhouse sure is, R509!

Adora's floor is real ivory and it is has been there at least since Adora's grandmother lived in the house. Sheesh!

No shit r512

The house is gorgeous but all those floor fans just make me sweat.

It's fucking hot in the South. WTF haven't they put in A/C ?

How could Amma have a second phone and her parents not know? Somebody had to pay for it and she didn't have any income.

R515 you have never heard of pay as you go phones? You just load them with minutes with a prepaid card.

all the way through?

Does that mean that the last part of the book happens post credit? How long is the post credit scene?

I know what happens, and I cannot figure out how they are going to pull off all that has to happen in the finale?

Sunday is going to be riveting

Just found out they are all out of my libation selections for Sunday's viewing party.

Fucking Camille.

I think that the Sheriff is implicated. There's something pervy about him. It's as if he knows secrets and Adora knows secrets about him. And Alan makes my skin crawl. There's something about the setting, Wind Gap, and the characters that is really ....ugh.... I can't think of the words, but they repel me.

The final episode is only 60 minutes. I thought it’d be longer. And has anyone confirmed a second season?

Messina hasn't done anything that's Emmy worthy.

R520 Why would there be a second season?

R521 No, he certainly has not. Granted, Kansas City is not a well written part but Messina has done nothing to elevate it.

The finale is only 60 minutes?!? Bummer.

I was hoping that it would be closer to the length of a film (closer to 80-90 minutes perhaps) since there has been so much mystery about everything, there are so many loose ends, so many characters to cover, and “everything has been building” to this final episode..

They've confirmed there will NOT be a second season.

Does no one google anymore?

There's no reason to have a Season 2. What's the point. This was always a one shot deal. A book adapted to a mini series. (yawn.) I think, particularly after watching the most recent episode, that Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson deserve nominations. Amy in particular has done a remarkable job.

[quote]Does no one google anymore?

We do R526, and that's why I asked.

No, r505, they are going to do a seance and raise him from the dead. Obviously, Streep was talking about them having flashback scenes together.

Gillian Flynn (the novelist and show writer), Amy Adams and the cast have been asked also, and they say it is possible.

Marti Noxon is the only one that reportedly said no. Maybe she does not want too.

Bump for the finale tonight. You ready bitches?

[quote]Bump for the finale tonight. You ready bitches?

Pa'Lante!

Who has the biggest say, R530? Probably Amy Adams. Without her there is no season 2. I wonder if Flynn would even be up for writing an original script.

I've got my vodka and la Croix all ready go!

Noxon and Vallee absolutely loathed each other, stymieing any chance for this to go on or come out well in the first place... if it were to go on (which it won't), it would be with one or the other. I'm sure Vallee is definitely out no matter what since he hated the experience so much... I bet he really regrets not doing BLL 2 with M and company since there's no question it won't be awards bait to the extreme and get tons of buzz. Womp womp.

. . . And . . . I . . . shall speak . . . in whispered and measured . . . tones . . . as I . . . show my distain . . . for everyone . . . near me.

I'm watching. Is there no hotel room in this town. Did Patricia Clarkson just say her youngest daughter saw her two friends murdered? I'm on episode 3...

[quote] Noxon and Vallee absolutely loathed each other, stymieing any chance for this to go on or come out well in the first place...

SPILL!

I hate stories where people keep puking

Amy Adams looks like she needs a bath and a nice shampoo & deep conditioning.

Well based on what I just saw in "Milk" she definitely got the bath.

No surprises, after all...

OMFG

Jesus this was dark

In case you forgot, watch all the way through to the end of the credits.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?!?! I can’t. I just can’t ...

Now, that it's over, I have to say: it wasn't bad, far from that, and some of the performances were great but S2 of "The Sinner" is a superior show.

"Fucked up family Olympics".

How did her boss of all people come to her rescue? Rosemary Woodhouse was more stealth than her! No AC, old fashioned clothes, maids in uniforms, record players, BUT NO LANDLINES?!?! GURL PLEASE!

They had landlines.

She built up a tolerance? Stepfather said go easy on the “poison”? Blood under bed red herring? Who was with the girl when they killed? What was in the trash/dollhouse? Guy at pig farm? Who pulled teeth-girl too weak? PLOT HOLES!

R550, so any adams was such a spoiled entitled millennial she didn’t know how they worked/didn’t recognize them?

Clue girl was evil: Didn’t want to get cops, when before she was running wild taking pills, never wanted to be “good”. Total about face. Complicit with mother.

Damn the teeth were in the dollhouse! Did anyone read the book? does the dad know in the book? did amma take a bite out of that girl's ear?

R551 Mommy had Munchausen and daughter is a serial killer.

Did Ashley take part in the murders? I'll have to re-watch this episode, to quote the youngsters, I am shook! Was this the perfect mini-series, no, but , it's the best thing I've seen on television this year.

Looked like several girls in last scene, r555

I think the other rollerblading girls were involved too. The last scene was so quick it was hard to make out her accomplices.

Someone who understands this show, make a timeline. I don’t get the ending at all. Loose ends.

Motive?

So Amma must have killed out of jealousy, and Adora helped cover for her? Or are we to believe Amma roller-skated with the dead body of one of the girls and propped her in the window? Somebody must have helped her.

Creepy. Ick.

We needed more nudity from the detective and the twink and less of these fucked up women.

How did it end in the book?

I think all the other girls in the final scene were the victims we didn't see before.

I can't tell if "Don't tell Mama" means don't tell her I killed everyone, or don't tell her I took the teeth and made an ivory floor out of them .

Jealousy of what?

Gillian Flynn is quite the twisted gal, is she not?

Tooth looked frickin’ fake

I thought it was a lego

Jealous because Adora had been taking those girls under her wing, I can't remember why. And maybe jealous of that guys sister because she liked her brother or something?

I think she killed the girl in the park in St. Louis too, because she was jealous she wanted to be a journalist like her sister, and was spending a lot of time with them. The new tooth in the dollhouse must have been hers maybe?

If I recall the girls helped her kill the first two and helped her cover it up. And Amma did kill the friend she made in St. Louis out of jealousy. That was the first and last cuts in the murder montage. And she used the teeth to make the floor of the dollhouse, which is why they waited until the very last scene to show that room.

I'll always feel sick about Adora's ivory bedroom floor. I don't even want to think about how many elephants it took.

So, the bigger question is does cammille turn in her sister? what is she going to say to that girls mother?

I'm just remembering that the guys sister who died was feisty too (which is why they had to move from their home town) so maybe she and Amma simply got into a fight about something.

I thought they deduced that only someone strong could pull the teeth, from the pig practice...

Was the woman in white just imagery, or did someone actually dress up and try to lure the girls?

It's amma r575 they show it after the credits.

[quote]I thought they deduced that only someone strong could pull the teeth, from the pig practice...

In the book it's said that primary teeth aren't as hard to extract

Did the father know? he seemed upset In earlier episodes "I had a daughter die too" and all that but then in the kitchen with mother he said to slow down. It seemed like he knew what adoroa was doing and didn't care.

This show needs a Season 2.

I bet he knew and was complacent. We learned in this final episode that he knew about the relationship between Adora and the sheriff and he just seemed to turn the other way.

Gillian Flynn is a horrible writer, she tries too hard.

[quote]She built up a tolerance? Stepfather said go easy on the “poison”? Blood under bed red herring? Who was with the girl when they killed? What was in the trash/dollhouse? Guy at pig farm? Who pulled teeth-girl too weak? PLOT HOLES!

1 - yes, Adora gave them just enough not to kill them but it caused all sorts of intestinal issues as evidenced by both Amma's and Marian's medical records. 2 - If I recall, and I think its implied in the show, Alan didn't know she was poisoning but probably suspected something was not right, considering how sick they would get *after* she gave them their "medicine". He says to her, "this is your area" as if its a common thing to have your own apothecary in one's house. 3 - Blood under the bed was of course a red herring, but I think we're also supposed to assume from John's conversation with Camille that the blood may have come from his sister biting him. 4 - Looked like Amma's rollergirl buddies were with her when they attacked Natalie and the other girl 5 - the trash had a woven piece for the dollhouse furniture that Amma and her new friend had done together. Amma threw it away because she was pissed that Camille may have liked the black girl more because she wanted to be a journalist as well. When Camille went to put the piece back onto the furniture in the dollhouse is when she spots the tooth and then notices the entire replicated ivory floor is made up of girls' teeth. 6/7 - which guy at the pig farm? And judging by the last second of the closing credits scene, we're supposed to see Amma was so full of rage, by not only having her mother and sister pay attention to someone else but for being made sick all these years, that she would have had the strength - especially if the other two were manipulated into helping her - to pull those teeth.

The woman in white was just an image that stayed with Camille and was meant as some kind of symbolism. I think that when Amma says "don't tell Mom", she meant don't tell her I was bad and killed those girls. As angry and psychotic as she was, she still craved Adora's love and attention.

This was one of those series where the good acting transcended the lousy writing.

R575, How the FUCK? Does a neighborhood girl (obviously her, no fog, not dark out, no veil) in a white dress, lure you into the woods?

I literally said out loud, I am glad Amma has found a normal friend. Then, I remembered the book. The girl is going to end up...

This show is Horrifying. It is so good because when you are watching it, you forget the book and all the twists.

R583, You mean the good cinematography. Lousy writing. So so acting.

Maybe Amma would go around in her nightgown in the woods when she was all doped up, or escape into the woods when she was starting to feel better.

that little boy had all the answers.

First ending was cheesy as hell. Had that 90’s Ally McBeal record skip quick feel and then cue the hard rock. They did something similar in 90s teen movies like Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead or some other one, can’t remember. Then they threw in the creepy scene to make it dark.

The murder montage at the end showed Natalie Keene's death (the shot under the bed).

Doncha just love how we had to endure hours of flashbacks among other tedium, only to have the most telling part be 2 seconds.

Amma visiting the pig farm in an earlier episode - I thought this was how she learned to pull teeth.

All I have to say about Amma is "Give that girl a Penmanship Metal!!!!"

[quote]If I recall the girls helped her kill the first two and helped her cover it up. And Amma did kill the friend she made in St. Louis out of jealousy. That was the first and last cuts in the murder montage.

The show (or shall I say the book) has, by far, the two most useless, clueless detective/sheriff pair ever portrayed on television. In retrospect, did these two figure out a single thing about the crime?

[quote]Doncha just love how we had to endure hours of flashbacks among other tedium, only to have the most telling part be 2 seconds.

Haha. You NAILED it.

It's just amazing that they would ask of a viewer to dedicate eight hours watching a slow burn story, only to revea the clues to what actually happened in an editing frenzy of shots buried in the end credits. I'm sure the director loved pulling that chain. Yeehaw!

[quote] Gillian Flynn is a horrible writer, she tries too hard.

I've never read anything of hers, but I have a feeling that she doesn't bother much with character motivation or plot logic. What a mess.

It was a hit for HBO. HBO does not do as well in viewers in the summer.

They deserved for this to be a hit. The production design, cinematography, costumes were exceptional. I liked the directing style, and the use of flashbacks worked much better here than in Big Little Lies.

Amy Adams carried the show on her shoulders. She deserves every award under the sun.

I guess since she can't win an Oscar, she will settle for an Emmy.

Amy Adams was mesmerising in this. The rest of it didn’t bear thinking about too much. Except what was the point of Elizabeth Perkins character? Did she have more to do in the book?

I was expecting it to be great but it was just okay. Don't think AA has the Emmy in the bag. Nicole Kidman got her career best reviews for Big Little Lies which I think was more satisfying.. Also I don't think the usually great Patricia Clarkson nailed her role. but sex Gods Chris Messina and John Taylor Smith were well cast. Eliza Scanlen will lis Beth in latest Little Women... Henry Czerny's role is better suited for Richard Jenkins...

Wow, the last episode was such a letdown! The episode preceding it was *much* better and felt more like the rest of the series.

I have enjoyed the show very much so far and had no problem with how the main plot points were resolved (who the killers were, etc.), but quality-wise, the finale was puzzling.

It felt like a patchwork of things from other episodes, left a lot emotionally unresolved, and kind of felt thrown together and all over the place.

It felt unlike any other episode in the series. The episode was like a hodgepodge and lacked all of the meticulousness of previous entries in the series.

The writing was crap all of the sudden and they seemed to completely abandon the strong “character study” aspect of the show (tracing and illuminating Camille and Adora’s characters, pasts, and personalities) in favor of purely focusing on the plot machinations and the “surprise” at the end.

Vickery (and whatever was the extent of his connection to Adora and her daughters/family), Camille and Kansas City’s relationship, Camille coming to full terms with her past, what the *fuck* actually made Adora and Amma tick.....(Oh, and Wind Gap itself), *all* of this just suddenly fell by the wayside in favor of a paint by numbers Law & Order SVU type episode where the *sole* purpose was to be....’Surprise! Amma did it! Isn’t that freaky?!?’

It was a big letdown; the series has been such a great character study and so detailed and well put together until this episode for some reason...