Sharp Objects on HBO

@cricket inspired me to start this thread and if nobody but cricket and me discuss it, it'll be worth it.

Amy Adams plays Camille, a reporter who is sent to her hometown after years of not living there. Her editor thinks there is a big story there after a young girl is found murdered. He turns out to be right when another murder occurs while Camille is in town. The whole series (at episode #4 right now) is deep and full of fascinating characters. Camille has flashbacks to her youth, where she's played by Sophia Lillis (from It 2017) and she totally looks like Amy Adams as a youth. Perfect casting!

The cast is excellent. In addition to Adams, there's Patricia Clarkson as her mother, Adora, who is big deal in the town socially and constantly embarrassed by Camille, who is interviewing people around town, hitting the bar and drinking constantly. One gets the feeling, due to conversations that were cut off, that Adora has secrets, especially concerning her and Camille. Camille was a wild child and her late sister Marian was sweet and doted on by Adora. Adora constantly uses the death of her favorite daughter for attention. She also has a young teen daughter from a second marriage and dotes on that daughter. Lots of stuff goes on with this family.

There's the matter of the murderer. Due to the second killing, it's now been labeled as a serial killer. What really makes the show interesting is Amy Adams in a fantastic performance. Plus the editing. Adams has flashbacks that will hopefully reveal why she's self-destructive and drinks all the time. Plus, she's a cutter. She has scars all over her body from cutting herself over the years. She keeps straight pins in her car to constantly stick herself with. In one scene, she even But back to the editing. Some flash so suddenly that I have to pause and go back and some of these are really revealing. Like the time when Adams is napping and Did this really happen? Or was it a bit of memory from Adam's past? And who was the person? Just lots of layered bits of stuff to make you wonder and making the show all the more fulfilling.

One more thing and my favorite bit so far on the show: An FBI agent in town investigating the murders wakes up, looks out the window blinds and says, "Wind Gap. Sh*t. I'm still in Wind Gap." Then a cut to the sheriff of the town, right after waking, moving around his bedroom and the camera focuses on the ceiling fan going fast. These two moments cut together so quickly was an obvious nod to Apocalypse Now. I love these little touches in the series. I hope everything continues like this and that the series eventual resolution doesn't disappoint.

Anybody else watching? Cricket, give me you thoughts, please! P.S. If anyone is interested in catching up and has HBO, the first four should be on On Demand and it's only going to go for eight episodes, with Episode Five coming this Sunday night. Jump in!

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Didn't like this show gave up after three episodes, was pretty much exactly the same as Top of the Lake and i couldn't be bothered going through that again. Btw, neither of you open my Spoilers in the TV Tab as it has what happens in the end.

I saw the first season of Top of the Lake. I liked it but feel this show is pretty different. You know how Sharp Objects ends? How?

Both are incredibly morbid murder mysteries. Both are about women returning to their small town that holds traumatic memories to help investigate crimes for their jobs. They aren't exactly the same but cmon they are pretty dang similar.

I looked up what happens in the book.

That's a great recap, Dad, and I missed that word on her arm so good to know. I have no idea where the show is heading but so far I think each episode has been better than the one previous. As far as I can tell, everybody is a suspect, and there sure are plenty to go around.

Yes I give you that.

At the end of the first episode, we see the word "VANISH" on her arm while she's in the tub. (It's also the name of that episode.) Where did someone see "Fornicator"? I didn't see that. She also scratched "SACRED" into her car door just above the door handle.

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I can't remember, Austruck, which episode where it said "Fornicator," but I thought I saw a word when it flashed really quickly, so I rewound and paused on it and it definitely said that word. There were other words leading into it but I couldn't make them out. I saw the word you're talking about on the car door but I thought it said "SCARED." Hmm, now I'm not sure. I'm drawn to the fact that she cuts and harms herself because I know someone who did that (as far as I know they don't do it anymore, but like Adams, they could be hiding it). Just the fact that some people do it because of stress, anxiety, or because they feel worthless or like scum. I can see where Adams would feel like that because I'm pretty sure something bad happened to her during her youth, other than just losing a sister. It could be because her mother blatantly loved her sister more than her. Who knows? Adora, the mother, is a paranoid mess and just having her as a mother would screw any child up!

I have a question: During the first episode, when she went to the family gathering at the house of the murdered girl, who was the person that the dad was throwing out of his house? I never could figure out who it was.

That was Bob Nash, the father of the OTHER murdered girl, Ann Nash. Everyone in town seems to think he's the murderer. Or, at the very least, they just don't like him.

Thank you, Austruck! Now I need to get down to watching the newest episode.

Just finished watching it. It kinda plays into some of our discussion/questions...

DVR'd it, will watch tomorrow.

Love the bubbling intensity. Just about everyone in town is full of secrets. That scream in the dressing room and the last words of the episode by the mother gave me chills. Usually in shows like this, the girl investigating is a cop or an agent who carries a gun. The fact that she's a reporter adds even more vulnerability to the character because I wonder if she can defend herself if it gets to that point. It's hard to believe there's only 3 more episodes.

The reveal of her scars was a bit overwhelming. I figured she was wearing long sleeves because of scars on her forearms but had no idea how far it went... or that her mother knew that much about it. And yes, that muffled scream in the dressing room was pure devastation and SO well played.

Turns out that last week the New York Times disclosed the name of the killer. I believe it was in an article that I chose not to read since it didn’t look interesting. Thank goodness for that. People were pissed about this spoiler & it’s not the first time The NY Times has done this. The show would be ruined for me if I knew who dunnit.

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Jesus how could they do that?

Whew... glad I still don't know and am not a fan of the NYT.

I assume no one here will say anything, even if they know, RIGHT? I mean, not even in spoiler tags! We have only a few episodes left, after all.

Don't look in the Television Tab! It's two posts of mine all behind Spoiler Tags on the previous page from the current one fyi.

I think this was in a weekly article where someone well-known discusses books. I saw this woman’s name & had no clue who she is so had no interest in her library. So somewhere in this article this woman reveals the spoiler.

NYTimes often does this, but always in the middle of an unrelated article. Major plot points in The Sopranos & SATC revealed in this way in articles that had nothing to do with the shows. Ruined that particular arc in The Sopranos for me.

Especially in a show that is in play, people & newspapers should keep it zipped.

Agreed. I'm in several Outlander groups -- some for the books, which are up to book eight, and some for the show, which is just starting book four/season four. The groups have all had to be clear about whether book spoilers are allowed, and the groups that allow them are VERY clear with new members that there will be discussions that include upcoming plot points from the books.

But for someplace that's NOT clear ahead of time? For a show that's current? Double-bad. Shame!