Although Bill Pullman was extraordinarily strong, The Sinner's first season is, on the whole, a very middling affair. I don't think the mysteries were nearly captivating enough to keep me reeled in. We essentially wait for our assumptions to be proven correct, and they are, it just takes about six episodes to get there. Those assumptions are not challenged.
This outlines the biggest issue I had with this season: antagonism is not outlined in a way that fits the show. This is a series that begs for moral grayness. Is Ambrose pulling at a thread for no reason? Is he getting too close? Did Cora actually have a reason? These are all questions that this season asks and yet never once did I ever believe anything other than what the finale leaves us with. The result is half a season that left me very bored. Once all the pieces are placed on the table the audience is like Benoit Blanc and just waits at the most likely point of termination.
Along the way, the antagonistic characters are so unbelievably one-dimensional. JD? Yeah he's an asshole and the performance never once lets us think anything else. The state police detective? Yep she just wants the case over with to the point where she steamrolls over Ambrose's prior work. This would have been more okay if: Ambrose's line of work was treated as more flimsy or Dan (his partner or whatever) didn't so readily back him up. Think about how in True Detective's first season the protagonists argue frequently and disagree with methods. If that sort of thing happened here between Ambrose and the state detective? You'd have a really interesting push and pull. Instead, we just have a character who's so antagonistic-y that I'm not sure why she's really even in the show. Did she contribute anything, really, other than inadvertently causing JD's death? (Which, btw, if Ambrose insists that Cora shouldn't blame herself for Phoebe's death then Ambrose should not blame the detective for JD's.)
Oh, and Phoebe? How am I even supposed to feel about her? She's sick perpetually so she garners empathy from the audience, more so because of how her mother treats her daughters because of it. But then she is a leech on Cora's life, motivating her own death and coerces her sister into an incestuous interaction. She is three-dimensional, I'll give the writers that.
I had some good things to say about this season other than Pullman (who is easily the strongest part of this, by a mile). The first half of the season is very captivating and does unfold well. It's just that the resolution is so messy that I kind of got pulled waaaay out of it.
Review by filmboicoleBlockedParentSpoilers2020-02-05T04:56:11Z
Although Bill Pullman was extraordinarily strong, The Sinner's first season is, on the whole, a very middling affair. I don't think the mysteries were nearly captivating enough to keep me reeled in. We essentially wait for our assumptions to be proven correct, and they are, it just takes about six episodes to get there. Those assumptions are not challenged.
This outlines the biggest issue I had with this season: antagonism is not outlined in a way that fits the show. This is a series that begs for moral grayness. Is Ambrose pulling at a thread for no reason? Is he getting too close? Did Cora actually have a reason? These are all questions that this season asks and yet never once did I ever believe anything other than what the finale leaves us with. The result is half a season that left me very bored. Once all the pieces are placed on the table the audience is like Benoit Blanc and just waits at the most likely point of termination.
Along the way, the antagonistic characters are so unbelievably one-dimensional. JD? Yeah he's an asshole and the performance never once lets us think anything else. The state police detective? Yep she just wants the case over with to the point where she steamrolls over Ambrose's prior work. This would have been more okay if: Ambrose's line of work was treated as more flimsy or Dan (his partner or whatever) didn't so readily back him up. Think about how in True Detective's first season the protagonists argue frequently and disagree with methods. If that sort of thing happened here between Ambrose and the state detective? You'd have a really interesting push and pull. Instead, we just have a character who's so antagonistic-y that I'm not sure why she's really even in the show. Did she contribute anything, really, other than inadvertently causing JD's death? (Which, btw, if Ambrose insists that Cora shouldn't blame herself for Phoebe's death then Ambrose should not blame the detective for JD's.)
Oh, and Phoebe? How am I even supposed to feel about her? She's sick perpetually so she garners empathy from the audience, more so because of how her mother treats her daughters because of it. But then she is a leech on Cora's life, motivating her own death and coerces her sister into an incestuous interaction. She is three-dimensional, I'll give the writers that.
I had some good things to say about this season other than Pullman (who is easily the strongest part of this, by a mile). The first half of the season is very captivating and does unfold well. It's just that the resolution is so messy that I kind of got pulled waaaay out of it.
Not sure if I'll continue on to the next season.