Adora is a real piece of work. 

On Sharp Objects Season 1 Episode 4 the layers were peeled back once again, and we got to see just how wicked she can be. 

She's been cold and distant towards Camille since her return to Wind Gap on Sharp Objects Season 1 Episode 1, but I never stopped to think about what it was like for Alan, her husband, who has been there throughout everything. 

Alan is a man of few words, and the issue with a character like that is that they might as well be part of the furniture because they are one-note and nothing really changes with them. 

But the time came on "Ripe" for Alan to stand up to his wife, and it was clear it was a long time coming.

We've barely scratched the surface with Camille's flashes to the past of what Adora was like after Marian's death, but what we do know is that everything always seems to go back to her and how she lost her daughter. 

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Losing Marian could be something that Adora never gets over in her lifetime, and that's not a bad thing. It shows that it had a profound effect on her, and there's nothing wrong with that. 

The issue with Adora is that she picks and chooses who to speak to. Case in point: She stayed in bed until she learned that Vickery was downstairs to meet with her. 

She subsequently had a drink with him and was laughing away. When do we ever get to see her act that way with her family? Poor Alan can't take it anymore. 

A reader in the comments section pointed out in my review for Sharp Objects Season 1 Episode 3 that he is always listening to the music. Does that make him a suspect in the murders that are bringing the town to its knees? 

I don't think so. Everyone has their own escapism from life, and I dare say that Alan finds great pleasure in loud music to take his mind off of how his life is in tatters. 

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There's no telling whether Adora will change her ways after Alan opened up about his thoughts on the way she acts, but what would she do if Alan was to serve her with divorce papers? 

You can already cut the tension with a knife in that house. 

Adora has been hostile as hell with Camille ever since she was a child, and that's not a sign of great parenting. As we already knew, Camille wanted her mother to give her some attention in her younger years. 

To an extent, I do think Camille would accept attention if her mother gave it to her ... even after calling her "ripe." There was something about that scene that was chilling on so many levels. 

It would be good to get some flashbacks of Adora pre-Marian's death. Was she always this hostile, or was there a semblance of a real mother whose maternal instincts extended to ALL of her children and not one? 

As for Camille, she mostly managed to keep it together during this hour, and I dare say that's thanks in part to her delving deeper into the case with Richard. 

The hut in the woods with all of the pornography was always going to have a visceral effect on her.

Thanks to the flashes to the past, we already knew what Camille saw in that hut all those years ago, but we also know that she was thinking about it while masturbating on Sharp Objects Season 1 Episode 1. 

There's more to this tale than meets the eye, and it's rather concerning that while she was having oral sex with Richard, she was thinking of horrible things. 

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While some may say that this show is all about finding a killer, I see it as more of a journey for the characters. Camille is such a vivid character, and it would be a travesty if we did not get to understand why she acts the way she does before the series concludes. 

The final scene found Camille at a manic stage, and it was unclear whether that shot of Amma's corpse was part of her imagination or if the teenager was really the next victim of the killer. 

Amma is one of the most difficult characters to read. Her mood is up and down, to the point that it becomes a chore to watch some of her scenes. 

My biggest gripe, however, is that Amma hangs around the house smoking weed. It has a distinct smell, and I'm surprised Adora or Alan don't have anything to say about it. 

Are they so far detached from their lives that they fail to recognize she's spiraling out of control?

There was also something off at the school when Amma sought the teacher's seal of approval. Amma touching him set off alarm bells within me. 

There was a look they shared that looked like, at one point, there could have been something between them, and it's scary to think about. 

What the heck is going on in this town? 

Does anyone else feel like we already knew John was fired? People talk, especially in small towns, and I genuinely thought that any job he had would have been taken from him when the rumors kicked off that he was the killer. 

It may have seemed unorthodox to give Camille all of that information about Natalie in the bar, but we need to remember that they have much in common.

For a start, they both lost a sister. Camille could use the pencil story to create a false narrative, but she seemed way more taken with the similarities between her and John to fully think it through. 

We're now halfway through Sharp Objects Season 1, and it was announced earlier this week that there will be no Big Little Lies-esque renewal for the series. 

The beauty of a miniseries that stays that is that we know we will get all the answers as opposed to the story being dragged out for more seasons. 

What are your thoughts on this episode? Does Adora need to get over her daughter's death for the sake of her family, or does she have a pass to act that way?

Is Camille making a mistake by getting close to both Richard and John? Do you think Amma's dead?

Hit the comments below!

Sharp Objects continues Sunday on HBO. 

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.