The Sinner Season 2 Episode 3 Review: A Lost Cause
Carissa Pavlica
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Doctor Poole was a little over the top, wouldn't you say?
On The Sinner Season 2 Episode 3, the sleepy town where Harry Ambrose grew up and from which he wisely escaped proved to be hiding a secret that stretches far beyond the walls of Mosswood.
A lot of what's happening isn't adding up, and it's going to take a lot to make this mystery as compelling as the Cora Tannetti story.
There is more to this season than not that I find troublesome. My biggest hope is to be proven wrong and to find egg on my face because nothing that I see right now is at all what it appears.
Heather invited Harry to help with the case and did an about-face when she decided sharing what she knows about Mosswood wouldn't behoove anyone. I found that annoying while watching The Sinner Season 2 Episode 2 and even more as more time passed.
I guess there wasn't blood on the big rock to which Vera gyrates and uses as a wailing wall while sucking energy to get through Julian's troubles. If there was, it would have been mentioned.
Even so, anyone who thought it made sense to abandon Julian because he got arrested is crazy. Yet it happens all the time. That's where a detective's story normally ends. Without Harry prodding Heather and her dumb lies about Marin's engagement with Mosswood, she would have stopped looking into her friend's past.
I wish Heather hadn't been in love with Marin. It somehow taints the story. That she had a crush on her best friend allowed her to be swayed from doggedly pursuing her disappearance to becoming a jilted lover. It's not an excuse that someone you loved didn't want to be found. She's gone, and you don't know you. You look.
Using the phrase "lost cause" when she hadn't looked for her friend in at least 10 years nor talked to her mother in 12 was ridiculous. It was petulant, and I am fairly certain I saw Harry roll his eyes when Heather copped to taking another look at Heather's disappearance like "he suggested."
He only asked questions to which she slammed the door. She asked for his help. Take the help.
Adam and Bess were not saving Julian, they were abducting him, but you never thought of that did you. Julian was defending himself.
Vera
Even so, just because Vera said Bess and Adam had taken Julian without permission doesn't mean she's his birth mother. Does it matter? Not when it comes to Julian killing the couple; I don't think so, anyway. But we've already covered how ridiculous it was Harry hadn't thought of kidnapping immediately.
Daddy Jack is also concerning. The look on his face when he saw Marin in her bed the morning after they first visited Mosswood was not one of acceptance. Thinking back to The Sinner Season 2 Episode 1, his whole display, when he told Harry about Heather being a lesbian, was also very odd.
Digging into Marin's belongings gave Heather the idea Julian had to be her friend's kid because she circled the name over and over in one of her books. That's a lovely coincidence, but none of what Heather found added up to actual evidence.
That's why Dr. Poole's behavior was so dramatic. Surely Mosswood has contingency plans in place for when situations such as these come up. Even though Vera claims she doesn't have faith in the local municipalities, it doesn't mean they're against the place.
Harry: OK. Why didn't you report it?
Vera: I've learned that to protect and to serve doesn't apply to Mosswood. I have my own resources.
In fact, instead of raiding Mosswood when Harry felt there was justification to do it, the Sherriff was of a mind to let it go. Why would anyone want to stay away unless they might be involved?
My mind is now set on the idea the whole town is somehow involved, and that's why Jack was so eager to push Harry out of the house. Could he have tried any harder to give his so-called friend an excuse not to stay another minute?
He assured Harry Heather was settled with the case, that Harry must dislike being back, that he must have work of his own to return to and all the other cliche reasons he could think of so Harry would leave. It didn't work.
The doctor skedaddling out of his office to kill himself for such benign questioning is ridiculously suspect. He could have said any number of things instead of saying he had to get the files. "Yes, I have had patients there over the years. They didn't like paper files, but I felt I had an obligation to treat anyone who took ill."
After Harry and Heather left, he could have placed a call to Vera to stem the flow of misinformation. She wouldn't have argued with him. She wants to save Julian.
It's hard to imagine why they charged Julian as an adult when they had no motive. Doesn't motive play into that decision? I don't know, so I'm genuinely asking.
How do states decide when a 13-year-old gets tried as an adult? I'd guess it's a lot more than who got murdered.
The way Julian has behaved thus far hasn't seemed very adult in nature, so something seems off about this turn of events, too. Julian doesn't trust Vera, mother or not, because she's asking him to lie.
Lying is something he's been taught is so terrible he killed Bess and Adam for doing it, so his head must be exploding.
What and how Vera taught all of these things to Julian -- as well as what she didn't teach him -- will obviously come into play. Vera did her research on Harry, so she knows that while she couldn't get justice from those who lived in the area, she'll get it from Harry.
Depending on what she's done to and with Julian, that could help or hurt her and the boy.
Who do you think is doing what in the weird town? Are more people involved in the rock group than are admitting it? Make sure you watch The Sinner online so you can get a great perspective, and then drop me a comment.
Is this holding up to The Sinner Season 1 or do you see cracks in the foundation?
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
