If there was any chance for Jamie’s redemption, it’s gone. Far, far gone.

So why is it that I don’t hate the guy no matter how horrid he’s become?

On The Sinner Season 3 Episode 7, Jamie got the second chance criminals only dream about while the walls began to close in on Harry Ambrose.

If there’s something we’ve learned through Harry’s wild behavior, it’s not that he’s half cracked himself.

We’ve learned that no good deed goes unpunished when you’re a law enforcement officer circumventing the law you’ve vowed to uphold.

Essentially, Harry jumped the gun pursuing Jamie, and what he got in return was a turn as a suspect, no matter how brief.

Let’s be honest here, what Harry did to retain a confession was crazy. Not kind of out there, but downright batshit crazy.

Even the judge had to pause mid-admonishment to say, essentially, “what now?”

Kowalski: Is it true that in order to gain Mr. Burns' trust, you agreed to be buried in a grave for eight hours.
Ambrose: That's correct.
Kowalski: In fact,
Judge: Pardon me, counselor. You agreed to be... how deep a grave?
Ambrose: I don't know. Maybe six feet or so?
Judge: Could you get out on your own?
Ambrose: No.

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But part of the reason I don’t entirely despise Jamie is because Harry led him on with false promises. And it’s too easy for Harry to do that when he has a similar darkness in his soul that Jamie is fighting.

It’s almost a “there but for the grace of God go I” thing with Harry. He sees himself in Jamie, and it’s that vision of himself in Jamie’s position that has driven him to excessive lengths to catch his man.

Just look at his fever dreams as he lay near death six feet under without any way to communicate with the world and waning trust in a handsome psychopath.

Everything that made Harry who he is, every fear and worry from his youth to his recent reactions to his family and the death of his father reared its ugly head and scared the hell out of the detective.

If that’s what he saw when pressed, what must Jamie see? Yikes. We don’t even know that Jamie didn’t already skirt the edge of life and death with Nick back in the day. Did he only suspect that his boundaries would be crossed if he stayed friends with Nick, or did Jamie act on the dark feelings?

Early on The Sinner Season 3, I would have erred on the side of caution. Surely, being the man he is now, a teacher, husband, and father, Jamie had never experienced that kind of violence before.

But as Jamie grew even more volatile and ultimately so unhinged that he bashed in Harry’s captain’s head in the middle of a golf course, well, now I’m not so sure.

And how frakked up is it that when given the opportunity to skedaddle, literally hightail it out of town, that his first act was to murder someone. Someone who, as far as I can tell, had little to nothing to do with his capture in the first place.

What will he do to Leela should he discover she finally twisted the knife in his back?

At the very least, turning over that information was helpful in proving Harry right about his suspicions despite his botching of the case thus far.

But it seems like Jamie is still under the impression that he has a chance to get his life back. Or at least he did before he crushed another man's skull. 

He's been in the midst of an "oh, woe is me" adventure with the belief that he's been put upon and treated unfairly. But dang, the guy skated thanks to another man's bumbling.

Wasn’t it strange that even as Harry was being ballyhooed for his heroic act with a “he’s a jolly good fellow celebration,” he was still under suspicion?

Sure, the world is now after Jamie, but if Harry had played it closer to the vest and not gotten to close to Jamie, it’s possible he could have moved on the man without alerting him.

Playing hero isn’t always the right plan of attack.

Harry is screwing up across the board from the investigation to his budding romance with Sonya to his relationship with his daughter and grandson.

Ol’ shifty eyes isn’t pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I loved how Sonya called him out of demanding others share with him while he has no desire to return the favor.

Oh, I get it. This is how it goes. You want everyone to tell you everything while you say nothing.

Sonya

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Granted, it is weird that Sonya felt she needed to keep private a freaky session with a man who previously set out to kill her, but that only makes her a more suitable match for Harry.

They both have a unique perspective on the world that would ensure they’d have a lot to talk about for a long time to come.

It seems unlikely any relationship they’d share would run out of things to do or talk about, and they’re probably the only people who would understand their awkward proclivities.

So while Jamie might be in the wind in the Big Apple, something tells me he’s not going to be lost for long.

That doesn’t mean I have a single clue how this will all end, but if The Sinner isn’t continuing (something about which I have no idea), it would be really cool to see Harry taking even more chances and getting further compromised.

What do you think?

Let me hear from you in the comments!

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.