Summary
The Sinner’s second season remains compelling in “Part VI”, but with only two episodes left, I worry that the show being so tight-lipped with real answers might lead to an unsatisfying conclusion.
It has been a while since I’ve written about The Sinner, so here’s a useful summary of where we stand: I still don’t know what’s going on, and neither, it seems, does anybody else. “Part VI” dispensed a lot of information, some of it eye-opening and most of it very unusual, but the show is still being frustratingly tight-lipped when it comes to providing any actual answers.
Still, I suppose that’s what keeps people watching. And what The Sinner has managed to maintain consistently is a pervading, unsettling atmosphere; the promise of dark secrets yet to be revealed. “Part VI”, in that regard, was no different, taking trips into the memories and anxieties of both Vera (Carrie Coon) and Ambrose (Bill Pullman).
We learned, for instance, more about Vera’s time in Mosswood, and her strange relationship with Julian (Elisha Henig). Even though we saw Marin (Hannah Gross) give birth to the nipper in flashbacks in “Part VI”, we also saw how she was unable to breastfeed him, whereas Vera just started randomly lactating and did it herself. I mean, sure, if you like.
We also learned that Lionel (Brennan Brown) was pissed off about this, and that Vera may or may not have poisoned him with a cup of the toxic tea that everyone in The Sinner seems so curiously fond of. But that raises an obvious concern, as Lionel is currently the prime candidate for the hooded figure who haunts Julian and who “Part VI” suggested might in fact be real. I suppose it could be Vera, but that’d be a little too obvious and a lot too unsatisfying, so we’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, Ambrose struck a deal with D.A. Hutchinson (Victor Williams) to get Julian out of family court and to reduce his sentence to manslaughter, which is a slightly more complex situation than it appears written down. Hutchinson might not be fulfilling his legal duties with the determination you’d expect, and Ambrose obviously has a kinship with the young poisoner thanks to their similarly traumatic upbringings. We got the confession in “Part VI” that Ambrose really did burn his house down, which I suppose is relatable enough. But with only two episodes left, I’m not entirely sure that these are the kind of revelations we need. Perhaps next week we’ll find out what’s really going on.
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