Sharp Objects is a show that follows a crime reporter, Camille Preaker (played by Amy Adams), sent by her Editor, Frank Curry (played by Miguel Sandoval), to investigate the murders of two young females in her old home town of Wind Gap, Missouri. This show is a classic case of a “Whodunnit” mystery.
***SPOILERS AHEAD Be Warned***
The plot/genre above has been overused in TV and movies for a long time. While overused, it still works and people love to watch a show or movie where they can play along by solving it before the protagonist does. If the person watching succeeds, they feel triumphant. If not, they get to be surprised by the outcome. Either way, it’s why this format works.
Each episode gives the viewer a little more info on the small town and its inner workings and through dialogue or situational awareness gives subtle hints towards the resolution. Because the hints and clues were not spoonfed and obvious, viewers need to pay attention to every word, every scene and every subtle move a character makes. Some of Andora and Amma’s facial expressions even help tell the viewer there are more emotional issues beyond the surface. Patricia Clarkson and Eliza Scanlon did a great job innot overselling it.
Scanlon did an excellent job at playing her character. At first glance, Amma looks like a typical teenager. She sneaks out, drinks, goes to parties, etc. Then while at home, she puts on the “good girl” face and pretends to be the perfect child. She keeps the viewer wondering if she actually likes her sister, Camille, or resents her. Amma peer pressures her broken sister into doing drugs, hiding information from her parents, and then stabs in her the back only to apologize later.
Amy Adams does a great job at playing the broken, alcoholic, self-harming reporter. Viewers immediately know that she has issues, and quickly learn that she has seen a lot of death, between a roommate of hers and that of her own younger half-sister, Marian and carries the blameon herself. The viewer feels sorry for her and pities the bad life she has endured up to this point.
Both these girls have parental issues with their mother, Andora (played by Patricia Clarkson). The viewer is left trying to put the pieces together. Through flashbacks from Camille on her childhood, and interactions between Amma and Andora, viewers are left to wonder: is Andora a grief ridden parent who is overprotective of Amma and resentful of Camille because of losing Marian? Or is there a darker side to Andora?
The show has a lot of “White Rabbits”, leads that go nowhere. No time during the run of this show did I ever feel the main suspect, John Keene (played by Taylor John Smith), was responsible for the murders of his sisters, Natalie, and Annie. Instead the show lead me down the path of believing the lazy, close to retirement, Police Chief Bill Vickery (played by Matt Craven) is covering up for Andora. Throughout the show, they seem flirtatious and that seemed suspect.
I am not one to believe my first instinct; is the writer trying to get me to go down this path? Usually that answer is yes. While the show did great with the sleight of hand, it was still easy for me to pick up that the real culprit must be someone no one would suspect. Who could that be? Amma of course.
Slowly and again using the great one liners or often overlooked comments, we learn that Amma was friends with both girls at one point in time. There’s the link. The question then becomes motivation, and this is what eluded me until late in the series. Once I saw how Amma looked at Camille when attention from Andora was ripped from her, it clicked.
The final scene where Camille finds the teeth in the doll house was epic. The closing of the show couldn’t have been done better. The look on Camille’s face when she realized and the last words spoken by Amma before the credits, “Don’t tell mama”, were masterfully done. It was like the missing ingredient that just made the entire meal (or in this case show) come together. The Perfect Ending.
If the show/series ends here, it still feels complete. A second season could be good if done right or follows a different character in the series. For instance, Camille could be a secondary character, but we instead follow Richard, the detective, on a new case back in Kansas City and learn more about him. The title of the show would need to be reworked if that happens though.
All in all, this was a great season and the only drawback was there were some slow moving parts that got boring, but that really can be said about any show. If you haven’t seen Sharp Objects and since the the season is over, grab HBO Go and binge watch it, it’s worth the time.
