‘Sharp Objects’ Episode 6: Dead Girls Everywhere

After the scene where a woman is putting flowers near the spot where Natalie was propped, I thought, OMG, whoever she is, she did it. And it turned out to be Jackie. The reason I thought this woman did it is because she seemed quite large, and there have been lots of comments about how it couldn't have been a woman, because a woman wouldn't have been strong enough to pull out the teeth, or to carry Natalie to the spot where she was found. But Jackie looks pretty big and strong. (Elizabeth Perkins is 5'8". But I cant figure out what her motivation is.

I am watching this slow as molasses thing and trying to find a compelling character in it, but I am at a loss. If it's malicious, it has no bite, just languid and uninterested misanthropy. A slog.

A snip from my interview with Gillian Flynn about her motivations about writing this story and it being adapted: Q — Series creator Marti Noxon had said that women tend to internalize their hurt while men usually externalize it and turn it against other men. A — I think it’s long been institutionalized to internalize one’s hurt for women. When I started to write this story, I felt there were eight million stories about men and their generational violence against each other and themselves. But stories didn’t exist about this generational violence for women. There wasn’t enough about what that looked like. About what women did to each other, to themselves, what violence breeds, the self-hurt and (different) aggression, what this actually looked like. So, I really wanted to write about that.

Perhaps someone has already commented on this "clue" before, but I haven't seen it. In one of the episodes, Willis has a conversation with the coroner about the method one could use to extract teeth. The coroner mentions that whoever extracted Natalie's teeth may have used pliers with jagged edges. A scene or two later, we see Vickery's repairing a Wind Gap stop sign with similar pliers. Perhaps showing Vickery's use of pliers and the previous coroner's statement is too simplistic use of foreshadowing. But, add Adora's husband who may or may not have a gun, Vickery later is disturbed to find that after his repair job, the stop sign now has a single bullet hole. Piggyback these "clues" to that the unusual relationship between Vickery and Adora and Vickery's insistence that it is an outsider who committed the murders of Ann and Natalie. Not knowing who Camille's father is, not knowing how Marian died, Adora's explicit statement that she never loved Camille and so on, Adora's having tutored the two murdered girls, tend to point me to laying the murders to a collusive effort. And the collusion is formulated by the past hush hush misdeeds. And it seems Jackie knows what some of these past perverted are and who committed them.

I could be wrong for suspecting Jackie, but I think that Jackie is jealous of Adora and might want to cast suspicion on her, maybe even frame her or punish her, thus the bike is revealed on Adora's pig farm property. I also noticed that at the end of Amma's performance on Calhoun Day, Jackie didn't applaud. Why not? I found the expression on Jackie's face -in her eyes- as she told Richard he was "getting warmer" rather chilling...And why was she heading down to where the drama teacher was sitting when she told Camille that Adora had taken Richard into the house? I agree with @Chris, Elizabeth Perkins is too major a player not to have a weightier role in this drama. I haven't figured out where all of this is going and I'm reading all of the theories here with great interest! But I'm not 100% convinced that the most obvious answer is the right one, even though all roads seem to lead to Adora and Alan. I'm hoping episode 7 will reveal some answers to these questions!

Episode 1 foreshadowings: --The mansion haunts all who've lived there. Young Camille "pinches" Camille with a paper clip (to be echoed by Adora's mother pinching her in the middle of the night); --Gloria Steinem poster on Camille's St. Louis apt wall: "We are the women our parents warned us against and we are proud" --Words carved into Camille's desk include "bad" and "drunk;" compare to words revealed later in the series that are directed outward towards the source of her pain; --Camille's 1st line of dialogue: "Am I in trouble?" Yes! Classic opening line. She's being sent into a story that makes her life as bad as it can be and she's the only one who can solve the problem (or so we hope); --Highway road sign: "Last Exit To Change Mind" - echoed later when she's fleeing to St. Louis ("90 Miles Away") but turns around; --Images of fans and ceilings: in episode 1 when Camille masturbates she sees a super-brief, almost subliminal image of what appears to be a father, mother and daughter in the shadows of a ceiling fan. I expect to see this image explained in the final two episodes. In flashback, looking at the ceiling, Marion terms lines on the ceiling a "heart" but young Camille calls them a "chicken." I suspect Camille's constant flashbacks to the ceiling is linked to her childhood abuse. But we'll see. In sum, really rich direction with a fabulous art department. Easter eggs all over.

I re-watched the opening episode which is full of foreshadowings. I have lots to say about them, but what's messing with me is that the opening title underscore in episode 1 is from A PLACE IN THE SUN, a tragedy about a distant member of a wealthy family who kills a pregnant woman in order to be with a beautiful socialite (a clumsy one-liner, I grant you). The theme is used a second time under the opening of episode 5, so it's deliberate. WHY is it messing with me? The socialite's character name was Angela Vickers and the COP in SHARP is named Vickery.

My theory: or, You All Probably Have Said This Already: I think that Amma is actually Camille's daughter. But, she was raised as Adora's. That would explain the age differences. As to Amma's father I think this could be from the terrible event in the forest, when Camille was in high school. While I can't figure out who the father is, I believe the murderer is revealed in that scene. Switching back to present day (and I can't recall his name) I think the murderer is the fellow who tried to apologize to Camille. He said he was "haunted" by that day. He rages because he couldn't participate in that forest incident. He directed his rage and impotence to Camille's sister. Then, something triggered him to kill in the present day. Please accept my apologies for not using the "right" language to talk about what happened to Camille in the forest...in high school. I have no words to describe this.

I have a theory as to who committed the murder and some potential insight into Amma. Can we "reveal" what we think is happening???

I can't hear at least half the dialogue and can never make out the hidden words. Why am I still watching? The murders will get solved and I'm sure to be perplexed. I'm a huge reader; would I read a book where certain lines were blocked out? So frustrating!

What about the little dead girl who is watching from the downstairs hall when Amma and Camille come home from their night of druggy rollerskating? It was the first time we've seen one of Camille's "ghosts" on her own, not through Camille's eyes - and it creeped me OUT. At first I thought it was Adora and had to rewind to see that it was a child. I think it was supposed to be Marian, since the girl was blonde. But who was the brown-haired girl in the mirror - who also seemed to take Camille's hand (or was that Amma? So much overlap and mirroring in this show) - as she and Amma lay across the bed and told Camille that she "wasn't safe" there? It wasn't the girl from rehab either...

I really hate this show and hope it does not receive award nominations.

I suspect that the fans also serve as a clue, not just to create an authentic atmosphere or for set decoration. Is it a coincidence that there are fans in the mansion, fans in Camille's apartment in St. Louis, ceiling fans in the motel rooms, fans in the police station and giant fans in the walls of the pig farm? The whirring of the fans is as ominous-sounding as the bug noises and crackling branches underfoot in the woods. I think something might have happened in the pig farm. I'm not sure what, but I think the fans foreshadow whatever horror it was that might have happened there. I am thoroughly loving this series. I'm also watching the episodes more than once to catch all the nuances, reading the recaps and the comments here. I can't help but wonder how all these loose ends will be tied up and explained in only two more episodes but I am at the edge of my seat, waiting for it!

Wow. After reading all the comments from readers who dislike this series I was prompted to write -- I love this series. In fact, I'm a bit obsessed with it and I often watch episodes twice so that I can pick up on the nuances I've missed. Plus, Im now reading the book to help fill in any gaps. Why do I like it so much? The great acting, the slow-moving-twisty plot, the languid, hot, Missouri days, the intensity of the female relationships, mother-daugher, sisters, old high school friends. I love the hidden words and the half-overheard conversations. I love the character of Camille who so often feels like she's moving underwater. Despite her many flaws she does try to get along with her mother and her sister and she, mainly, tries to be civil and conciliatory. I love Camille.

For the plot, the important part of the long, slow day that is episode 6 isn't the hidden words, the found bike or even Camille's past. It's the suffocating mean-girl society of Wind Gap at every age and the fact that Adora overplayed her hand with Willis. By cornering him and trying to put him off Camille with insinuations about her frailty and faultiness, she has sent the detective looking into things she'd ultimately rather have left alone.

I'm liking it better than I did at the beginning - the first two episodes were pretty boring, I thought - but overall it really strikes me as a well-acted, better directed Lifetime movie. It's all just so predictable and clicheed. Come on, we all knew from the second we saw that the young detective (I forget his name - that's how invested I am in the characters) was handsome that he and Camille would get it on. Yawn. And those were some of the worst sex scenes I've ever seen! I was embarrassed for Amy Adams. What is the deal with Camille's boss? Why is he so invested in what could be an interesting but otherwise unimportant story? Why does Camille have such a close relationship with him and his wife - it just isn't realistic. Perhaps it's a framing device, but it's super clicheed. And Amma is just a little too much of a polished-Lolita for me (although I really like the actress.) Some of it just doesn't ring true. But there are moments that are genuinely creepy and Camille has grown on me, so I'll hang in there. .

This show is well-acted but poorly written. There are so many inconsistencies that harm the flow of the story (slow that it is). We learn by an aside, that Amma was a very good friend to both the murdered girls. Yet Camille was shocked to learn that. Why? Because we know she is a functioning alcoholic with no ethical code to her journalistic skills. We see when Adora interrupts Camille's interview with Bob (is it Bob? it doesn't really matter) with negative words to her daughter. Why doesn't Camille leave and go to a motel? Anyone with a mom who absolutely ignores their professionalism would leave to better surroundings. Yet Camille stays. So, no only is she an alcoholic, she is a bad reporter with no ethics, and no professional pride. I am spending time with someone I do not like. And that is just Camille. I cannot wait for this to end and I will never read the book.

Sad to say but this is a waste of talent: half of this would suffice. We are all suffocating in Wind Gap but there are murders to solve, right? What is the story here?

I love that HBO gives Vallee hours to play with, whereas most series get multiple directors. This is stylized, cinematic work that has to be watched. No heads down checking social media, texting or eating these hours! The visual and aural designs are hypnotic and the emotions elicited from the performances are earned (if often loathsome). That said, I'd care more about Camille if she were more active solving her problems, both personal and professional. She holds the key to unlocking the mystery of her sister's death (on her flesh or in her mind) and we await its discovery and the subsequent catharsis she'll have. I just hope the action is in her hands.

Episode 6 and we continue to see over and over again Camille's quick flashbacks of basically the same events without telling us the story. I get it already. I lost count of how many times she is seriously drinking hard liquor and driving. I don't want to find 'clues' of hidden words, etc. What is the deal with the step-father; and Jackie; the investigation, how did the sister die; what happened to Camille's father, etc. Start telling the story..........move it along please.

This week, while Camille was high, was the first time we really saw her smile; I've escaped for a while smile.

Amma looking forward to Adora helping her recover from a night of partying is very ominous. I think Adora killed her own daughter with "medicine" when she started behaving more like Camille. Amma is about to get the same treatment, I fear. (Is Camille's poisoned roommate foreshadowing?) And perhaps that's what happened to the other two victims, who Adora was trying to help with tutoring. They were both too wild for her. So Adora poisons them, then Alan has to cover it up with serial killer affectations. But he is getting tired of being the bag guy and sleeping on the sofa bed. So he is leaving clues: propping up one victim like a doll. Those record albums that Alan listens to: the cover photos are all, uh, similarly disturbing. Not sure if they're intended to underscore mainstream sexualization of women or to say something about Alan's predilections. I can't believe the story is going to be all wrapped up in 2 episodes. They will have to be more action-packed than any we've seen so far.

I'm perplexed by people calling this a slowly revealed character study. We don't know anymore about any of the characters than we did by Ep2. The sheriff, Amma, Adora, Alan, Jackie, the father and brother of the dead girls... even Camille. We know nothing now we didn't know then. They are all weird, all hiding many things, all mean and/or self-destructive. The result is that with two episodes to go, who cares anymore? There has to be more than snippets of scenes with hidden words to make a compelling story.

Another hidden word: “Omen” flashes on the neon “Open” sign as Becca and Camille pull up to the convenience store

If it was not for the NYT recap I would not know what the hell is going on. Having said that, I do love the series.

Every episode makes me despise Adora more. And Elizabeth Perkins is a gem! Among all the women in this town only her character seems the most genuine and not a phony.

Do you need a 4K TV to see all of these hidden words? And why would actors beget their time and psyches to performances that will never be heard? Maybe the recap could give us some actual recap. I can’t dedicate time to watching this treacle twice.

As a huge fan of murder mysteries via PBS and BBC America, yes this is not a murder mystery series. It is, like another put it, a character study. The sleuth in me wants more clues, but the story,as it's being told is well done and enjoyable. It moves along at a slow pace just like the area where it takes place. I want to enjoy the story and not have it be over in a rush. Why? If I wanted to know the end I would have read the book. Which I will do after the series is done. Just a few observations: the whole fan-air conditioner thing makes me crazy as does those not dressing for the weather. The whole sweater tied on the back is nuts, who is dressing these people? Camille's hair all over the place with not sign of sweating? And lastly,what is with all the candles all over the house? A very OLD wooden house? If you want a great small town murder mystery, with interesting characters and great acting then Broadchurch is for you. You will never guess who done it!

Of course she was a cheerleader. And a tortured one. Also, the dark, long shirt sleeves, so only the fingers poke out, is required for tortured ex-cheerleaders solving hometown murders. That means she is meant to be consumed by consumers as a spunky work in progress.

While watching this series I find myself thinking about the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - similar themes, both in plot and geography. I feel like I'm getting all of the satisfaction that I wanted and did not feel with Three Billboards which I thought was overrated. I know it's unfair to compare a film with a series, but the characters in Sharp Objects just grab me in way that they didn't in Three Billboards.

I had thought that the sexualization of teenagers, girls in particular, was supposed to be a thing of the paternalistic past, yet in this series we see the presentation of the character Amma, 12 years old, as nothing less than a modern day Lolita. Although I realize that the manipulation and expression of adolescent sexuality is a subject of the series, I think it could have been presented in a better way.

How is it possible that Amma is out of the house, wildly drugging and carousing and Adora is unaware of it? It’s not plausible for any parent, much less one as suffocatingly repressive as Adora. Yes, I’ve gone this far, so I’ll watch to the end, but I think everything else about this series, sans the acting, is wildly overhyped in its critical acclaim.

It's a bit amusing - well, in a perverse way - that Camille's body literally functions as both a word search puzzle as well as a news paper ( or is it news flesh?) hinting to us viewers a whole more about what's really going on in Wind Gap that whatever's printed in the local rag (oops, given tonight's episode, scratch that word.) In fact, I'm starting to think there may be a hint in this jumble of pin pricked words of who the killer might be, if only Camille can look hard into her own flesh puzzle and see the connections.

Why is there such a shortage of air conditioners in Wind Gap? Even in Adora and Alan's big house, electric fans seem to be the rule.

Adora and Marian (and soon Amma): Munchausen syndrome by proxy?

I've decided Adora is the killer. I got the feeling we were supposed to catch on at the comment that Marian was vaguely sickly and no autopsy was performed. And at the end when Marian appears in the mirror and tells the girls, "You're not safe here." after Adora peeks in on them. I wonder if Adora slowly murdered Marian.

I wish that this series would pick up the pace. This has to be the slowest moving series, I've ever watched.