Madeline
The Sinner is unlike any show I have ever seen and I am a big fan of the thriller genre, including The Act, Crime Junky, and Midsommer. With many thrillers, the focus is to figure out who did it? Who is the monster? Who needs to be removed from society? And they never challenge the why they are a monster. The Sinner focuses on people’s motives rather than the typical “who”.
Season 1
The first episode of The Sinner is unlike the first episode of any show I have ever seen. The basic purpose of this first episode is to introduce the main characters and show the viewer the murder. This first episode sets up what the rest of the season. Yes, it shows you the murder. There is no question of who. Challenge the why she murdered who she did.
Jessica Biel‘s character, Cora, addresses a man on a crowded beach and stabs him in front of everyone with zero hesitation. No one knows why, not even Cora can explain it. It is then Bill Pullman‘s character, Harry Ambrose, the star of all of The Sinners, to find the reason why she did it. The entire season is both of them understanding her modive. And then in comes out.
Season 2
Harry Ambrose is back to solve the reason why and challenge the why. This time it is with a murderous child who kills his parents. Once again, The Sinner’s format is to challenge the why with the understanding of who the murder is rather than spending time determining who did it. That being said, in my opinion, this is the weakest season of the three but still worth the watch.
Season 3
Season three of The Sinner takes a little longer than the first episode to unravel. Although there is a death, the death is not as straightforward as this is the murderer on the beach like the first season. There is clearly more to unravel in the story, but it is not until Harry Ambrose digs up a strange story that there is an understanding of the why the murder in this episode occurs.
Final Thoughts
I am glad this show came across my plate. The stories are wild, out of this world, and unlike anything I have ever watched previously and the suspense is real. Although the murderer is made clear from the very beginning, this show keeps the watcher on their toes and always guessing.
