Ellaria

Chigs is a worthy winner. Can’t believe that he has only been baking for 12 months. Maggie’s skills weren’t well-suited for this competition. I’m sure that she is wonderful home baker. Paul was incredibly rude to her. Could she have neglected to put the flour in her sticky pudding because Noel was writing on her instructions? I’m starting to dread the upcoming Chocolate Week because of the comments about how hot it is in the tent.

Ted is more respected than he imagined and I was glad to see that. Nate does not understand people and therefore cannot appreciate why people supported Ted when the panic attacks were revealed. He is clueless about mental health struggles (of others as well as his own). I pity him and hate him. Nate has a long, dark road ahead because Rupert will turn on him quickly and there will be no safety net. He is going to fail in a very public way. I'm undecided if and how Nate can be fully redeemed. It will require a great deal of introspection on his part. Is he capable of it?

Matt and Noel are like the class clowns in junior high school. Throwing dough was unacceptable. If the viewers are bothered by their endless chatter and intrusive behavior, I can only wonder how some of the bakers feel. And I don't need closeups on either of them. Happy for Giuseppe. Despite being one of the more talented bakers in this group, he seems to get less screen time than others. Maybe he is too quiet and unassuming for the producers. Still, I'd rather hear from from him (and a few others like Chigs) than the two clowns that never stop talking.

Agree on Noel. He is doing a lot of unnecessary talking this season. And there are too many camera close-ups of him. I don't know Matt outside of this show but I find him irritating. IMO, their role as hosts (?) is to narrate/inform, be supportive of the bakers (and avoid meltdowns) and lastly, comic relief. We are getting too much of the latter so far. I'm not sure what to think about this season's showstoppers. I don't care about an anti-gravity cake or an interactive biscuit. About half of the creations do not look attractive...and when we can't taste them, looks matter. I'm not interested in whether these bakers can create gimmicks with food. I want to see their baking skills and ability to work under pressure. That's why I enjoy the "technical" challenge. I understand that the show wants to include glitz/glamor but these showstoppers are missing the mark for me.

I’m going to reserve judgement until we actually see the reaction to the article from the public, the team and the fans. Frankly, we don’t know the substance of the actual article. Perhaps that click bait headline doesn’t truly reflect what Trent Crimm, The Independent writes. I am sure that the show will use this as a consciousness raising moment on mental health and I’m sure that Ted will drive that discussion. I’m not quite sure what Nate hoped to accomplish with this reveal: shaming Ted, expressing anger at everyone at AFC Richmond, etc. If Nate stopped to think, he would realize that Ted and the coaches would realize that he was the source. I am interested in seeing his reaction to others’ reactions. When will realize that he has betrayed the man that supported him as well as the team overall? Ted may not view Nate’s actions as betrayal. Instead, he may believe that he failed to understand the issues that Nate is dealing with. Regardless, he has to hold Nate accountable.

I believe that the show will use this as an opportunity to present a broader discussion about mental health, the taboos surrounding it and panic attacks. It can happen one of two ways, IMO. Either Ted decides to address the issue head-on, either thru a press conference or with a one-on-one article with none other than Trent Crimm, The Independent. Or Trent himself decides to write an article about mental health issues after seeing what Ted has been dealing with. Will the secrets of the other coaches be revealed to the public as well? Frankly, those are some fairly troubling issues for team management. Why would Nate only reveal Ted's secret and not say that Roy doesn't read scouting reports, etc? I hope that Ted realizes that Nate cannot be trusted and fires him. Perhaps that's when Nate goes all "scorched earth" and reveals everything that he knows. Somehow, the Rebecca/Sam has to come out, too, right? Agree!

I found that scene to be strange, too. I went back thru her conversations with Lori. When Mare was released from the hospital, Lori tells her that Ryan told her that John was involved with Sandra again. We know that Ryan never said those exact words; he let Lori believe that. When Mare confronts Sandra, John has already confessed to the incest with Erin, being DJ’s father and murder. As you say, there is some ambiguity about when John stopped abusing Erin. If Mare made the assumption that John DID resume the affair with Sandra, it is because Lori initially believed - and communicated it to her - based on the conversation with Ryan. Of course, when Lori told that to Mare, she didn’t yet know the truth. When Sandra denies resumption of the affair, I think Mare realizes that something is off with what Lori originally told her.

Thanks - I thought the same thing. She had a fleet of armed officers coming to arrest Ryan. Was it for show? And when she is headed after John and Billy - knowing that either of them may act rashly out of desperation - she turns off the phone and proceeds solo. Sigh...

Nor would I want Lori raising DJ. I'm not suggesting that she would hurt him. I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to raise that child with the complex emotions that she would be feeling. I am not an expert on the legalities of this type of issue. Common sense tells me that DJ would be better off in a loving home far away from Easttown where he will not need to deal with his family's crimes on a daily basis. Let him be an adult and make the choice to learn about his past.

There were two receipts. The one on the left says “Billy Ross.” The one on the right just says “Ross.” I guess that John bought it using Billy’s name. I imagine that he wanted to avoid any possibility that it could be tracked back to him (a married man). Sigh...maybe there were other things that he should have been worried about.

I’m still processing the finale. It was the complete destruction of one extended family because John is a selfish, disturbed SOB. Cameron Mann’s performance broke my heart. Such a marvelous young actor! My only point of dissatisfaction with the finale is about Dylan’s role. He is clearly a “troubled teen” but the show never defined the character. Perhaps that’s best left to the viewers. Every character was a given a measure of closure and the ability to take the next step forward in their life, however painful that would be. Kate, Jean and Julianne were outstanding in these their roles but that’s no surprise. They are always wonderful!

I think that the person at the door is Dylan wearing an orange hoodie. As to why he is there...no idea.

After rewatching some episodes and reading lots of Reddit threads, I realize that I have NO idea what will happen tonight. Instead, I’m just going to post some thoughts and speculation. I don’t think that Billy is either the killer or the father of DJ. It doesn’t make sense to assign the full weight of these horrible deeds to a character that we know so little about. Billy is weak-willed, easily influenced and has a drinking problem but, beyond that, he appears to be a minor character that is caught up in something terrible. It seems much too easy to make him the “bad guy” with no prior indication of this type of behavior. While I previously thought that John was the killer/father, I am becoming less convinced. We know that he cheated on Lori with Sandra. Isn’t it a big leap to assume that he would then rape his underage niece and kill her? Is he a monster? Dylan doesn’t have a lot of redeemable qualities. He has a gun and he threatens others with it. He has no alibi for the night that Erin was murdered. He is also aware of the manner of Erin’s death which, as far as we know, hasn’t been made public. He burned Erin’s journals for unknown reasons. There is speculation that he burned the journals because there was proof that he is involved in selling drugs or a prostitution ring. However, as of right now, we know very little about Dylan. Deacon Mark has a troubling past. One can certainly question his judgement in driving a distressed Erin to the woods and dropping her off in the middle of the night. A killer? I don’t think so. Frank: he isn’t involved. It is possible that Ryan is involved in her murder. He seems to be hiding something. If he is involved, it would certainly explain the odd behavior of Billy and John. There has to be a reason why. I feel the same way about the speculation that Lori is the killer. Lori or Ryan are killers only if they are protecting secrets and/or another family member. The kidnapping of Katie and Missy and the connection to Erin’s murder: no idea. The necklace: I’m probably 100% wrong here but I’m thinking that there is an innocent explanation for that gift. The murder weapon: We know it’s a revolver that a cop would have used years ago. So far, we’ve only seen Glenn’s gun. Who could have used it and returned it? Is there another gun of this type that we aren’t aware of yet? Sorry for the long post. I believe that this show is primarily a character study focused on family and parenthood. The murder mystery is secondary.

Interesting and entirely possible! It makes much more narrative sense for Mare's dad's revolver to appear. Or that Old Man Ross was a cop and had one, too. The important point is that Erin's killer had to have access to one of the old detective revolvers.

I don't think that your wheel-spinning was for naught. The existence of this gun is making me crazy. I wasn't able to adequately screen shot it either but I have seen others' shots and that leads me to believe that it is a valid, important clue. We know that an old cop gun was the weapon used in Erin's murder. It is possible that Mare's father's gun exists but we have nothing to indicate that is true. Instead, we suddenly have Glenn's old gun and, at this point, must consider that it is the likely murder weapon. I agree that they could have established Glenn that was a cop prior to Episode 7 but whatever...here we are. Assuming that Glenn's gun is the murder weapon, then someone would first need to know that it existed. Who would know that and why? Then, the decision is made to steal Glenn's gun and return it once the deed is done. It could imply that Erin's murder was planned rather than a crime of opportunity or an accident. There is no shortage of guns among the residents. It seems incredibly stupid to steal and return a gun - particularly a rare and easily distinguishable gun - and risk being captured on the security footage.

I haven't seen any single theory that adequately addresses all of the questions about the who/how/why etc of Erin's murder. The ballistics expert says that the gun that killed Erin was a Colt Detective Special that was used by those in law enforcement in the '80s. The ballistics expert then tells Mare that “your pop probably had one." As best as I can tell, this was NOT the type of gun that Dylan used to threaten Jess. So, if we are to believe that Dylan is the murderer, we have to understand how he came to be in possession of THAT type of gun. Is Mare's father's gun still around? If so, how did Dylan get his hands on it? Also...I will put this behind spoiler bars for those that don't watch previews: In this story, Glenn's gun may actually be the "smoking gun."

Makes sense that Gordon Clapp's character has a larger role to play. And if he was a cop and had that type of gun, Billy and/John would have access to it. Now to find it...

I have questions about the murder weapon... The ballistics expert says that the gun that killed Erin was a Colt Detective Special that was used by those in law enforcement in the '80s. The ballistics expert then tells Mare that “your pop probably had one." Where is Mare's father's gun? Who else in Easttown was a cop or would have access to a gun of that type?

The fact that a master manipulator like John - who also happens to be married with two children - would give a necklace with a distinctive engraving to the underage female relative that he is molesting IS incredibly stupid. One would think that the necklace should be rather ordinary so it would not attract attention or be easily traceable. John was manipulating Lori just as he has manipulated Ryan, Billy and Erin. He knew that she would tell Mare. He is pinning all of it on Billy and, presumably, plans to kill him.

IMO, the necklace is a ridiculous plot device. That fact that it is being used as the smoking gun stretches credulity. Surely John or Billy would realize that there would be a big problem by giving Erin a necklace that commemorates THAT date.

John is a master manipulator. We saw him do it to Ryan by telling him to keep their secret. He has likely manipulated Billy for years and is doing it again. John is playing on Billy's weaknesses and letting him take the fall for Erin's murder. I'm a little unclear on the "gun in the tackle box" scenario. My guess is that John put it there with the intent to kill Billy. However, Billy found it and knows what John has planned. I don't believe that Lori is involved. She is trying to make sense of what is happening around her and, instinctively, tries to protect her family.

This documentary devoted WAY too much time to the YouTubers and web sleuths. I understand why they were included in the telling of the story but I wish that it had been approached differently and with less attention to those that simply desire attention. I would have preferred to learn more about Elisa and her family. I also think that the documentary could have benefitted by a deeper discussion on bipolar disorder and those that struggle with mental health. This is also my criticism about "Unsolved Mysteries." I can't even imagine how horrible her final hours must have been as she slowly drowned in that water tank. The hotel manager made me crazy. Yes, she had probably seen many ugly, sad, disturbing situations in her time there. However, it is now years later and her "defense"of the hotel and its occurrences was troubling to me. After all, she is in a documentary about this poor young woman's death and she seems unaffected by all of it. To my way of thinking, if she did see Elisa acting disoriented in the hotel, the humane thing to do would have been to ask her if she needed help. Maybe there was nothing that she could have done. However, if it were me, I would never stop thinking that perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided if I had acted and tried to intervene . Agree 100%. This is the central part of this story. One final comment: I absolutely hated how this documentary was filmed. Too many shots of dark corridors and of people's eyes looking at computers. (Didn't the web sleuths buy light bulbs?) There was no need for the faux sense of eerie.

I, too, kept expecting Megan's storyline to intersect with the rest of excitement. By the finale, it was obvious that it wasn't going to happen (at least not this season). Can't say that I was disappointed because Megan was an underdeveloped character that, IMO, absorbed precious screen time. Her motives were not well explored. Moving on...yes, I was annoyed when Cassie convinced loyal, handsome Enrico into giving her a gun and coming back to the hotel with her. That had "bad idea" written all over it. Thank goodness he survived (somehow). I became suspicious of Buckley early on, too, mostly because he kept texting her at critical moments. Now we know that was stalking her the entire time. Shane as CIA was a bit out of the blue but I love him so it was fine with me. Thought that there were way too many scenes with Dead Daario but I won't complain about more of Michiel Huisman.

Agree. He never seemed to be young or fun or exciting. At least, that's my interpretation of the media-constructed image of him. Obviously, I don't know the real Charles and I believe that he has a better nature that is revealed in private. However, as a product of his upbringing and privilege, there are also unflattering habits.

This is becoming rather silly. If a few hours of a TV drama can "jeopardize" the supposedly rehabilitated reputations of C&C then perhaps their reputations weren't truly rehabilitated in the first place. The Windsors - like all families, royal and not royal - have issues. This media campaign (for lack of a better term) to discredit the show and offer a "woe is me" aspect does more harm than good to their position. The family and their public voices need to stop talking about it. I know quite a few people who are now watching The Crown - having never watched it before - because of all of the talk about how Charles is portrayed.