Paloma

I was confused about the tattoo also, but my husband thought it was like a burn that those who went through the portal got, because it was the same shape as the symbol that we saw in the red lights when The Throat was activated. Gabriel did not have the tattoo when he was alive and a professor in 2053 because he had not yet gone through the portal, but the body of Gabriel that Maplewood found in 2053 and that the other detectives found in 1890, 1941, and 2023 did have the tattoo because that Gabriel went through the portal (as Iris was shooting him). The teen boy (I think his name was Syed) was apparently a friend of Elias (the teen version) who was threatened/frightened into showing up near the body with a gun in 2023, thus making himself a suspect. I don't remember the details, but my husband thinks he was told that they would kill his family if he didn't do that and if he didn't kill himself when the police showed up to arrest him. That makes sense! To take it further, the only way the taxi driver in 2023 could be Iris (as opposed to her mother) is if her body split into different versions when she went through The Throat (which is what I originally theorized). The version that appeared in 1890 was crippled because she had not yet met and convinced Hillinghead to change things. But once the loop was broken and the bomb did not go off, any later versions of Iris would not be crippled (if the bomb was the cause of her injury). We didn't see if a version of her landed in 1941, but the 2023 version of her was probably fine. She no longer existed in 2053.

I'm not sure of everyone's ages, but it did seem that they were dying from youngest to oldest in the first generation of Roderick's bloodline. But Lenore was the second generation so would die after them regardless of age. Although I like that idea, I think she also left Lenore for last in order to maximally hurt Roderick (and I guess also Madeline, but especially Roderick). He seemed to love Lenore more than any of his children, and he definitely saw her as innocent in contrast to his children.

I just found an "ending explained" article that seems to support my original idea of a body splitting and ending up in more than one time period, though this explanation refers to Defoe: When Mannix shows up at The Throat in 2053, "Maplewood, who still thinks she’s on the side of justice, allows him to step inside The Throat to head to 1890. Defoe jumps in after him, and Maplewood shoots Defoe. Because she shoots him as he’s splitting into a different timeline, his body ends up in four different years." Here's a link to the whole article, which I found helpful: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/bodies-ending-explainer

I think that just before she went into The Throat she said "I'm going to die there, aren't I?" (referring to her 1890 destination). But she expected to get there alive so she could do something to change the loop (telling the detective the truth about Harker and what was going to happen). She probably assumed that after contacting the detective she would live the rest of her life in 1890 and that she couldn't come back to 2053 or go to another time. I like your idea about the tech on her back causing a glitch that prevented her from disappearing. And maybe the same glitch caused two versions of her to appear in two different time periods. If she appeared in 2023 naked and unable to walk, maybe someone called an ambulance and she was taken to a hospital, where she was helped with 2023 technology such as leg braces. But it still seems unlikely she could get a job driving a taxi with that kind of disability.

I thought of that, that’s why there were many copies of Defoe’s body getting dropped through time. But once teenage Mannix broke the loop and didn’t set off the bomb, he disappeared, future Hasan disappeared, no Defoe bodies dropped, thus there should be no Maplewood copies either. You're right, it doesn't make sense. The only other explanation that I can think of is that the taxi driver in 2023 is Iris's mother (or future mother). But that wouldn't explain why she seemed to look identical to Iris, down to the bangs, or why the final shot was her face rather than Hasan's face. Maybe the writer/director was just messing with our minds.

The time travel theory in this show seemed to be that you split into different bodies or versions of yourself at least momentarily when you go into The Throat, though presumably those different bodies/versions are recombined by the time they reach their destination. But maybe they don't always recombine and two or more bodies/versions can end up in different time periods.

Same here, and young Roderick before Annabel also seemed like a decent person, while Madeline was always more cold and manipulative. I get that their mother's illness and death messed them up, but there didn't seem to be an understandable transition from an apparently honest and caring Roderick to one who pulled off a long con, lied to prosecutors, and literally killed a man in cold blood with not even the slightest hint of remorse (other than worrying about whether they'd be caught).

They talk about pain and Verna wants to offer Madeline clarity with no strings attached. Verna recites a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (The City in the Sea) as she describes a realm or location that she has found. This could foreshadow to what we will see in the finale. Verna tells Madeline that she will soon understand this moment of clarity. Seriously, I still don't have any clarity from that poem. Does anyone her get it? Otherwise an excellent episode.

Was there really a dead body in the wall, or was it another delusion? Either way, did it look like Verna or someone else to him? It went by too fast for me.

What was in the gift box (with a decorative goldbug on top) that Tammy found in her kitchen? It looked like bugs crawling over a moving hand, but even when we tried to freeze the frame we couldn't quite tell.

Did Roderick and Madeline know they were the children of the former CEO (that their mother was secretary to) before Griswold talked about this scandal? If they could prove it was true, wouldn't they have a right to part of the former CEO's estate and maybe also part ownership of Fortunato?

It's hard to rank the children in terms of meanness and obnoxiousness because they are all pretty bad. I don't see Leo as one of the better ones, but maybe I'm biased because I hate anyone who hurts an animal (even if it's because he is delusional). On the other hand, I guess I can cut him some slack because... I hope you're right. I'm having a hard time seeing him as anyone except Starbuck's boyfriend in Battlestar Galactica.

That's what I thought. He actually seems like a decent guy (from what little we've seen of him), and Tammy doesn't seem to care much about him.

I can't remember if this was shown in this episode so I will use a spoiler tag: Prospero intended the sprinklers to start the orgy--he seemed to think that the water would make everything sexier.

Guess it's time to look for a Prime offer so we can watch Season 3!

I do have a question about this episode: After Verna appeared as a patient with a heart problem in Vic's girlfriend's clinic, Vic took a picture of her driver's license (with a name that was not Verna) and called her later to say she would be a perfect case for their treatment. Later in the RUE Morgue when Verna confronts Camille, she opens her shirt to show her surgical scar. So did Verna actually come in to have surgery as a human subject after the call and before the confrontation in the RUE Morgue?

Epic. I almost fell out of the chair laughing at "conflict-free lemons". That was great writing and perfect delivery of the lines! I hated that, as well as even the brief glimpses of chimps and monkeys in the lab. Even if they were CGI or actors in costume, Verna's speech about how many animals are used in medical and cosmetic testing was true and upsetting. I've been assuming that Verna is the devil, or an agent of the devil, and can appear in different forms. So maybe she was possessing the body of the chimp, controlling its actions and making it appear human and able to talk to Camille, but then for the attack allowed the chimp to take back control of its body. I think it did overlap. But if we assume that Verna is not really human (devil or agent of the devil, or some other supernatural being or spirit), then there's no reason she can't be in two places at once. Aside from still being confused by the character names and relationships, I am enjoying this as much as my previous favorite Flanagan series, The Haunting of Hill House.

I love her, too, but wish she didn't have so much "work" done--it's very distracting. But maybe that is makeup specifically for this series?

That was great! All That Jazz is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I got it right away.

Way late in discovering this show, but just want to say that the Starship song makes any show or movie better. I already loved this show and especially this season, and even more especially this episode, but ending with that song was perfection. My only complaint is that I really don't want a Sam-Ruth romance or even a "will they or won't they" plotline. Why can't they just be friends?

I don't know about other people, but I just discovered the Dirty John series (both seasons) last week when looking for something "new" to watch on Netflix. We haven't had cable TV for a few years so mostly watch Netflix, which I guess this series came to in the last year or so. My husband and I were both immediately addicted, and it has sparked a lot of spirited discussion between us about both seasons, similar to the various opinions in this forum. He was satisfied with just watching the series, but I am eager to learn more about the true stories and will be listening to the podcast for Season 1 (not sure if there is also a podcast for Season 2) and reading the book that several people recommended for Season 2.

I just finished the show but haven't heard the podcast, so I don't know what the podcast said. But there was a scene in one of the episodes of the TV series (I think a later episode) that showed John instructing the druggie/crazy lady--who he obviously knew--how to break in the house and what to do once inside. IIRC, he made a big deal about her not saying anything to Debra, but she wanted to make it scarier by saying something creepy. But I don't know if that scene was real or fiction.

I've seen a couple posters mention that, but I don't think there was any mention of it in the series. If true, it seems that it should be important enough to mention in the series.

According to census data, in 1989 only 15% of homes had personal computers and none of them were connected to the internet. She could have typed the list using carbon paper so she'd have a backup, or just made a Xerox copy. But her typing skills probably never progressed beyond "A quick brown fox" that we saw in an earlier episode. I replied to the question before I saw your response, which is much more helpful.

Putting on my own amateur psychologist hat (with the extra "qualification" of having edited the DSM and books about psychiatric diagnoses over several decades), I agree that Dan had Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I can see the characteristics that made you diagnose Histrionic with a touch of Antisocial for Betty--and don't forget Narcissistic, also part of Cluster B. But to diagnose a personality disorder, the onset must trace back to adolescence or early adulthood and "the personality traits that define these disorders must also be distinguished from characteristics that emerge in response to specific situational stressors or more transient mental states." (I'm quoting from the latest version of DSM, which is sitting on my bookshelf.) Based on what we see in this series (I haven't read the book or seen other sources so there may be more info that would change my opinion), Betty seems to have functioned well in early adulthood, despite coping with severe stressors such as economic struggles, multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, and death of a baby. It wasn't until Dan started gaslighting her about the affair and then left her without warning that she started showing these dysfunctional symptoms (again, going by what the series showed). My amateur diagnosis would be Adjustment Disorder With Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct. The disturbed emotions include depression and anxiety, and the disturbed conduct includes violation of the rights of others and of societal norms and rules (such as vandalism). The emotional and behavioral symptoms of adjustment disorders develop as a short-term response to an identifiable stressor such as the end of a romantic relationship. But if the stressor persists, as in a contested divorce with a cruel and gaslighting spouse, the adjustment disorder can persist also.