Schmolioot

I just read the book and honestly, whatever problems I had with it, the show was better. I was shocked at how little Amma was actually in the book. The show also fleshed our the relationship between her and Camille/Adora. I also liked that the show showcased Vickery and Alan a little more. Alan is just completely oblivious in the book. Still hated the ending and thought it was stupid, but at least Amma was shown as being prone to violence a few times. And one of the strangest parts of watching the show first was how they played Amma’s creepy/incesty feelings for Camille as being all Amma. In the book, Camille is super fucking creepy. She talks (thinks?) about Amma’s breasts and legs multiple times, says she’s obsessed with her and licks blood off her finger. Yeah, Camille’s mind is a weird place

If you have all this talent under contract, even if Amy Adams doesn’t want to do it or just wants a limited commitment, I think you wring something else out of this. If I was an HBO executive and I had a major talent like Scanlon under contract for probably pretty cheap, you’re damn right she’s getting an Amma spin off. She has superstar potential. It’s like having a star quarterback on a rookie scale contract.

Theoretically, you could time jump it to when Amma is getting out of prison and make her the focus so Amy Adams would have less of a time commitment.

I agree with you that the tonal shift of the ending was the worst part. That one moment completely changed the show you had been watching for 8 hours from one about Camille and her journey into a show about Amma. It only took two seconds to turn her into the most interesting character on the show. And I certainly think it was intentional as you do that she never looked prettier than she did in that moment

Amma was inappropriately sexual with Camille the whole time. There was nothing worse in that lollipop scene to me than what had come at the beginning of that episode when Amma was all over her in the bedroom. I read it at the time, and still do really, is that Amma had a “crush” and kids who have crushes often act harsh or mean to the crush because they don’t know how to deal with it in other ways. It isn’t even all that odd or completely inappropriate that a girl might have a crush on her sister, who she wasn’t raised with and doesn’t know and who has been described as his incredibly cool and wild person. It would almost be cute or sweet if Amma didn’t take it too far. Camille’s not blameless there. She allowed it to escalate every time to the point that Amma almost had her hand down her pants. All of this is he sign of a girl without boundaries who needs psychological help. It did not signify a violent murderer who turns into the Hulk when she’s angry

Apparently the finale hit a ratings high for the series so the hype worked at least. I guess there’s a question of whether most of those people liked it and would come back for more. Also, Elizabeth Perkins said they’re all signed for season 2 so I imagine a dump truck full of money will pull up at Amy Adams’ house in the near future to see if they get a yes

I think Camille knows that her relationship with Amma is codependent and that she’s not just taking care of her because of “kindness”. She’s not Adora and wouldn’t hurt Amma, but she definitely “needs” her in a way that goes beyond simple sisterly love. Camille is a very lonely person. Her boss and his wife seem like lovely people but when they are your only friends that’s not a great spot to be in. Amma gave her a purpose. A reason to clean up her life. She now has a sister and a best friend again and even a daughter on some level. It’s not surprising at all that someone in her position, that has gone through what she’s gone through, would go overboard and maybe willfully not see what’s right in front of her because she doesn’t want to. She doesn’t seem to have put Amma in any kind of therapy, maybe because she doesn’t want to learn that Amma is mentally ill and beyond her help which might get her taken away. She also hasn’t stopped the sleeping in the same bed thing. When she tells Curry about it, she doesn’t seem upset or overly concerned. It’s just a fact of life. On some level she probably doesn’t want it to end and would rather let Amma stay a baby or little girl for as long as possible. I haven’t read the book, but if I had to guess, Camille would be just as likely to set that dollhouse on fire and burn the evidence as she would be to turn Amma in

I think part of my sympathy for Amma comes from Eliza Scanlon’s performance. She was great and despite the bad things that Amma did (prior the stupid reveal) I still kind of liked her and felt for her. So definitely sign me up for a Scanlon led Amma show where she’s a Hannibal Lechter or Dexter type anti-hero

Perhaps you’re right. Whether Amma’s condition can be treated is something I don’t know. I’ll take your word on it since you seem to have some knowledge on the subject. That being said, she’s still young enough that somebody should be given the chance to try and help her. She is going to live another 70 years or so presuming the poisoning has not done some kind of irreparable harm. Rather than just throwing her in a hole for that time (which costs a lot of money) it’s worth trying to help her. That’s really my point. Here’s an interesting reddit thread on this exact topic. Lots of book spoilers (and given what is quoted book Amma seems a lot worse than tv Amma) I don’t know how to link the thread but anybody that cares can easily find it lol

As Adora is being led away she turns to dust... The editor and Amma have to go here too. Camille needs to lose everything. Lol

I never said that Amma shouldn’t be incarcerated. She obviously should. And so should Kelsey and Jodes, who as far as I know have none of the mitigating factors that Amma has. Whats their excuse? Peer pressure? As for the cat stuff, I didn’t read the book and the show never mentioned it so I’ll take your word for it. As for wanting to live next door to Amma, no I wouldn’t. But I might live next door to one now. I have no idea. All I know is that the show (I can’t speak to the book) did not show me any evidence that Amma is violent or dangerous to people outside of this specific trigger surrounding Adora and Camille. Whether that can be treated or not I don’t know. Perhaps she’ll need to spend the rest of her life in a mental hospital. But I stand by my opinion that kids her age, particularly given the mitigating factors, should at least be given the chance to get better and prove that they can live a productive life without being a danger to themselves or others.

She put a lollipop in her sisters hair. It was he act of a petulant 5 year old. It didn’t scream “murderer” to me at the time

Locking up children for years is a uniquely American thing and one of the many, many serious issues in our criminal justice system that needs reform. Amma deserves to be punished. I don’t think anyone is denying that. But she is also is young enough, and there are enough mitigating factors for me at least, that I do believe that she should get a chance at rehabilitation and given a second chance at some point in adulthood. She doesn’t kill, or even show violent tendencies, randomly. She has a very specific problem right now. Perhaps there is a therapy/medication combo that can help this. Maybe just being away and having less contact with Adora and Camille will help. I don’t know. I’m just not willing to condemn a 15 year old girl (or however old she is) to life in prison where there are these many mitigating factors

Oh there’s no way you could’ve inferred it and it’s completely stupid. Just a terrible job all around by the creative team. Not the actors. They can only work with what they’re given but Noxon, Flynn And Valle showed their asses with this finale. I just still can’t believe that we’re expected to swallow that Amma (and Kelsey/Jodes for that matter) who showed absolutely zero predilection for violence the entire series suddenly turned into the Incredible Hulk

I saw on Reddit that the girl who played Mae answered a fan on Twitter who asked what the writing meant and she said that it was to show her growing fascination with and interest in Camille.