S01.E01: Fish in a Barrel / S01.E02: Roanoke

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

When the body of an 11-year-old boy is found in the Georgia woods, detective Ralph Anderson launches an investigation into the gruesome murder. With eyewitnesses and physical evidence pointing to local teacher and baseball coach Terry Maitland, Ralph makes a very public arrest but is perplexed by Terry's seeming indifference to hiding his crime. After Terry's wife Glory calls their attorney Howie Salomon for assistance, a bewildered Terry produces an ironclad alibi during interrogation. Meanwhile, Howie calls in his PI Alec Pelley to look into Terry's side of the story.

and

During a surreptitious late-night visit with Terry, Ralph admits to being baffled by conflicting physical evidence. The next day, an unexpected tragedy throws the investigation into a tailspin, and ornery detective Jack Hoskins is forced to cut his hunting trip short to return to work and pick up the slack. Meanwhile, Glory tries to soothe her daughter Jessa, who says she's been visited by a strange man in her room at night.

Premiering on HBO on Sunday, January 12, 2020.

[Cheezwiz]

Watched the first 2 episodes tonight - anyone else? They will unspool on a weekly basis from now on.

I read the book last year, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with the adaptation so far. They've managed to pack a lot of info into the first two episodes in an economical manner. They've changed a couple of things (locale is now in Georgia rather than Oklahoma, the main character and his wife are grieving a dead son in the show, which wasn't in the novel), but otherwise it's very faithful to the novel. Casting is pretty bang on - I even pictured Jason Bateman in my head as the main suspect when I was reading the book (someone who can play popular and likeable, but also morally slippery). I was surprised by Ben Mendelsohn's casting as Ralph Anderson, as he usually plays skeevy villains, but he's an excellent actor, so he works for me in the role of a detective. Julianne Nicholson is also excellent as Bateman's wife. The only bit of casting that is bothering me is Yul Vasquez as Anderson's partner Sablo. His character in the book was quite jovial and brought some much needed levity to the story but in the show he's  far too sombre. I just cannot buy that particular actor in this role, or any role for that matter. He was also in Russian Doll, and I didn't buy him in that either. All I can see when I look at him is his terrible, and very obvious dye job, and I found it distracting.

Anyhow, kudos to Bateman on a good directing job with the first two episodes. Curious to see how the rest will go. Very glad to see it's an HBO production, as it definitely seems high quality so far. I was worried that it might wind up on a more cut-rate streaming service when I heard they were doing an adaptation.

[catherinejane]

Also started showing in UK last night (well 2am)

watched epsiode 1, and not read anything before but i am assuming twins etc (or it being steven king, evil doppleganger). Do twins have same DNA/finger prints?

Assume this will be raised in episode 2 which i'll watch now!

[teddysmom]

Watched the first episode. I am loving it so far. Bateman can sure bring the creepy, can't he? 

I'm glad he's getting the opportunity to do dark stuff..

First time I've wanted to read a Stephen King book since The Stand. 

[pasdetrois]

I thought there would be more comments. I loved the first two episodes. I am weary of reality TV and also the flood of cheap shows via streaming services, so I'm really appreciating quality episodic TV.

The cast is phenomenal. Good to see Mare Winningham. Ben Mendelsohn is a revelation to me, and I also love Bill Camp in this. Bateman knows how to pull off the slightly seedy next door neighbor.  His directing and the script writing were great and kept me fully engaged.

My only nits are the shoe-polish hair dye (as noted above) and the shots of the child's brutalized body. I think some people are titillated by violence to children and I prefer it not be shown in graphic detail.

Looking forward to all the episodes.

[cpcathy]

Quite enjoyed this. Not sure where it will go, I haven't read a King book in ages.

Isn't the Sablo actor also known for Seinfeld: "Who? Who won't wear the RIBBON?"

[rebel2u]

 This is set in Georgia but no one has a southern accent except some inmates and the low life manager of the strip club?  Hey, executive producer and star Jason Bateman, how f'ing lazy can you be in your production?  I call fowl.  

Ben Mendelshon has a great voice. He should do the current form of books on tape, if he doesn't already.  I just googled him and found out he is Australian. I never would have known- his American pronouciations are so good.

Mare Winningham never changes.  She looks the same as a young woman as she does at 60.

This first episode could have been cut by 15 minutes,  Jason Bateman's character is in big trouble.  We get it. 

[teddysmom]

2 minutes ago, rebel2u said:

 This is set in Georgia but no one has a southern accent except some inmates and the low life manager of the strip club?  Hey, executive producer and star Jason Bateman, how f'ing lazy can you be in your production?  I call fowl.  

A lot of people in Georgia are transplants from the North.  

[Vella]

Overall, it was pretty good, but some of the directing choices were a bit strange. The courthouse walk shooting was just awkward. This long walk with people yelling on both sides and an accused child killer is just walked through all that? It was dumb in the book and it was dumber here.  Plus the repetitive intense focus on the guy in the green hoodie, yes, thank you Jason, we need to keep an eye on this weirdo, I get it.

The performances were great, but I feel like this could have been let out to breathe over 3 episodes rather than 2. 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Vella

[rebel2u]

14 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

A lot of people in Georgia are transplants from the North.  

I agree.  But not all of them.

My brother lives in Atlanta and it is definitely a Southern city, accents and all---smaller cities and rural areas even more so.

[kicksave]

2 hours ago, rebel2u said:

 This is set in Georgia but no one has a southern accent except some inmates and the low life manager of the strip club?  Hey, executive producer and star Jason Bateman, how f'ing lazy can you be in your production?  I call fowl.  

Ben Mendelshon has a great voice. He should do the current form of books on tape, if he doesn't already.  I just googled him and found out he is Australian. I never would have known- his American pronouciations are so good.

Mare Winningham never changes.  She looks the same as a young woman as she does at 60.

This first episode could have been cut by 15 minutes,  Jason Bateman's character is in big trouble.  We get it. 

As was explained, the Bateman character and family were Northern transplants. You'd be surprised how many transplants live in Georgia now...so many new tech businesses and other companies have moved there and the suburban areas have changed. My son lived there for two years and met more "new" Georgians than born and bred ones. He lived outside of Atlanta...didn't hear many true Southern accents at work or at the gym. Same thing here in Northern Virginia...everyone comes from somewhere else. In order to hear a true southern accent you need to go south of Richmond or to southwest Virginia.

[TattleTeeny]

Did I blink and not see what happened to Frankie's mom after she bashed up everything with a bat?

[rebel2u]

Actually, I do understand.  I live in NC in an area where we're outnumbered by Yankees.  I can go all day and not hear a Southern accent.  I get a little overexcited sometimes and feel like I have to represent for the South, thus the comment on the lack of Southern accents. 

I do like the show a lot so far.

Just now, TattleTeeny said:

Did I blink and not see what happened to Frankie's mom after she bashed up everything with a bat?

I was feeling a little slow on the uptake myself.   She went to the hospital. right?  I didn't realize she was deceased until it was I think mentioned that the family no longer existed.

And I didn't realize Terry was dead until his wife said his last words were, basically, I didn't do it. 

 

[TattleTeeny]

Yeah, who knows? I had to restart our stupid modem twice, so I wondered if my internet or even the HBO app wigged out/jumped ahead? I read the book so it's not like I was totally lost but I feel like people who haven't might be!

Actually, I felt this way about Dr. Sleep too. I thought it was really good but felt worried that people who hadn't read it might be confused (people who only read, not saw, The Shining might be too!).

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by TattleTeeny

[Cheezwiz]

8 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Actually, I felt this way about Dr. Sleep too. I thought it was really good but felt worried that people who hadn't read it might be confused (people who only read, not saw, The Shining might be too!).

I was thinking about this as I watched as well. I knew what was going on in those scenes, because I read the book, but they were very brief and may have confused non readers.

Spoiler

-Frankie's Mom worked herself into such a frenzy of grief that she either had a stroke or heart-attack (can't remember which).

-Terry Maitland died outside the courthouse, but it took them forever to reveal it on the show

Spoiler

- so much so that I wondered if they were going to divert completely from the book and have him live (which could have been REALLY interesting, but they stuck to the original story).

-One detail for the non-book readers: The scene at the very end of Episode 2 featuring the kid hauling milk jugs in the barn (which was supremely creepy in the book) didn't linger long enough at what he was staring at. It was a pile of clothing

Spoiler

- they should have done a close-up of the belt-buckle, which had a horse head on it (therefore discarded clothing from Maitland). I felt it was a bit too brief for a lot of people to catch.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by saoirse
added spoiler tags

[HollyG]

33 minutes ago, rebel2u said:

I was feeling a little slow on the uptake myself.   She went to the hospital. right?  I didn't realize she was deceased until it was I think mentioned that the family no longer existed.

And I didn't realize Terry was dead until his wife said his last words were, basically, I didn't do it. 

 

How did the mom die? I missed that too.

[Cheezwiz]

8 hours ago, HollyG said:

How did the mom die? I missed that too.

Spoiler

I forget the exact reason, but in the book it was either stroke or heart-attack brought on by intense grief. We see her collapsing in the kitchen in the show, but it isn't made clear that she's actually in medical distress rather than just a mental breakdown.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by saoirse
added spoiler tags

[scrb]

Who knows, maybe the producers thought the main characters would appear more confident if they didn't have Southern accents?

I thought it was obvious that Terry was killed because that big hole in his neck probably wasn't recoverable and his protestation of innocence was suppose to be his last words.

Spoiler

Also when I looked up this mini series in IMDB, saw that Bateman was only listed for 2 shows.

I also thought in the farm it was Terry's clothes.  But I thought he discarded the bloody clothes in the bar or strip club.  The farmer kid was looking at the ceiling of the barn, as if maybe he thought someone was up there in the attic -- do barns have attics?

Terry seemed to be trolling the cops in those video surveillance footage.  Or going around like dracula with blood all over his clothes.  It's like he wanted to be seen with incriminating circumstances.

I'm not normally a fan of procedurals but I liked the way they were following the details and testimony and so forth.  Of course I suspect the evidence they accumulate isn't going to turn out like any other police procedural show.

Edited January 14, 2020 by saoirse
added spoiler tags

[ferjy]

Can anyone confirm whether Holly Gibney was in these two episodes? Imdb has her listed in all 10 episodes but I didn’t see her in either 1 or 2. I thought Justine Lupe was a good Holly Gibney in Mr. Mercedes so I was interested to see how the actress here (Cynthia Erivo) would do. Did I miss her? 

 

[Starchild]

15 hours ago, catherinejane said:

Do twins have same DNA/finger prints?

Same DNA, different fingerprints.

 

11 hours ago, Vella said:

Plus the repetitive intense focus on the guy in the green hoodie 

Did anyone else get the sense that his face was not quite human?

 

9 hours ago, rebel2u said:

I didn't realize she was deceased until it was I think mentioned that the family no longer existed.

Right? Younger son murdered, mother killed by grief-induced stress, older son killed by cops, father brain-dead suicide. Yikes. In the book, how much time elapsed for all that?

 

8 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

-One detail for the non-book readers: The scene at the very end of Episode 2 featuring the kid hauling milk jugs in the barn (which was supremely creepy in the book) didn't linger long enough at what he was staring at. It was a pile of clothing - they

Spoiler

should have done a close-up of the belt-buckle, which had a horse head on it (therefore discarded clothing from Maitland). I felt it was a bit too brief for a lot of people to catch.

 

To me it looked like the clothes Terry changed into at the bar, after the murder. The ones he's wearing on the bus station surveillance video.

Spoiler

The belt buckle was prominent enough to catch that.

What I wasn't sure of was whether or not the clothes seemed to have some kind of residue on them. It looked like something glistening. Blood or something else?

 

7 hours ago, scrb said:

do barns have attics?

They have haylofts, to store hay during the winter that livestock will eat.

[calliope1975]

7 hours ago, ferjy said:

Can anyone confirm whether Holly Gibney was in these two episodes?

I didn't see her except in the "this season on" at the very end. I just checked IMDB

Spoiler

and CE is listed in all 10 eps but so is JB so...IDK.

I liked it and will keep watching, but I did check out the plot on Wikipedia to see what I was getting into. BM is always great, and JB does both creepy and earnestly innocent well. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by saoirse
added spoiler tags

[ferjy]

6 hours ago, calliope1975 said:

I didn't see her except in the "this season on" at the very end. 

Thanks. Imdb’s been wrong before, unless they cut her scenes in the first two episodes.

9 hours ago, rebel2u said:

I was feeling a little slow on the uptake myself.   She went to the hospital. right?  I didn't realize she was deceased until it was I think mentioned that the family no longer existed.

It showed us a scene sans dialogue in the hospital corridor, where the doctor was apparently telling the husband and son that she had died. The husband rose from the seat and walked away distressed, the son put his head in his hands and cried. 

[rebel2u]

6 minutes ago, ferjy said:

It showed us a scene sans dialogue in the hospital corridor, where the doctor was apparently telling the husband and son that she had died. The husband rose from the seat and walked away distressed, the son put his head in his hands and cried. 

 

Yeah,  I saw but I just thought it was the doctor telling them something along the lines of your wife/mom has had a severe breakdown and will need significant treatment, 

 

48 minutes ago, scrb said:

Who knows, maybe the producers thought the main characters would appear more confident if they didn't have Southern accents?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always find it more authenic when characters speak in the accent, cadence etc where the stories take place but I'm enjoying the series regardless.

[Affogato]

9 hours ago, catherinejane said:

 

watched epsiode 1, and not read anything before but i am assuming twins etc (or it being steven king, evil doppleganger). Do twins have same DNA/fingerprints?

https://www.livescience.com/32247-do-identical-twins-have-identical-fingerprints.html
 

apparently not. 

[Accidental Martyr]

I enjoyed the first 2 episodes but the walking into the courthouse scene seemed pretty unrealistic. Why was the only way to get into the building to walk about 1/4 mile with tons of people lining the sidewalk? Why was no one, cops/prison guards or Maitland wearing any kind of protective vest?

[maystone]

7 hours ago, Starchild said:

To me it looked like the clothes Terry changed into at the bar, after the murder. The ones he's wearing on the bus station surveillance video. The belt buckle was prominent enough to catch that. What I wasn't sure of was whether or not the clothes seemed to have some kind of residue on them. It looked like something glistening. Blood or something else?

 

They have haylofts, to store hay during the winter that livestock will eat.

I saw residue, too. I thought it looked like blood and maybe some viscera. Gross, whatever it was. I didn't realize they were Terry's clothes until a couple people here mentioned it. That's why I love coming to the forums here.

I saw both episodes and liked them. The casting was spot on, and it was great to see Mare Winningham again. She's only listed for three episodes in IMDB; that's too bad.

5 hours ago, Accidental Martyr said:

I enjoyed the first 2 episodes but the walking into the courthouse scene seemed pretty unrealistic. Why was the only way to get into the building to walk about 1/4 mile with tons of people lining the sidewalk? Why was no one, cops/prison guards or Maitland wearing any kind of protective vest?

I think that the public humiliation and shaming was the point, at least as far as Ralph was concerned. It's why he arrested Terry with such an over-the-top display of presumed guilt at the baseball game. He obviously wasn't expecting that someone would try to kill Terry on their way into the courthouse. I can't remember whether of not it was specifically mentioned, but my impression was that he was put on leave and required to do counseling because of his lack of judgment and not just because he was involved in a shooting.

I haven't read the book - is Ralph and Jeannie's son Derek killed in the book? If so, how did it happen? It seems like a huge motivator for Ralph's bad actions so far.

[Cheezwiz]

7 hours ago, scrb said:

I also thought in the farm it was Terry's clothes.  But I thought he discarded the bloody clothes in the bar or strip club.  The farmer kid was looking at the ceiling of the barn, as if maybe he thought someone was up there in the attic -- do barns have attics?

I wish they had lingered on this just a fraction longer, because it was very creepy. The kid sees the discarded pile of clothes and suddenly realizes he might not be all alone in the barn - that an intruder might be hiding upstairs in the (hayloft?) waiting to attack him.

4 hours ago, maystone said:

I haven't read the book - is Ralph and Jeannie's son Derek killed in the book? If so, how did it happen? It seems like a huge motivator for Ralph's bad actions so far.

Spoiler

No, he's actually alive in the book - away at summer camp for the entire novel, so this tweak actually made more sense for added drama and motivation.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by saoirse
added spoiler tags

[Bulldog]

2 hours ago, scrb said:

maybe the producers thought the main characters would appear more confident if they didn't have Southern accents?

LOL.  As someone born and raised in Georgia, I can assure you that the one thing most of us do not lack is confidence.

That said, I can wave off the lack of Southern accents for the comment about God choosing Georgia in the Georgia/Florida game.  Now, THAT is something a real Georgian would say.

A couple of other things:

- Articles I've read about the show all refer to Terry's wife as being named Marcy, yet I swear I heard "Glory" every time she was addressed.  Can anyone confirm?

- I enjoyed both episodes, and I'm hooked, but I was hoping for more of a good old fashioned whodunit without any supernatural elements (which I should have known would not be the case given that it is a King story).

- Did anyone else think Ralph did a 180 on Terry's guilt too quickly after Terry was killed.  Despite the photos taken at the conference, he still had fingerprints, DNA, eyewitnesses.  I would think a doppelganger at the conference would be easier to fake than DNA at the crime scene.

 

[UnknownK]

4 hours ago, maystone said:

 I can't remember whether of not it was specifically mentioned, but my impression was that he was put on leave and required to do counseling because of his lack of judgment and not just because he was involved in a shooting.

I think it is pretty much standard policy for a police officer involved in a on duty killing to get time off as administrative leave.

4 hours ago, Bulldog said:

 Did anyone else think Ralph did a 180 on Terry's guilt too quickly after Terry was killed.  Despite the photos taken at the conference, he still had fingerprints, DNA, eyewitnesses.  I would think a doppelganger at the conference would be easier to fake than DNA at the crime scene.

Nope.

Terry is a well known (and liked) little league coach of a team that seems to get to the nationals quite a bit. Terry is also a college educated teacher known in the community.

Ralph went out of his way to properly gather evidence and look into leads on this case and got pretty much conclusive evidence (fingerprints, rare blood type, video evidence and multiple witnesses) before he went and had the guy arrested.

Ralph wanted Terry arrested the way they did because he had a personal beef with the guy thinking (for some reason we are not shown) that Ralph's kid was molested by Terry before the kids death.

When all the other evidence started showing up about Terry's innocence (clear as day video and sound, many witnesses, fingerprints) I think Ralph started thinking something very messed up is going on. The guy in the video went out of his way to document he killed that kid and even flicked the bird to the cops in the video. Ralph's wife asked him point blank if he thought Terry was guilty in his gut and Ralph said he didn't know. So while thinking about it for a while Ralph ended up going to the prison where Terry was held and point blank asked him if he seen, talked to, and killed that kid that day and Terry said no. Then he point blank asked Terry if he had touched his child and that is where Terry told him the story about how his child was a shitty hitter and team made fun of him but Terry took that bad trait of swinging and missing and turned it around with a lot of practice into a kid who could bunt and get on base. The other kids quit teasing him and respected him and the kid had great confidence that year. So terry said he did touch that child but not in the physical way Ralph was thinking, he helped him out to be a better player.

So I think Ralph figured out that Terry didn't molest his kid and didn't kill that other kid either.

[scrb]

25 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

LOL.  As someone born and raised in Georgia, I can assure you that the one thing most of us do not lack is confidence.

Sorry it auto corrected.

I meant to say competent.

Yes it's a prejudice against Southerners by the rest of America -- and probably the world as these shows probably get a global distribution.

 

[Starchild]

45 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

Ralph wanted Terry arrested the way they did because he had a personal beef with the guy thinking (for some reason we are not shown) that Ralph's kid was molested by Terry before the kids death.

I had a slightly different perspective on that. I didn't get the sense that he had some pre-existing concern that Terry may have molested his son. I think he was appalled by the savagery perpetrated on the Peterson boy (including sodomy) by someone who had contact with his own son, and the thought that Terry may have worked his way up to that level of evil with some more conventional molestation of other boys (including, possibly, his own).

[Trillian]

2 hours ago, Accidental Martyr said:

I enjoyed the first 2 episodes but the walking into the courthouse scene seemed pretty unrealistic. Why was the only way to get into the building to walk about 1/4 mile with tons of people lining the sidewalk? Why was no one, cops/prison guards or Maitland wearing any kind of protective vest?

Agreed. American lawyers, is this normal?  In my Canadian city, accused in custody are taken into the courthouse in a police vehicle for security reasons. 

1 hour ago, Bulldog said:

Articles I've read about the show all refer to Terry's wife as being named Marcy, yet I swear I heard "Glory" every time she was addressed.  Can anyone confirm?

Yup. I bought the book when it came out but (unusually for me and Stephen King), I’m not sure I finished it. In fact, I thought I hadn’t read it until I picked it up this weekend and found it familiar. So, the book is really fresh in my mind. A number of the names have been changed, including Marcy to Glory. 

Oddly, the hotel he stayed in in Cap City was a Sheraton. The show changed the name, but the close captioning still said Sheraton. Maybe Sheraton objected to the tv hotel’s being presented as kinda shabby without security cams everywhere, as opposed to the book?

[Cheezwiz]

3 hours ago, Trillian said:

A number of the names have been changed, including Marcy to Glory. 

This is something that was confusing me too - in the book she's named Marcy, and her character is also listed in IMDB as Marcy. I could have sworn I heard her addressed by both names in first two episodes, but maybe I'm imagining things. I honestly thought I heard someone call her Marcy at some point, and then suddenly people were calling her Glory (or I actually thought it was Gloria?). Maybe I'm just nuts and not paying close enough attention.

4 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I think Ralph figured out that Terry didn't molest his kid and didn't kill that other kid either.

Yep, that was the purpose of his surreptitious night-time visit. Ralph needed to look Terry straight in the eyes and ask him directly parent to parent if he was the culprit. Terry's response gave him the definitive answer he needed, but certainly left him no less confused.

In addition to a good job with the directing, Bateman also did some great acting in the first couple of episodes - he managed to pull off ultra-creepy, contrasted with frightened bewildered innocence. The scene with him emerging from the woods covered in blood and speaking to the little girl was really chilling.

[Trillian]

23 minutes ago, Cheezwiz said:

This is something that was confusing me too - in the book she's named Marcy, and her character is also listed in IMDB as Marcy. I could have sworn I heard her addressed by both names in first two episodes, but maybe I'm imagining things. I honestly thought I heard someone call her Marcy at some point, and then suddenly people were calling her Glory (or I actually thought it was Gloria?). Maybe I'm just nuts and not paying close enough attention.

I didn’t catch that with someone calling her Marcy, but it wouldn’t surprise me after the Sheraton close-captioning thing.  It’s like the changed the names at the last minute but missed some original references. 

[Accidental Martyr]

Was the guy that started the fight at the strip club the uncle(?) of the detective that had the baby? What’s up with him?

[saltylemon]

32 minutes ago, Accidental Martyr said:

Was the guy that started the fight at the strip club the uncle(?) of the detective that had the baby? What’s up with him?

He’s just another detective that works there. He was pissed he was called in early from his vacation (the hunting trip) because he had to cover for the other detectives that were out (Ralph on leave & the other giving birth). 

I finished reading the book just in time for the show’s release, and I’m impressed so far with how well they’ve adapted the material. Ben Mendelsohn is great as the conflicted detective, & I’m excited to watch the rest of the series.

 

[Accidental Martyr]

18 minutes ago, saltylemon said:

He’s just another detective that works there. He was pissed he was called in early from his vacation (the hunting trip) because he had to cover for the other detectives that were out (Ralph on leave & the other giving birth). 

 

Wow, I didn’t realize that was the same guy.

[formerlyfreedom]

Hey, let's please be careful with spoilers (book and otherwise) - it's okay to help explain things, but please keep it in context to the episode(s). Outside info like IMDB or info from further along in the book is not cool. Posts are being edited with spoiler tags. And a book talk talk will be started for those who want to go deeper, but episode topics should be primarily about the episode. Thank you!

[Johnny Dollar]

This reminds me of Broadchurch, with its kid killed in a small town mystery. I just hope it doesn’t veer to a supernatural source as the perp. 

[monakane]

2 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

This reminds me of Broadchurch, with its kid killed in a small town mystery. I just hope it doesn’t veer to a supernatural source as the perp. 

It's based on a Stephen King novel, so most likely it will.

[teddysmom]

OMG Terry's death was gut wrenching.  I really like the way Jason is framing shots, keeping the camera further away from the actors to give it the feel that someone is watching them. 

Did the farmer find the outfit Terry was wearing when he left the bar?  I really wish this was on Netflix so we could binge it. I hate waiting. 

[Lisin]

14 hours ago, Trillian said:

Agreed. American lawyers, is this normal?  In my Canadian city, accused in custody are taken into the courthouse in a police vehicle for security reasons. 

I wouldn't say it's normal, but it sometimes happens. This whole scene takes up a TON of pages in the book, and it fleshes out the decision a bit more. Spoiler tagging because who knows if this is describing a future flashback to before the perp walk.:

Spoiler

Terry's side are all sure he's about to be let out and possibly have all charges dropped because of the video so Terry refuses a bulletproof vest on the grounds that it will make him look scared and guilty and on the other side the Prosecutor is still gunning for Terry being guilty and wants to have the court of public opinion on his side, so he's happy to parade Terry through the streets before the hearing.  

 

[meep.meep]

1 hour ago, teddysmom said:

OMG Terry's death was gut wrenching.  I really like the way Jason is framing shots, keeping the camera further away from the actors to give it the feel that someone is watching them. 

Really?  I cannot fathom why he is making the directorial choices he is making.  You can't see half of what's going on, and there are endless silent scenes.  Why did Mrs. Peterson's breakdown and subsequent illness as well as the scene in the hospital where the doctor tells her husband and remaining son something have to both be silent?  All the shots of the floor?  The floor in the foster home?

[teddysmom]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

Really?  I cannot fathom why he is making the directorial choices he is making. 

Yes, really. 

1 hour ago, Lisin said:

17 hours ago, Trillian said:

Agreed. American lawyers, is this normal?  In my Canadian city, accused in custody are taken into the courthouse in a police vehicle for security reasons. 

I wouldn't say it's normal, but it sometimes happens. This whole scene takes up a TON of pages in the book, and it fleshes out the decision a bit more. Spoiler tagging because who knows if this is describing a future flashback to before the perp walk.:

I was wondering about that too. Thanks for the explanation

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

I also thought in the farm it was Terry's clothes.  But I thought he discarded the bloody clothes in the bar or strip club.  

These were the clothes that he put on at the strip club, not the ones he took off.

[iMonrey]

So far I'm intrigued and impressed with the pacing. It really felt like both hours flew by and I never once felt compelled to glance at my watch or check how much was left to go. Very intriguing mystery and a great cast.

Now my nitpicks. The first fifteen minutes or so of the first episode were irritating because they kept jumping around in time. I am sick, sick, sick to death of non-linear storytelling. It's become an over-used gimmick and all it does if confuse the audience. It's not clever, it's not artistic and it's certainly not original. Look at what "The Night Of" managed to do with a perfectly linear narrative in its premier episode. That was some edge-of-your-seat writing and directing told in a normal, linear manner. And by far one of the most compelling hours of television I've ever seen. Which proves the non-linear, time-jumping type of narrative adds nothing to the story.

I also had to figure out various people were dead, they weren't real clear on that. The way they dealt with the mother's death was an odd choice, it wasn't clear what happened to her at all.

Ben Mendelsohn looks so familiar to me I've been trying to figure out what I've seen him in. Finally realized he was in the Aussie version of Animal Kingdom. (He was in Rogue One too but I honestly don't remember him in that.) He's got a little bit of a lisp, doesn't he?

[atlantaloves]

Well I am loving this series so far, but they need to throw some light in there so we can see what in the hell is going on....this is one dark show in more ways than one.

[HollyG]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Ben Mendelsohn looks so familiar to me I've been trying to figure out what I've seen him in. Finally realized he was in the Aussie version of Animal Kingdom. (He was in Rogue One too but I honestly don't remember him in that.) He's got a little bit of a lisp, doesn't he?

I mainly remember Ben Mendelsohn from Bloodline on Netflix. He was so good in that.

[WaltersHair]

Quote

Well I am loving this series so far, but they need to throw some light in there so we can see what in the hell is going on....this is one dark show in more ways than one.

This. I had to watch the episodes twice to figure out what was going on and because of the darkness. The second time was in an airport with hundreds of windows, so that became an exercise in listening.

Posters upthread have already expressed the major frustrations I have, but one more question. For all they make of the detective seeing a therapist, why on earth is Glory paying a lawyer and his investigator to clear her husband, but her girls have multiple nightmares and they're not in therapy? One wets the floor? (or is that the same goo on the clothing in the barn?)

Very intrigued so far.

ETA, I'm not reading the book or reading the spoiler tagged items, so if this has been addressed, I have missed it.

Edited January 14, 2020 by WaltersHair

[Duke2801]

On 1/13/2020 at 4:39 PM, ferjy said:

Thanks. Imdb’s been wrong before, unless they cut her scenes in the first two episodes.

It showed us a scene sans dialogue in the hospital corridor, where the doctor was apparently telling the husband and son that she had died. The husband rose from the seat and walked away distressed, the son put his head in his hands and cried. 

Plus, they showed the father and son shopping for caskets and the mortician said something about “buying two.” It was pretty clear by then that the mother had died. 

1 hour ago, WaltersHair said:

This. I had to watch the episodes twice to figure out what was going on and because of the darkness. The second time was in an airport with hundreds of windows, so that became an exercise in listening.

Posters upthread have already expressed the major frustrations I have, but one more question. For all they make of the detective seeing a therapist, why on earth is Glory paying a lawyer and his investigator to clear her husband, but her girls have multiple nightmares and they're not in therapy? One wets the floor? (or is that the same goo on the clothing in the barn?)

Very intrigued so far.

ETA, I'm not reading the book or reading the spoiler tagged items, so if this has been addressed, I have missed it.

Pretty sure it’s too, not pee.