S01.E08: After

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

The trial comes to an end, but with unexpected consequences.

Airdate: 5/29/20

[peachmangosteen]

Agonizingly boring end to a boring show, but at least I got to see Chris Evans and his beard every week for 2 months.

[helpmerhonda]

41 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Agonizingly boring end to a boring show, but at least I got to see Chris Evans and his beard every week for 2 months.

This was my exact reaction.

[Capricasix]

I thought it had sort of a Scandi-noir feel, mainly because of the music, which was composed by an Icelandic musician named Atli Örvarsson - reminded me a little of the Arrival soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhansson.

[alihart41]

I was listening to The Ringer's TV Concierge podcast a few weeks ago, and Bill Simmons said his teenage daughter thought this was the greatest show ever and he could see why because the show is designed for a ninth grader's IQ, which is completely accurate. My God, what an expensive piece of generic mediocrity. It's funny because I'm on another message board and a bunch of users there thought this was great and gripping, and I'm like, "Really?" If it weren't for the mystery element (and well, Evans' beard), I doubt most people would've been as invested or continued to watch. The pacing was mishandled, the cinematography was way too dark, the writing was awful. Evans is not a good enough actor to elevate it like Jones, Simmons and Dockery were able to as the lead. The changes from the book's ending also felt like they were done only to surprise people who've read the book.

[TV Diva Queen]

On 5/29/2020 at 5:19 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Agonizingly boring end to a boring show, but at least I got to see Chris Evans and his beard every week for 2 months.

That’s why I watched too. Everytime something bad happened I shouted “go get the Shield”. He is too yummy for words...

[Lemons]

On 5/31/2020 at 5:15 PM, alihart41 said:

I was listening to The Ringer's TV Concierge podcast a few weeks ago, and Bill Simmons said his teenage daughter thought this was the greatest show ever and he could see why because the show is designed for a ninth grader's IQ, which is completely accurate. My God, what an expensive piece of generic mediocrity. It's funny because I'm on another message board and a bunch of users there thought this was great and gripping, and I'm like, "Really?" If it weren't for the mystery element (and well, Evans' beard), I doubt most people would've been as invested or continued to watch. The pacing was mishandled, the cinematography was way too dark, the writing was awful. Evans is not a good enough actor to elevate it like Jones, Simmons and Dockery were able to as the lead. The changes from the book's ending also felt like they were done only to surprise people who've read the book.

I think the end changes were made to fit in to a mainstream audience.  They probably worried that the audience didn’t  want to see the teenage girl that Jacob met end up dead.  And they probably thought people would hate to see the mother actually kill her son after he committed two murders.  

[TaraS1]

I only signed up for a free trial to watch this because I'm a huge Michelle Dockery fan, and she did great with what she was given, but it was mostly a dull mess.  I know Chris Evans does superhero movies, but I'd never seen him in anything before and I thought he was just a well-groomed block of wood.  

Cherry Jones was her usual fabulous self, of course.

[iMonrey]

I for one really enjoyed this show. I found it compelling and easily watchable. It kept me hooked, it kept me surprised, it didn't try to jerk me around like so many shows do these days or jump around in the timeline or try to be overly arty or clever. 

That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. We really don't know if Jacob was guilty or innocent and I guess that's the point. There was a definite element of The Bad Seed in this story - except they called it The Murder Gene instead. Possibly to avoid copyright infringement. But much like the movie version of The Bad Seed, this ending almost felt dictated by The Hayes Code which forbid murderers from getting away with their crime, so they had to punish Jacob by turning him into a vegetable. Although even that wasn't clear since the parents were under the impression the doctor saw positive signs in his recovery. Or maybe they were just fooling themselves.

Anyway, I enjoyed the ride. I'm just not sure they stuck the landing.

[Swartz]

Hmmm I thought it was ok.  I really liked Evans but I really didn't like Dockery.   I usually enjoy her but thought she was miscast here

[Mazzy]

I also liked the show and I was shocked at the actions of the mom at the end. But I still don't understand the Grand Jury thing at all. Maybe I'm just dumb but I interpreted the wrap up as that the Grand Jury was to see if the wife's actions were intentional, which makes zero sense because it seems like they would be questioning her, not someone else who happens to be related to her. And even if they were interviewing others to make sense of her actions it still didn't make sense to me that they wouldn't interview her at all and she would only find out she wasn't going to get in legal trouble fromher husband having a Grand Jury trial. What was I missing there?? It truly made no sense to me.

Edited June 8, 2020 by Mazzy

[iMonrey]

I agree the framing device was unnecessary, but maybe it made more sense in the book.

[MicheleinPhilly]

I thought this was...fine. *shrugs* I waited until the entire series was available because I am impatient and I feel like if I had attempted to watch it week to week I would have bailed. I appreciated the actors' performances and the production values were nice enough but I'm surprised by the critical reception this received. I felt like I was reading rave after rave when it debuted. 

I only read the book recently and feel like the changes they made for the t.v. series were a total cop out. I also would have liked to see more of Laurie's unraveling as that was one of the more compelling aspects of the book. It happened way too quickly here. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

With the grand jury, Laurie would be the target of the grand jury investigation.   She could choose to testify, but wouldn't be able to have a lawyer in the room with her, and that is a rare occasion when the target person testifies.     So the witnesses, police officers, etc. testify, it's whoever the District Attorney's office wants to present to the grand jury.    The grand jury then votes (a majority of members, not unanimous), if the person should be charged with the crimes the D.A. proposed.   

(I was on a grand jury years ago, so they may operate differently in different jurisdictions, and if they are state or federal). 

Edited June 17, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Klaw]

I said it before on another post but GD, turn on a light! I hate shows that try to create capital "G" Gravitas by shooting everything so dark. That is just not how people live. If it is so overcast and gloomy outside, people don't sit in the dark. Like the kitchen was dark, the doctor's waiting room was dark (and she was such a big deal she had no receptionist)? I just watched this because I wanted to see if they revealed who is the murderer. 

I didn't read the book but from the show, it seems to confirm Jacob did kill Ben, yes?

Also - one or both of them should have been killed by that crash. Laurie seemed to be on her way to a full recovery and I... can't see how? She drove head first 80+ mph into a stone wall... do the crash pads protect the human body that well????

Overall a meh series, wouldn't recommend. Is the book worth reading?

[TV Anonymous]

I ventured into this series because I subscribed into the free trial to watch Greyhound. I also remembered the hype when it premiered.

A disappointing end to a disappointing series, I have to say. Would not recommend it to anyone. However, I have one nitpick from the episode that bothers me. Are the police really unable to see that the hanging of Patz is murder, instead of suicide? There should be signs of struggle from where he was choked. It is amazing how the fast the police declares it as suicide, that the suicide note is genuine, and for the prosecutors to completely believes the note.

[ROEHUNTER]

On 6/17/2020 at 5:42 AM, Klaw said:

Also - one or both of them should have been killed by that crash. Laurie seemed to be on her way to a full recovery and I... can't see how? She drove head first 80+ mph into a stone wall... do the crash pads protect the human body that well????

I thought I saw 90 before they hit. No one is living through that, especially in the front seat. 

[teddysmom]

I was surprised that they charged Jacob so quickly on just a fingerprint, kids grab each other during horseplay etc. at school.  There were no witnesses, no weapon with forensic evidence, and the DA office seemed to want to charge someone quickly.  When do ADA's run interviews? Isn't that the detective's and chief of detective's job to then turn over evidence to the prosecutor?  

I also thought they would have found signs of a struggle in Patz' apartment. 

I guess I watch read too many books and watch realistic cop shows where some of this just didn't ring true from a process standpoint. 

My sister kept telling me how good it was and when I finally watched it and kept texting her "but this isn't how this is done" she told me to just enjoy it.   I can't recommend this to friends with kids that age, it's too upsetting. 

Thank goodness for Ted Lasso to cheer me up after this and The Morning Show bummed me out so much. 

 

[MissL]

I think they did a disservice to Lori by having Hope show up ok. It means she decided her son was a killer And did what she did to him based on circumstantial evidence, a short story, and a 5 year old getting angry enough to want to hit a kid over the head with a bowling ball.  Made her less sympathetic than she was in the book. 
 

I really didn’t enjoy this. I even skipped a few episodes straight to the last two and I don’t feel like I missed anything. Chris was pretty though. And Michelle did an amazing job. 

[ahisma]

On 9/25/2020 at 10:47 AM, MissL said:

I think they did a disservice to Lori by having Hope show up ok. It means she decided her son was a killer And did what she did to him based on circumstantial evidence, a short story, and a 5 year old getting angry enough to want to hit a kid over the head with a bowling ball.  Made her less sympathetic than she was in the book. 

I didn’t read the book and my feeling pretty much since the third episode or so was that Jacob was innocent. A dumb, moody, young teenager, but not a killer. (It actually could have been Patz, but we’d never know whether his confession was real or fake because it was forced.) So Laurie definitely seemed unhinged. But she often seemed overwrought, throughout. I knew it was a huge mistake for Andy to tell her about Patz in Mexico. If Jacob really was the killer ... the show didn’t show that. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 6/7/2020 at 12:32 PM, iMonrey said:

I for one really enjoyed this show. I found it compelling and easily watchable. It kept me hooked, it kept me surprised, it didn't try to jerk me around like so many shows do these days or jump around in the timeline or try to be overly arty or clever. 

That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. We really don't know if Jacob was guilty or innocent and I guess that's the point. There was a definite element of The Bad Seed in this story - except they called it The Murder Gene instead. Possibly to avoid copyright infringement. But much like the movie version of The Bad Seed, this ending almost felt dictated by The Hayes Code which forbid murderers from getting away with their crime, so they had to punish Jacob by turning him into a vegetable. Although even that wasn't clear since the parents were under the impression the doctor saw positive signs in his recovery. Or maybe they were just fooling themselves.

Anyway, I enjoyed the ride. I'm just not sure they stuck the landing.

I saw The Bad Seed a long time ago and it freaked me out so I missed a few parts. But it didn't occur to me that this plot was the same. I feel like when The Bad Seed came out in the 50s, there wasn't as much knowledge about genetics so it wasn't labeled that way. Is this show really similar to the movie?

[Johnny Dollar]

We just started watching this show four years after the premiere. The plot similarities between this series and Presumed Innocent with Jake Gyllenhal are uncanny.