S02.E10: Unhinged

[AuntiePam]

I think the family's angst is on Daniel's behalf, not theirs.  He hasn't handled things well, even with his mom and Amantha at his side -- I think they're just worried about Daniel being on his own.  Wouldn't matter if it was four hours away or one.  And it's forced banishment, different from a kid going off to college.  The legal system has separated him from his family, again.  It's the reason for the separation as much as the actual separation that they're having a hard time dealing with.  The law says I can't see my kid. 

 

In other words, I sure as hell don't know.

[Syren]

Somebody help me out with this (he cried into an empty vortex of darkness, being about a year and a half late to the party): Daniel is banished from the state of GA other than one county - Echols county (which unlike Paulie is a real place), which is about 4 hours from Atlanta.  In the show universe, Atlanta doesn't seem to be that far from Paulie (Amantha and Jon seem to be commuting pretty easily), so what's the fuckin' big deal?  Daniel's family can't get in a vehicle and drive 4 hours down the damn I-75 to visit him? Granted, I live in Southern California where (crazy) people commute 4 hours round trip every day, but c'mon...what's with all the angst about this "banishment"?

 

 

I think the family's angst is on Daniel's behalf, not theirs.  He hasn't handled things well, even with his mom and Amantha at his side -- I think they're just worried about Daniel being on his own.  Wouldn't matter if it was four hours away or one.  And it's forced banishment, different from a kid going off to college.  The legal system has separated him from his family, again.  It's the reason for the separation as much as the actual separation that they're having a hard time dealing with.  The law says I can't see my kid. 

 

In other words, I sure as hell don't know.

I think AutiePam has it right. It's about how hard banishment will be on Daniel, not them. Pile this on top of him serving so much time on death row, being dragged to the point of execution a few times, and now having to start some kind of life away from everyone he knows and loves...it's not insult to injury; it's injury added to grievous injury at this point.

All for a crime he likely did not commit and was coerced into confessing to.

BTW, the part of the post of mine that you quoted, LoneWolf (which I don't know if it's going to show up in this post where I'm quoting you because I'm not seeing it as I type this) was about Janet's pain at Daniel having to go through the confession and debrief again, not about the banishment that would follow. Her anguish at him having to endure that, at what it was going to cost him mentally, emotionally, in that room, was what she was trying to hide in that scene and her holding it together for him is what got to me. J. Cameron Smith is so good on this show. Hell, all the acting on this show is a treat.

I'm glad you're watching, LoneWolf! It's good to have another voice on this show's forum!

[GinnyMars]

Those are locks, aren't they? Three of them, on Hanna's door. Who was dangerous in that house?

[Stella]

On 8/11/2016 at 7:56 PM, GinnyMars said:

Those are locks, aren't they? Three of them, on Hanna's door. Who was dangerous in that house?

Interesting point. Did anyone besides the mother and brother live there? I don't recall anyone else. And this is the inside of her room, correct? I mean the locks aren't there to keep her locked in her room are they? It's been so long since I watched this episode.

[GinnyMars]

Yes, we are inside the room, then see Jared push the door open to come in.

Has Hanna's father ever been mentioned? He doesn't seem to be around now; was he then? I know some people have been suspecting Hanna's brother, but the hatred he seems to be harboring towards Daniel makes me think he's not the culprit. Of course, he could be repressing the memories...

Edited August 16, 2016 by GinnyMars

[Stella]

Hmm....very interesting.

I doubt the brother for same reasons you suggest. I suppose he could have abused her but isn't it pretty certain one of the group killed her? I don't recall her brother being present or mentioned as having been part of the events by the river. Maybe the mother had a boyfriend around?

It would be a surprise twist to have it be someone close to home. Of course not unusual for this sort of crime.

I am so looking forward to the final episodes, although I hate for it to end it will be satisfying to have things wrapped up. Hopefully.

[GinnyMars]

22 hours ago, Stella said:

isn't it pretty certain one of the group killed her?

Well, it's what we've been assuming, but it would certainly be a twist... Trey-George-Chris rape Hanna, her father arrives, freaks that she's dishonored the family or something, and he kills her.

It'd be less satisfying though. Trey is so despicable, I would like him to go down. But then, I don't want a repeat of Daniel's situation...

We'll see... I can't wait!

[Eeksquire]

Quote

I know some people have been suspecting Hanna's brother, but the hatred he seems to be harboring towards Daniel makes me think he's not the culprit.

This is pretty dark of me to say, but if he had been the one abusing Hanna, he could still hate Daniel for "taking her away from him" without being directly responsible for the murder.

[GinnyMars]

Dark indeed... We shall see.

[ketose]

I'm in the middle of a binge of the series, since S4 is still on Demand. It seems like Daniel's debrief was a combination of the original "confession" along with the things Tray told him. There's also a sense that Daniel feels responsible for Hanna's death because he gave her the mushrooms that incapacitated her that night.

It's just amazing how well crafted this series is. While every other thing on TV constantly has to explain things, Rectify nails the "show, don't tell" aspect of writing.

[Rockfish]

I just discovered Rectify a couple of weeks ago and am loving it. If I could, I'd watch at a more rapid rate, but my husband finds it too slow--which is understandable since he belongs to the "Die Hard is the greatest movie ever!" club--so I watch an episode or two when I can on my own. The series reminds me of a good novel, where you feel as if you really know the characters and understand why they do what they do. Even when their choices seem wrong and illogical to me, I understand why they did what they did.

Another thing I like is how my opinions of characters change with the subtle writing. Many of the characters whom I disliked at first have revealed good or sympathetic facets. Breaking Bad did this for me, and I think it shows such a deft writing hand.

Last thing about Tawny, which is silly to write because I'm years behind the discussion: For some people it takes years to figure out how to communicate effectively with others, even with a loving spouse. We've seen her get excited about something--usually Daniel, unfortunately--and then blurt out what she's thinking at the worst possible time, something she didn't realize. Because she feeling was so intense and inspired, she most likely felt that if she expressed what she was thinking right at that moment, she'd be able to convey her thoughts accurately. (And I do think at first she was just happy to have another quirky kindred spirit in her family and wasn't attracted to Daniel.) But Teddy couldn't fathom what she was going on about because she hadn't shared with him what her thoughts were in a gradual way, and he, being Teddy, took everything wrong and reacted like an ass. And this made everything worse. I think Teddy's a creep, though, so I'm not absolving him--I just think that if she was married to a kinder man, her marriage would have hit a bumpy part because of her communication style (or lack thereof).

[ketose]

Teddy and Tawney figured out what they needed to do to get along. In both their cases, Daniel was someone who didn't react to them as they would expect. For Teddy, it was a confrontation that he lost. For Tawney, it was meeting someone who had such profound thoughts, but wasn't religious. I don't want to disparage Tawney, but I think she was attracted to something in Daniel and tried to make it into a need to bring him into the church.