S01.E03: Men of Interest

[AnimeMania]

After the discovery of Alison's body, Gogo and Edwin become the presumed suspects. Emily continues to follow Clive, lying to Josh and Sunita.

Premiere Date: April 26, 2023    Hulu  

[Black Knight]

I binged all three episodes yesterday. In for the duration. It was wise of Hulu to drop these three at once, if they weren't going to drop the full season at once (which I wish they had, because I really want to know what happens next in both timelines). I read a review that thought it an odd choice not to have Alison's murder in the first episode (aside from the shot of her body early on), but since that happens in the second episode which was dropped at the same time, it felt like one episode anyway. It was good to give us a lot of time with her first before getting to the discovery of her body. And then the third episode ending with Emily plotting to befriend Clive to find out the truth was a great hook.

I think they've done a really good job with the characterizations for all the main characters - Alison, Edwin, Clive, and Emily. They all feel three-dimensional and very human.

They've also done a good job showing why Emily is so affected by her sister's death. Their parents were neglectful of her even before Alison died. Alison was the one in the family who really paid attention to her sister and spent time with her. Poor Emily. I'm very curious where her parents and Edwin are in the present day.

There's quite a suspect list for Alison's murder. Edwin and Clive, of course. But also there's the Yale preppie, his rapey dad who thinks girls need "convincing", and the cheating husband. My guess is that Edwin and Clive didn't do it but know who did, and that's why they were so quiet in the police car. I'm currently leaning towards the rapey dad. He has the money and the power to scare Edwin and Clive. Plus Edwin probably took a payoff. Ugh.

[peachmangosteen]

My first thought was the killer was the guy who called Allison a cunt but only because I know that actor so I figured, known actor so he did it lol.

Then I thought maybe Edwin and Clive knows and protected him.

The real twist would be if Clive did it but I hope not because I like him.

There's too many characters and like 85% of them seem completely pointless.

[Snazzy Daisy]

The interweaving of multiple timelines is all over the place. There are a lot of flashbacks, and also flashbacks within flashbacks.

Do we really need to know Sarah Lycott’s backstory in detail - her mother, her mother’s bf, her affair with a married man etc. The subplot involving a drug dealer called One-Eye Mike, how is it related to Alison’s murder? Needless fillers.

The show’s attempt to create suspicions out of some guests isn’t well constructed.

Stories in the Indigo Bay’s timeline are more interesting than the current timeline. Struggling to feel any sympathy for Emily. She’s quite an asshole to her bf and bff.

The only likeable characters are Clive ‘Gogo’ Richardson and Alison Thomas.

The show will continue to provide us with more stretched-out subplots for the 8-episode run. 😣

[Black Knight]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

The subplot involving a drug dealer called One-Eye Mike, how is it related to Alison’s murder?

When Emily was googling her sister's murder, there was a mention of Clive going to jail for drug dealing. So it's an important part of his backstory at the very least, and raises a lot of questions about how that happened since the last we saw, Edwin had decided to leave Clive out of it. Did Clive approach One-Eye Mike on his own? Did Edwin change his mind and bring Clive in later, as muscle or because he hoped that One-Eye Mike would be more interested in Clive than him? Did Edwin not change his mind and then somehow Clive took the fall for him? It might also have something to do with wherever Edwin is now and what he's doing, if Edwin is still alive. I'm so curious to know what happened to Clive and Edwin in the years since the murder.

It also tells us more about Edwin and Clive as characters. I haven't read the book, but the TV show clearly has a broader focus than Alison's murder and, in particular, is fleshing out the Indigo Bay locals and making Clive and Edwin equal leads to Emily and Alison. The information about Sara helps with explaining her relationship with Clive, and Edwin's reactions to Sara are interesting and maybe hint at something. I like all of that.

[gesundheit]

All I know is that tiny boy playing Clive & Sara's son is adorable. In that scene where she was holding him and his parents were having the love/not love argument, he really was watching each of them like a fascinating tennis match. Too cute.

In the last episode I was still wondering where the island was, but Google tells me Indigo Bay is a real place in St. Maarten, and I'm a little surprised they're presenting it in a real place considering how disparaging it could come across. Google also tells me this novel was loosely drawn from a real-life story about a girl's death, so was that really in St. Maarten? And I guess "Saint X" is some sort of take on that? I don't know! Just trying to figure it all out. 

12 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Stories in the Indigo Bay’s timeline are more interesting than the current timeline. Struggling to feel any sympathy for Emily. She’s quite an asshole to her bf and bff.

 

I flat out hate Emily. I am sympathetic to the obsession, for sure (and hell, who wouldn't kind of lose it if the man presumed to be your sister's rapist-killer in another country was all of a sudden your CAB driver in Brooklyn??? [insert eye roll here] Who wouldn't think fate was trying to tell them something?). But what is this whole "why" nonsense? What is the scenario in which a rapist-killer (which he probably isn't anyway because drama) says, "Oh, here's why I raped and killed this girl, I presume this explanation is satisfactory and clears everything up?" "Yes, why thank you, now I have the answers I have been seeking!" 

The present-day story is just too far-fetched and she's being too dumb for me to connect, so I'm just all-in on the historic scenes. Thank goodness there are more of those.

9 hours ago, Black Knight said:

When Emily was googling her sister's murder, there was a mention of Clive going to jail for drug dealing. So it's an important part of his backstory at the very least, and raises a lot of questions about how that happened since the last we saw, Edwin had decided to leave Clive out of it. Did Clive approach One-Eye Mike on his own? Did Edwin change his mind and bring Clive in later, as muscle or because he hoped that One-Eye Mike would be more interested in Clive than him? Did Edwin not change his mind and then somehow Clive took the fall for him? 

The police guy did say in this episode that there would be charges pressed against Clive and Edwin for drugs found, so presumably that's all from that night and maybe not anything that happened later, but I'm not sure.

I wonder what year the resort scenes are supposed to be in. Some of the references seem a little anachronistic if it was, say, 2003.

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I wonder what year the resort scenes are supposed to be in. Some of the references seem a little anachronistic if it was, say, 2003.

I thought someone said Alison was killed 20 years ago, so it would be 2003.

[gesundheit]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:15 AM, peachmangosteen said:

I thought someone said Alison was killed 20 years ago, so it would be 2003.

Logically it should be, yes. But wow, those are some very high-waisted jeans and shorts for 2003!

[Anela]

I know she was just a kid, but I think he's innocent (I hope he is, because I like him). She's torturing a man she's sure is dangerous? 

The police didn't even look into the white guys who were angry with her, for whatever reason? The wife who was mean to her, because she embarrassed her douche husband? The white boys who were wanting to sleep with her, and the rapey dad who was encouraging his son? 

[Sweet-tea]

I don’t get all the male attention for Alison. It seems over the top to me based on the casting. The actress is attractive enough but not some goddess to warrant men stepping over each other to get to her. JMI.

I’m having a hard time picking up all the dialogue between the Edwin and Gogo. I had to turn on the subtitles. 

I keep thinking of the Natalie Holloway murder watching this. She vanished in Aruba. 

I wonder why they don’t identify the Caribbean island this is on. 

 

 

[Madding crowd]

Finally got around to watching this and I’m not confused because I read the book but there is a lot of jumping around. I didn’t see Emily’s parents as neglectful, it just seems like Emily likes doing things with her sister. I do agree there seems to be too much attention on Alison. Women and men noticing and commenting on her seems a bit much. 

This show does bring up some interesting issues about tourism. Tourism allows the locals to make a living yet they are contemptuous of the tourists and dislike having to serve them. I get the point but don’t know what the answer is although some of these tourists are indeed jerks but not all.
 

 

[christie]

The flash bach scenes have a very 80s feel to them; it was a jolt when it was revealed that they were twenty years ago (so around 2002-2003).