S01.E02: The John Gotti of Seven Oaks

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

Cam is thrown by a shocking discovery and the police rush to unravel what really happened under the bridge.

Josephine makes a deal with Rebecca while a look into the past reveals Reena's first rebellion.

Air Date: April 17, 2024

 

[Wickedeve]

I'm bracing for all the tragedy barreling toward us, but I'm here for all 8 episodes. (It is 8, right?)

In the past, Riley Keough has shown a brave willingness to portray characters who could very easily dive headfirst into unlikable territory. This is no exception.

And I've never seen the actress who plays Josephine before, but her Michelle-Williams-spliced-with-Natalie-Dormer vibe is fascinating.

[Snazzy Daisy]

The aerial shot of black water triggers an eerie feeling. 😥

Reena makes unfortunate, fatal mistakes by stealing Josephine’s diary and spreading rumors about her, trying to shake the power dynamic between them.

Josephine has a delusion of grandeur. She shamelessly calls Reena a wannabe when she is also a wannabe.  She wants to make a name for herself with an all-girl gang - CMC (Crip Mafia Cartel). The need to create this other “family” is rooted from her abandonment issues.

Josephine brags to Rebecca about torturing and killing Reena but we know there’s more to that. Reena’s pants (or is it underpants?) that the diver found doesn’t fit into that narrative.

We know that Reena temporarily stayed at the group home at some point but we don’t know why. And then there’s a letter from the Crown about her father’s record being expunged. What happened in the Virks household?

Reena is belittled by her peers and misunderstood at home. Her mother thinks her attempts to fit in are paganism.

“This fixation on worldly things, it’s paganism.”

“What’s pagan about being born?”

Archie Panjabi seems to be playing a thankless role in the first 2 episodes. Hope she’ll have better materials to work with in incoming episodes.

After 2 episodes, am still not interested in Rebecca’s character.

[Zaffy]

This is a really tough show to watch. The story is horrifying, as it is everything about kids' violence. 
I am not really sure I will keep watching. It is well made, Lily is AMAZING as usual, but I am not sure I will be able to handle if they show what really happened to Reena. The whole thing is so damn depressing...
So far the weakest link is the character of Rebecca, I do not think it is the actress (Elvis granddaughter, I did not know), I think it is her story or the way they decided to portray her.

[Snazzy Daisy]

34 minutes ago, Zaffy said:

but I am not sure I will be able to handle if they show what really happened to Reena. The whole thing is so damn depressing...

According to the reviews…

Spoiler

The series is careful not to show the murder visually.

 

[Zaffy]

4 minutes ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

According to the reviews…

  Hide contents

The series is careful not to show the murder visually.

 

oh, thanks for that... I mean even guessing what happened it is so so so disturbing!

[millennium]

If the show somehow manages to keep up the intensity of these first couple episodes, this'll be a bumpy ride.

I like it a lot.  Riley Keough (The Girlfriend Project) seldom disappoints.  Even in mediocrity like Daisy Jones and the Six she manages to rise above the material.

You ever wonder why all kinds of bad shit happens beside running water?  Rivers, especially?  There must be some primal, anthropological reason.   This series reminds of River's Edge with Keanu Reeves and Creepy Crispin Glover.

[Straycat80]

Josephine tells Rebecca how she beat Reena and then later  pushed her over the railing. Was she telling the truth? Dusty was really shook.  This series is going to be intense. 

[Zaffy]

2 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

Josephine tells Rebecca how she beat Reena and then later  pushed her over the railing. Was she telling the truth? Dusty was really shook.  This series is going to be intense. 

Near the end of the episode when the girls watch the news on TV, Josephine looked surprised and said something like "wtf, she is dead?". I think she is just playing it being cruel and lethal because of her mafia obsession. 

[Mr. R0b0t]

On 4/17/2024 at 7:15 PM, Wickedeve said:

And I've never seen the actress who plays Josephine before, but her Michelle-Williams-spliced-with-Natalie-Dormer vibe is fascinating.

Perfectly said.

On 4/19/2024 at 6:42 PM, Straycat80 said:

Was she telling the truth?

Partially.  First half of the story is true, second half is lies for clout.

[TattleTeeny]

This is driving me crazy: Saanich. I cannot figure out what I watched semi-recently that was also set in Saanich and I am going to lose my mind.

[Haleth]

On 4/19/2024 at 8:42 PM, Straycat80 said:

Josephine tells Rebecca how she beat Reena and then later  pushed her over the railing. Was she telling the truth? Dusty was really shook.  This series is going to be intense. 

I think Cam's race from the river to the house and arriving after midnight proved that Josephine was lying about pushing Reena over the bridge.  Dusty said Jo came in a little after her (11:45) but the doors were locked at midnight.  There was no way Jo could have made it back to the house before the doors were locked had she still been at the river that late.  That's why Cam was angry and hitting the steering wheel at the end; she still doesn't know what happened to Reena.

At least that's what I think was going on.

The actress is doing a fantastic job, but man, that girl (Jo) is awful.

[millennium]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:42 AM, TattleTeeny said:

This is driving me crazy: Saanich. I cannot figure out what I watched semi-recently that was also set in Saanich and I am going to lose my mind.

I had a ham Saanich for lunch.

[TattleTeeny]

OOOOH, you are not helping me to not lose my mind! Haha, I came in here all hopeful that someone had solved this for me!

Edited April 26 by TattleTeeny

[Barbarblacksheep]

On 4/21/2024 at 6:42 AM, TattleTeeny said:

This is driving me crazy: Saanich. I cannot figure out what I watched semi-recently that was also set in Saanich and I am going to lose my mind.

Ok, don't get too excited, but was it this? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11337908/

It was filmed on that area and IIRC has some shots of Saanich in it.

[TattleTeeny]

It isn’t—I’ve never seen that. But thanks anyway!

[Barbarblacksheep]

52 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

It isn’t—I’ve never seen that. But thanks anyway!

You're welcome :) Any details you can think of to share? Plot, cast, anything?

[TattleTeeny]

No! I am so mad at me! But I feel like it was almost surely either a crime drama (possibly something in the vein of The Sinner or Cruel Summer) or a true crime doc. Aesthetically, I am picturing gray and dismal. I am trying to recall if I have ever seen an episode of any number of true crime shows that maybe covered this particular story, but that could be anything...

Edited April 27 by TattleTeeny

[buckboard]

A lot of shows apparently were filmed in Saanich, although you probably missed 1942's "Commandos Strike at Dawn."

https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=saanich, british columbia, canada

[roughing it]

On 4/26/2024 at 7:18 PM, TattleTeeny said:

It isn’t—I’ve never seen that. But thanks anyway!

You should see it (Maid), it was good.

[Barbarblacksheep]

On 4/26/2024 at 10:46 PM, TattleTeeny said:

No! I am so mad at me! But I feel like it was almost surely either a crime drama (possibly something in the vein of The Sinner or Cruel Summer) or a true crime doc. Aesthetically, I am picturing gray and dismal. I am trying to recall if I have ever seen an episode of any number of true crime shows that maybe covered this particular story, but that could be anything...

I googled "what shows covered Saanich murder" and this came up. It was a Dateline show from 2010, but I know old Datelines seem to pop up at times (on the ID Network?) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3163612/

[TattleTeeny]

YOU ARE THE BEST! I am not 100% certain, but judging by how much Dateline I watch, I am at a solid 99%! I might rewatch it to make sure, hahahha! Thanks!

[QQQQ]

But why does Rebecca have a picture of Hanson in her (childhood/teenage) bedroom? Hanson hit around 1997. How old is she?

[pdean82]

On 5/3/2024 at 10:43 PM, QQQQ said:

But why does Rebecca have a picture of Hanson in her (childhood/teenage) bedroom? Hanson hit around 1997. How old is she?

Hanson was very popular at that time though, I think that's pretty realistic. She's supposed to be around 15 maybe?

[QQQQ]

6 hours ago, pdean82 said:

Hanson was very popular at that time though, I think that's pretty realistic. She's supposed to be around 15 maybe?

Rebecca who returned home to write a book is supposed to be 15? I am so confused.

I am referring to a scene where she's talking to her dad and sitting on her bed in, what I presume to be, her childhood bedroom. I assume she's been gone and living in NY for a long time. I'm thinking it wasn't Hanson (especially since that doesn't really seem like her groove), but I don't have it in me to rewatch 😅

Edited May 6 by QQQQ

[pdean82]

17 hours ago, QQQQ said:

Rebecca who returned home to write a book is supposed to be 15? I am so confused.

I am referring to a scene where she's talking to her dad and sitting on her bed in, what I presume to be, her childhood bedroom. I assume she's been gone and living in NY for a long time. I'm thinking it wasn't Hanson (especially since that doesn't really seem like her groove), but I don't have it in me to rewatch 😅

I am so sorry - I only just started watching and am still learning names. I was thinking of the girl that got killed. No wonder you were confused -lol. 

Yeah, it doesn't quite seem to be Rebecca's taste in music. Not to mention her age !  

[QQQQ]

I went back to the scene. Definitely not Hanson 😅 The group does look familiar but I'm now too embarrassed to guess. 

[pdean82]

21 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I went back to the scene. Definitely not Hanson 😅 The group does look familiar but I'm now too embarrassed to guess. 

I'm impressed that you're that observant! I just noticed there was a poster! 

[Paloma]

Just catching up with this show since we got a trial subscription to Hulu. I didn’t know about the true story and am finding this show both compelling and horrifying. Poor Reena, the kind of bullying she experienced in school is all too common among girls of that age, and I’m not surprised that she wanted to become part of Josephine’s group (though I don’t think in the beginning she realized it was a real gang that committed crimes).

I am having a hard time feeling empathy for Josephine or any of the girls in her gang who expressed shock at hearing that Reena was dead. Josephine initiated and the others participated in a mob assault and torture, and they left her unconscious (I assume that part was true, even if the rest of Josephine’s story of waiting for Reena to get up and leave was a lie). So they thought it was OK to beat her to the point of unconsciousness, which could have resulted in death, but not to actually take it one step further and make sure she was dead?

I understand that Josephine and her gang had difficult backgrounds, but so do a lot of kids and they don’t become violent. I also understand the feeling that you have to go along with a gang leader out of fear and/or peer pressure, and once Josephine gave the order the mob mentality took over. But that still doesn’t excuse the level of violence against Reena. I don’t think all the kids are evil (though I tend to agree with Reena’s father that Josephine is), but they should all face consequences for their criminal actions.