S01.E04: The Burden

[Mod-Tigerkatze]

Quote

Kyle is confronted about his whereabouts the night of the murder. Tommy questions Carolyn's son when the case takes a complicated turn.

Air date: Jun 25, 2024

Before you get into discussing the episode, please keep in mind that fellow members would like to discuss and watch the show without knowing anything about the movie or book. Out of a courtesy to them, please remember to spoiler tag any movie or book reference (or spoiler, of course) or head over to the book vs film vs series topic. 

Thank you and happy watching and posting!

[Spartan Girl]

Oh. Hell. No.

Rusty having the sheer audacity to yell at Barbara to take responsibility for his affair is just enraging. So what, it’s her fault he couldn’t keep it in his pants?! She should have kicked him to the curb right then and there.

Raymond is right: shame is not the same as guilt. Rusty had made this thing all about himself and barely giving a thought to how his actions have hurt his family and anyone else. It’s always about him.

Edited June 26 by Spartan Girl

[EtheltoTillie]

I don't even have the energy to come up with much of a comment for this episode.  Seemed scattered. 

[aghst]

Yeah I thought it was "interesting," him demanding that she take responsibility.

Then yelling at Kyle, is that what a top prosecutor would do, lose his cool?

 

Did they shoot this right after Gyllenhall did the Road House movie or whatever it is?  They dress him in form-fitting clothes like a male model, not a 40-something father of two teens and a supposed pillar of the community.

He should be in some more boring business attire, even when not at work.

Bill Camp does a great job of mocking the Saarsgard character, whom everyone seems to hate.

So I wasn't paying close attention, why did they have hot sex?  Did she get turned on by the bartender and she decided to work out her frustrations?

Rusty was always having visions of the contrast in sex with Carolyn and with Barbara and this time it was hot and heavy with Barbara for a change.  Afterwards, she wants to know if that's how it was like for him when he fucked Carolyn.

What a screwed up dynamic.  She says they can't afford therapists for every member of the family but they have a big suburban home with a huge yard.  She should divorce him and take him to the cleaners but it's some deliberate strategy to keep the family together.

So that if they weren't already repulsed by Rusty carrying on an affair and impregnating another woman, they got to see him pummel that guy on their front porch.

Wife and kids got to see daddy lose it, the way the killer must have lost it when he crushed Carolyn's skull with a fireplace poker.

Kids definitely are going to need therapy for the PTSD.

[MagnaMater]

Please tell me that I am not the only one who isn’t rooting for Rusty. He’s selfish and exhibits a lack of care for others. 
 

[Spartan Girl]

39 minutes ago, MagnaMater said:

Please tell me that I am not the only one who isn’t rooting for Rusty. He’s selfish and exhibits a lack of care for others. 
 

I don’t think anybody is rooting for him.

[SeanBug]

4 hours ago, aghst said:

Did they shoot this right after Gyllenhall did the Road House movie or whatever it is?  They dress him in form-fitting clothes like a male model, not a 40-something father of two teens and a supposed pillar of the community.

Either on Colbert or Smartless podcast, he explained that they had to postpone the Road House MMA (?) fight scenes because he had Covid, and it was re-scheduled in the middle of the PI shoot. So yes, he was still Road House buff while playing Rusty. 

As far as him telling Barbara to take responsibility, I'm wondering if they were not having sex or at least having issues, and it may have led to him becoming involved with Carolyn.  

Did anyone else wonder why Barbara was scrubbing Kyle's bike? Like at 3 am?  The police already know Kyle was at Carolyn's house.  Either Kelley is throwing a red herring in to the mix, or it's a clue we're meant to overlook...for now.  Just my opinion and imagination running wild.  I listen to too many podcasts about film making and how a throw a way scene comes back later. 

I'm also wondering about the DNA under Carolyn's nails.  Can that happen if you just drag your nails across another person's bare skin, without breaking the skin?   And again, no blood or anything in the car or on Rusty. 

IIRC, they found blood traces on OJ's clothes in the drain pipes of the  washer at his home after he killed Nicole and Ron Goldman.  I know the book came out before the murders, but why wouldn't they check the pipes, the carpet fibers in his home, etc. They had search warrants.  Unless they did and as Horgan stated, came up with nothing. 

Or maybe the ME is falsifying the autopsy reports? 

[aghst]

That ME, not sure why the actor is playing him so aggro.

I can't imagine that kind of speech would be permitted in addressing colleagues, no matter how much contempt he had for Molto.

Did they give the actor that kind of direction just to have a "colorful" character or maybe his demeanor/personality is somehow plot-related?

In Dexter, there was an Asian-American coroner or something like that and he had a certain personality but it was more reflective of how well he knew his coworkers and vice versa.

 

[Anela]

I don’t know if I’m going to keep watching this.  He’s being such an ass, to his son. He shit all over his family, having the affair, and now he’s doing it again and again.  

his wife doesn’t owe him sex all the time, either, if that’s what he’s referring to, when it comes to responsibility.  He made a commitment, you communicate, or you leave.  

 

Edited June 27 by Anela

[EtheltoTillie]

I think what is bugging me is that they are dragging it out to so many episodes and they have to fill air time with more and more red herrings and clues.  That would be fine in a one-hour TV episode or a 90-minute movie, then we'd get to the end.  What are they going to come up with here? 

And yes, Rusty is an ass.

[Madding crowd]

My problem is that they aren’t doing a good job of giving us real red herrings. They are making Rusty so unlikable that I don’t care about looking at other people. I read a lot of mysteries and if I pick up one where there is a murder, only one real suspect and that person is horrible what am I reading for? They need to show us more of Carolyn’s life and people she may have been involved with. I agree the MA acts weird and aggressive. 

[MamaMax]

Barbara scrubbed the bike in case there was ANY evidence that could be used against Kyle. They might have known he was there at the house, on the sidewalk, but in case there was DNA or whatever. 

From what I know about DNA, it can transfer from a touch. Rusty had admitted that he was there and they kissed. She might have his DNA on her hands but hasn't he already admitted to that? is UNDER the nails somehow different, as if she were defending herself? I am not 100% sure Rusty isn't guilty; I'm also not sure the guys at the DA aren't setting him up. Which leads me to my one BIG beef with this whole thing: Any real DA would've called in a special prosecutor.  To make sure they don't go easy OR hard on him due to personalities, relationships, etc.

 

[GiandujaPie]

The victim and suspect/defendant both work in the DA's office. No way that this wouldn't have been handed off to another county to investigate and prosecute. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 6/26/2024 at 7:49 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Oh. Hell. No.

Rusty having the sheer audacity to yell at Barbara to take responsibility for his affair is just enraging. So what, it’s her fault he couldn’t keep it in his pants?! She should have kicked him to the curb right then and there.

Raymond is right: shame is not the same as guilt. Rusty had made this thing all about himself and barely giving a thought to how his actions have hurt his family and anyone else. It’s always about him.

I don't need to like the main character - or any character to want to watch the show. But I'm struggling to see why others liked Rusty. Maybe because we found out so early in the first episode about Rusty's bad decisions and behavior. It wasn't a shock because we never saw him being anything but a cheater. I mean, we heard he was well-liked and we heard he's a good lawyer. And he has a few minutes of cute family time but that was it before things unraveled. 

Raymond is a great friend and I loved his statement about shame and guilt. He's loyal but also seeing his friend with new eyes. I just wish we got a chance to see him before the behavior change. 

On 6/26/2024 at 1:10 PM, aghst said:

Yeah I thought it was "interesting," him demanding that she take responsibility.

Then yelling at Kyle, is that what a top prosecutor would do, lose his cool?

Did they shoot this right after Gyllenhall did the Road House movie or whatever it is?  They dress him in form-fitting clothes like a male model, not a 40-something father of two teens and a supposed pillar of the community.

He should be in some more boring business attire, even when not at work.

Bill Camp does a great job of mocking the Saarsgard character, whom everyone seems to hate.

So I wasn't paying close attention, why did they have hot sex?  Did she get turned on by the bartender and she decided to work out her frustrations?

Rusty was always having visions of the contrast in sex with Carolyn and with Barbara and this time it was hot and heavy with Barbara for a change.  Afterwards, she wants to know if that's how it was like for him when he fucked Carolyn.

What a screwed up dynamic.  She says they can't afford therapists for every member of the family but they have a big suburban home with a huge yard.  She should divorce him and take him to the cleaners but it's some deliberate strategy to keep the family together.

So that if they weren't already repulsed by Rusty carrying on an affair and impregnating another woman, they got to see him pummel that guy on their front porch.

Wife and kids got to see daddy lose it, the way the killer must have lost it when he crushed Carolyn's skull with a fireplace poker.

Kids definitely are going to need therapy for the PTSD.

I'm OK with Rusty's attire outside the courtroom. I am a community-involved professional with teenagers and people are constantly telling me how I should dress LOL. 

As far as Rusty telling Barbara to accept her responsibility, I was thinking there's nothing she could have done to make it OK for him to stalk and impregnate another woman! Showed me how he doesn't take accountability. 

I was yelling at the TV for Barbara and Jaden to get away from the front door! Something dangerous and ugly was about to happen and they didn't need to see or get caught in the crosshairs. 

Regarding what they can afford, they just put up a lot of money to bail out Rusty - possibly using their house as collateral. And District Attorneys don't make a ton of money - plus he isn't one anymore - so I don't know about taking Rusty to the cleaners. It's not like he worked in Chicago's big law sector. Barbara had a career, too. No idea how much she made or for how long, or what either had when they first got together. 

 

On 6/26/2024 at 4:30 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I don’t think anybody is rooting for him.

Nope, I'm here to see how the case goes. I go back and forth with who the actual murderer is and that's interesting to me.

On 6/27/2024 at 12:23 PM, Madding crowd said:

My problem is that they aren’t doing a good job of giving us real red herrings. They are making Rusty so unlikable that I don’t care about looking at other people. I read a lot of mysteries and if I pick up one where there is a murder, only one real suspect and that person is horrible what am I reading for? They need to show us more of Carolyn’s life and people she may have been involved with. I agree the MA acts weird and aggressive. 

Rusty is the DA's only suspect but I can think of a couple of others LOL