S01.E04: Episode 4

[AnimeMania]

On Eddie's birthday, the Millers try to celebrate like everything is normal. But a series of upsetting events threatens to send the family over the edge.

Premiere Date: March 13, 2025    Netflix    

[Brn2bwild]

Heartbreaking conclusion, as expected.  I read that the purpose of the episode was to show that Jamie came from a normal, loving family that wasn't abusive, and that his extreme turn could happen to any boy left alone with the toxic "manosphere."  

That said, I did notice some things - maybe because it was the dad's birthday, the mother and sister seemed to go out of their way to please him and diffuse his anger.  There was also that scene in the van on the way home when Jamie called and he assumed he was speaking only to the dad.  Why didn't the dad tell him right away that his whole family was there?  Why didn't the mom or sister announce themselves right away?  Why did Jamie act as though he only wanted to talk to the dad and was displeased to learn his mom and sister were there? 

Until the confrontation in the bedroom, I wanted to say to the mom: "You're going through this, too.  Your husband isn't going through this alone."  I was really glad for that confrontation/conversation, that they all got to say how they felt without it dissolving into something nasty and violent. 

[Raja]

Maybe I missed the system telling us what could happen to Jamie for the international audience. From what a quick Google search suggests mandatory life with possibilities of parole after 12 years. Many places don't sentence juveniles to life so that was surprising.

The focus on the killer's family also being victims was unexpected. All in all a hard to take in but important miniseries.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Go Inside Adolescence Episode 4

Edited March 18 by Snazzy Daisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

I fast forward the scene involving a trip to hardware store, it drags out due to its filming style.

Jamie has flawed, misguided views on women and masculinity — all thanks to years of indoctrination and algorithms.

It’s very telling that Jamie is quite dismissive of his mom and sister. His voice changes as soon as he’s aware that they’re on the phone call too.

The last scene with the dad saying he could’ve done better has left me sobbing. 😭

[Spartan Girl]

On 3/17/2025 at 12:52 AM, Raja said:

The focus on the killer's family also being victims was unexpected

But it bothered me that Katie’s family was basically a nonentity while Katie was presented as an imperfect victim, which was more than enough for pukes like Jamie’s supporter to say that she deserved what she got.

So Katie’s friend turned out to be right in her fear that the murderer would get more attention than the victim. I’d be disappointed if I was actually surprised.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/19/2025 at 4:13 AM, Snazzy Daisy said:

Jamie has flawed, misguided views on women and masculinity — all thanks to years of indoctrination and algorithms.

I saw this differently. Jamie isn't "normal".  Lots of 13-year-old boys had similar experiences and didn't stalk  a girl while carrying a knife.  And he really seemed to believe he hadn't done anything, until the therapist last episode "tricked" him into acknowledging he had.  He's a very dangerous person. He's also fairly bright in some ways, and doubtless knows that he'll never be released unless he admits his guilt and takes responsibility for his actions, even if he doesn't actually believe he did anything wrong.

His father may have anger issues, but he can pull himself back. He didn't actually hurt the graffiti kid, just scared him, and actually tried to explain to him how you don't know what's going on in someone else's life.  Crazy that all those kids followed the van to the hardware store.

Also interesting that the parents have been dating since they were Jamie's age. And that 37 years ago, 13-year-old Eddie was able to look foolish and be teased without awful results. 

This is silly, but I was hoping that Eddie would at least wash the blue paint off the window before it dried? I was kind of sorry when I saw that he had changed his shirt right after getting home, although I understand it was leading into the emotional conclusion.

Edited Sunday at 02:13 AM by ItCouldBeWorse

[sugarbaker design]

On 3/16/2025 at 11:57 PM, Brn2bwild said:

Heartbreaking conclusion, as expected.  I read that the purpose of the episode was to show that Jamie came from a normal, loving family that wasn't abusive, and that his extreme turn could happen to any boy left alone with the toxic "manosphere."  

If it could happen to "any boy" there'd be thousands of stabbings throughout the UK.

I'm assuming the worst that all pre-teen and teen boys with decent wifi will come across this 80/20 bullshit. Most will dismiss it, but a portion will do further research, and then an even smaller portion will do a deeper dive.

On 3/19/2025 at 4:13 AM, Snazzy Daisy said:

Jamie has flawed, misguided views on women and masculinity — all thanks to years of indoctrination and algorithms.

. 😭

For all we know, Jamie could have had those views before he got a laptop. Discovering the incels may have gave creedence to his own craziness.

 

5 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

This is silly, but I was hoping that Paul would at least wash the blue paint off the window before it dried? 

Jamie's dad is Eddie Miller, not Paul.

After three harrowing episodes, I'm so glad Adolescence ended on a somewhat hopeful note.  If I were a member of the Miller family I'd be at everyone of Jamie's parole hearings begging the courts to keep that crazy fucker behind bars.