S01.E08: Part VIII

[Drogo]

In the season finale, Cora's fate is determined.

[GCcyclones]

Hmm, I'm ok with how it wrapped up, though I was sure until the very end that Cora's husband had something to do with it. 

[Straycat80]

I'm satisfied with the ending too even though I'm going to have to watch some parts again because I missed some things (Mr. Straycat kept flipping over to see the Cubs score). 

[Iguessnot]

They tied that together nicely.

[mytmo]

I don't know why but I was expecting more.

[Iguessnot]

The look of surrender that Frankie supposedly had, is understandable.

Did the parents just assume that Phoebe was dead because Cora was found drug addicted and without any memory? Did they not even try to find out what happened to Phoebe?

[slothgirl]

13 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

The look of surrender that Frankie supposedly had, is understandable.

Did the parents just assume that Phoebe was dead because Cora was found drug addicted and without any memory? Did they not even try to find out what happened to Phoebe?

Seriously... the big plot hole. Ok... they ALMOST explained why the parents didn't immediately panic and file a missing persons reports the night Cora and Pheebs didn't go home. But to never pursue it when Cora was found they way she was? I'm not buying it.. Mom would have been LIVING at the police station trying to find her Precious. Telling everyone that she died 2 months after Cora disappeared? Why? That whole part of the story was badly handled.

Otherwise, I'm ok with the resolution. 

They could have made this a 3 hour movie. Maybe 4. Dragging it out for 8 episodes (with an insane number of ad breaks) was annoying and unnecessary. That's 8 hours of my life I won't get back

Thanks, Show.

[Mojeaux]

Well, that was novel!

I hate to admit this, but the most satisfying part for me was when she began to peel the wallpaper. I was thinking, “I can’t believe they have a less-than-perfect rich-person house” and I swear that little tab of loose paint was going to bug me. And then she noticed it! And peeled it!

I quivered like a happy puppy.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Mojeaux

[HollyG]

1 hour ago, slothgirl said:

Seriously... the big plot hole. Ok... they ALMOST explained why the parents didn't immediately panic and file a missing persons reports the night Cora and Pheebs didn't go home. But to never pursue it when Cora was found they way she was? I'm not buying it.. Mom would have been LIVING at the police station trying to find her Precious. Telling everyone that she died 2 months after Cora disappeared? Why? That whole part of the story was badly handled.

Otherwise, I'm ok with the resolution. 

Right, they thought the girls had gone to Florida. But I can't believe they never even filed a missing persons report on Phoebe when they found out they hadn't gone to Florida, or that they never questioned Cora about where her sister was. I also would have liked to have seen what type of punishment was given to Frankie's parents for their role in the coverup, drugging Cora and burying Phoebe's body in the woods. Otherwise I'm ok with the ending too. 

I absolutely hated the narration though.

Edited September 21, 2017 by HollyG

[Irlandesa]

So did the dad kill JD?  OR hire that one guy to kill JD? 

I liked the resolution-ish.  But I felt it to be quite a stretch that the judge would reevaluate her sentencing after she had allocated and sentenced her.  That would just not happen.

[HollyG]

19 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

So did the dad kill JD?  OR hire that one guy to kill JD? 

I liked the resolution-ish.  But I felt it to be quite a stretch that the judge would reevaluate her sentencing after she had allocated and sentenced her.  That would just not happen.

No, the guy that killed JD was the one that the female officer shot in the street, or at least that is what his partner told Harry Ambrose. He was afraid JD would talk about the drug enterprise after he was brought in for questioning in the Cora murder case and his girlfriend was arrested.

Edited September 21, 2017 by HollyG

[BamaGirl]

36 minutes ago, mytmo said:

I don't know why but I was expecting more.

Yeah, me too. Most of it tied up neatly, but it felt rather anticlimactic.  "Oh, the body at the school bus was Pheobe... NBD..."

[Cotypubby]

I thought the detective found that wallpaper in one room at the Beverwyck already. Didn't  we see him looking at it there?

ugh I hated this finale. So lame. I had high hopes for this show after the first episode but boy did it keep going directly downhill.

[Teddybear]

Yawnnnnnnnn. What a boring end to a brutally boring miniseries.   

[LoveLeigh]

This was a really idiotic series. The last episode was so dull and silly. 

And what was the whole thing with that medical place at the beginning where the guy was shot dead? I think I fell asleep and was lost during that. 

[yourmomiseasy]

At first it felt like a let down, but I think I actually liked that it ended up being not super crazy.  I mean the dad went a little overboard, but it wasn't hunting humans crazy.

[yourmomiseasy]

48 minutes ago, DakotaLavender said:

This was a really idiotic series. The last episode was so dull and silly. 

And what was the whole thing with that medical place at the beginning where the guy was shot dead? I think I fell asleep and was lost during that. 

JD was writing prescriptions using the licenses of Frankie's dad's friends and those guys would load the girls that were at the clinic up in a van to go get them filled.  The oxy or whatever would then be sold.

[TattleTeeny]

9 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

The look of surrender that Frankie supposedly had, is understandable.

Did the parents just assume that Phoebe was dead because Cora was found drug addicted and without any memory? Did they not even try to find out what happened to Phoebe?

That's what I am wondering! Like...why would they not initiate and pursue anything when two daughters didn't come home--I mean, unless they were resigned to the whole "oh, well, they just ran away to Florida" thing. But wouldn't they freak out about how the hell they girls would be able to pay for Phoebe's medical care? And did I miss something or did the cops just take the parents' word for it that Phoebe died shortly after Cora left? If the cops had been under the impression that the mom meant that Phoebe had somewhat expectedly died of natural causes, would they not at the very least verify it as SOP?

Edited September 21, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[gesundheit]

I found that pretty satisfying outside of the aforementioned gaping hole about the parents never bothering to look for Phoebe. When Cora started peeling off that wallpaper I thought Detective Bill Pullman might be climaxing right there on the spot! Oh, and one question because maybe I blinked and missed it: why DID the detective bring Cora to the parents' house, though? I felt like we saw him talking to Maddie and learning that JD got into the oxy trade after the "incident" and then he's going to the judge, and then they're at the house. What did I miss? What were his grounds for suspicion?

[notcreative enough]

14 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

I found that pretty satisfying outside of the aforementioned gaping hole about the parents never bothering to look for Phoebe. When Cora started peeling off that wallpaper I thought Detective Bill Pullman might be climaxing right there on the spot! Oh, and one question because maybe I blinked and missed it: why DID the detective bring Cora to the parents' house, though? I felt like we saw him talking to Maddie and learning that JD got into the oxy trade after the "incident" and then he's going to the judge, and then they're at the house. What did I miss? What were his grounds for suspicion?

He figured out that the doctor IDs that JD was using for the scam were all friends of the father's. Leading him to believe that JD was blackmailing him. How that gave the judge enough to issue a search warrant / day pass for a prisoner I don't know. Because who the keeps a kidnapped girl in their house. I would never bur if I did I would be more then just re wallpaper the wall. It would be new everything along with some burning sage and see if I could get a priest in there. That's just some bad juju. Hell I would probably sell the whole damn thing.

Yeah the missing kids thing still bothers me. Cora was the only one with a bag backed. Didn't the money wonder why ALL of Phoebe's thing were still in the house like clothes and medication. 

Poor Frankie. Life did you dirty. You picked a horrible guy to be friends with and parents who want to help but are so damn bad at it.

[TattleTeeny]

Hahaha, it made me laugh that you felt that you had to say you would never keep a kidnapped girl in your house! And as for the sage, wouldn't you yourself be the bad juju?

Edited September 21, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[notcreative enough]

6 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Hahaha, it made me laugh that you felt that you had to say you would never keep a kidnapped girl in your house! And as for the sage, wouldn't you yourself be the bad juju?

Lol probably.

And kudos to wife for being ride or die because if I woke up to a drugged girl in my kitchen I would GTFO and go straight to the police. And I would have loved to see the conversation about how the girl they held hostage for 5 months killed their son. 

[TattleTeeny]

1 minute ago, notcreative enough said:

Lol probably.

And kudos to wife for being ride or die because if I woke up to a drugged girl in my kitchen I would GTFO and go straight to the police. And I would have loved to see the conversation about how the girl they held hostage for 5 months killed their son. 

"Well, don't come cryin' to me when the 5-0 shows up! I told you to get her outta here!"

[Iguessnot]

Why was father doc jamming Cora's veins like that? It served no purpose except to make me squirm. 

[Unclejosh]

I think to make it look like she was an long time addict with needle scars.  To further damage her credibility if she ever did remember.

[Iguessnot]

Bill Pullman gives side eye of mythical proportions.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

Well, that's over.

Why the heck did Cora's mother so specifically lie to Ambrose about Phoebe's dying month(s) after the weekend of the 4th of lymphoma? Why not just say, she left home and we haven't spoken since?

I'm 5/10 on this show. I would never recommend it to anyone but I am completely on the fence whether it was worth watching the whole thing. I guess once I watched the first 3 episodes, I had to finish it to see what happened.

I did like that what Frankie's dad did to Cora in order to protect Frankie ended up getting Frankie killed. Cosmic justice.

I didn't like all the stuff they threw at us in order to make it more of a mystery. I understand that's how mysteries work but in this show most of it didn't make much sense.

[Madding crowd]

I thought the last shot at Pullman looking at his damaged nails was interesting-was he thinking about the different types of damage people do to each other? All of the questions were answered but some not so successfully. Phoebe's mom was obsessed with her-she would never just accept her running away. So Frankie's parents never had anyone over including a housekeeper for months? And while the doctor was at work, the wife never left the house and fed and took Cora to the toilet? Really committed people! 

[Mojeaux]

1 minute ago, Madding crowd said:

I thought the last shot at Pullman looking at his damaged nails was interesting-was he thinking about the different types of damage people do to each other? 

Well, he told Cora he understood how things people do to you in your childhood could wreck you completely. He said he noticed that she took the blame for everything, then said, “I do too.” (Called it. He wanted to fix her, a do-over, explore his own issues, whatever.)

I then take the dominatrix thing as him wanting punishment for all those things he took/takes blame for. I took the bruised fingernails as a clue that he is back with his dominatrix, asking her to punish him.

[Madding crowd]

That's interesting-I think the fingernails are just permanently damaged at this point and I took it as he realized he has been punished enough and so has Cora. Love thinking about different interpretations!

[nikita]

31 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I thought the last shot at Pullman looking at his damaged nails was interesting-was he thinking about the different types of damage people do to each other? All of the questions were answered but some not so successfully. Phoebe's mom was obsessed with her-she would never just accept her running away. So Frankie's parents never had anyone over including a housekeeper for months? And while the doctor was at work, the wife never left the house and fed and took Cora to the toilet? Really committed people! 

I took the last shot as the detective is now reevaluating whether he needs and deserves "punishment" for the things he felt were his fault (even though he knows they weren't), especially after Cora got some kind of absolution.

[tennisgurl]

I know the show was silly at times and WAY too much padding, but I like how they wrapped everything up pretty well. It wasn't as crazy as I expected it to be (no rich people murder cult), but I didn't see it coming, exactly, but it basically makes sense. Cora gets sent away to a psychiatric facility, and Pullman decides to stop punishing himself and just live his life after Cora makes peace with her past. 

The real bad guy in this was JD, who is evidently a full on sociopath who very much deserved being killed by the other drug dealer guy. Not that the doctor and his wife were innocent in all this, and they deserve to face justice for what they did, but they were at least blackmailed, and didn't want to just murder Cora like JD was apparently alright with. It really does make Cora killing Frankie a cosmic punishment to the parents. They did all of this to protect Frankie, and it ended with them messing Cora up so much that she lost it and killed Frankie anyway. 

I still ended up feeling pretty bad for Frankie. He definitely made some bad choices by not telling the truth about what happened to Cora or questioning his parents actions towards Cora, but he was still the least villainous of anyone involved in the death of Phoebe, and he was the one who got brutally stabbed to death. Even as he was dying, he still seemed to be the one who felt the worst about what happened. At least JD eventually got his. 

So while this wasn't perfect, I thought it was a good enough murder mystery, especially for the barren TV terrain of the post summer/pre fall tv season. 

[meep.meep]

And that is why you don't paint over wallpaper!  Seriously, they keep a drugged up witness in their home for months, get rid of her, and then just paint the room?  Wouldn't you want to make sure there was no DNA or hair or anything from Cora?  Strip the wallpaper, take up the rugs, throw away all the bedding, then clean and repaint.  

I win!  I said Phoebe was the corpse in the woods.  

[SuzieQ]

Wouldn't the parents be brought up on charges for what they did to Cora and disposing of Phoebe like that? Did I miss something? When he apologized to Cora in the house, that's practically a confession.

 

Also her husband didn't look too happy that she'd be home in 2 years.

 

Overall not bad, but this was at the most a 4 hour story, not 8.  They could have had 2 2 hour shows to tell this story.

[candall]

Hey, how handy was that little pull-tag of topper wallpaper?!  LOL

 

It was okay.  Apparently Jessica Biel is a good enough actress to make me glad Cora Tanetti had her sentence commuted.  Probably not good enough to shoulder this load and carry it all the way to the finish line without Bill Pullman, though.

 

Not buying for a minute Cora's husband morphed into such a good guy--but I skipped Episode VII, so maybe he had an epiphany.  Had to further suspend disbelief when Cora's weaksauce attorney suddenly turned into Judd For The Defense.

 

I enjoyed Cora giving her mother a healthy dose of GTFO.  And I'm glad Cora's dad never fondled her--not being molested by daddy was one of the best things that ever happened to her.

[Shellbell59]

7 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I found that pretty satisfying outside of the aforementioned gaping hole about the parents never bothering to look for Phoebe. When Cora started peeling off that wallpaper I thought Detective Bill Pullman might be climaxing right there on the spot! Oh, and one question because maybe I blinked and missed it: why DID the detective bring Cora to the parents' house, though? I felt like we saw him talking to Maddie and learning that JD got into the oxy trade after the "incident" and then he's going to the judge, and then they're at the house. What did I miss? What were his grounds for suspicion?

What I gathered was...when Ambrose went back to the "medical clinic" and saw on the wall "Plan a Winter Getaway" he remembered Maddie had wanted to name her baby Winter. 

From Maddie Ambrose found out about the oxy ring (multiple medical script being dispensed) taking place immediately following that night at the club...he put it all together that Frankie's father (MD) was supplying the valid DEA numbers for the prescriptions. So he went to the judge with that theory. Based on all the supporting evidence...the judge signed the search warrant for Frankie's parent house. The judge could sign said search warrant regardless as to whether it involved Cora. After all..there was an investigation going on for JD murder as well. However it was highly likely all murders and the oxy crime were related...as all the suspects and victims were at the club that 4th of July weekend.

Based on search warrant findings and subsequent admission of guilt by Frankie's parents...along with Cora finally speaking at her sentencing (thereby presenting her "defense" on the record)...the judge HAD to take all the new evidentiary findings and reconsider Cora's sentencing.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Shellbell59

[Shellbell59]

17 hours ago, HollyG said:

Right, they thought the girls had gone to Florida. But I can't believe they never even filed a missing persons report on Phoebe when they found out they hadn't gone to Florida, or that they never questioned Cora about where her sister was. I also would have liked to have seen what type of punishment was given to Frankie's parents for their role in the coverup, drugging Cora and burying Phoebe's body in the woods. Otherwise I'm ok with the ending too. 

I absolutely hated the narration though.

I thought Cora had always told ppl that her parents were dead..even at the rehab facility.

So the parents had always assumed the girls had gone to Florida. When Cora murdered Frankie and made the headlines (5 years later) was when they found out she was local...and it was unlikely Phoebe would still be alive regardless. 

One would think they'd at least want to know..and ask about Phoebe whe Ambrose visited and not say she'd died a month or two later. Unless the weird mom wouldn't admit to that Phoebe actually wanted to get away as well...

Edited September 21, 2017 by Shellbell59

[tennisgurl]

I actually think my favorite scene was Cora telling her mom that Phoebe died having sex with a guy after doing drugs, and she had never been more happy. Especially after mom went on about how CORA was the bad influence on Phoebe! That lady really didn't know her kids at all, did she? 

[AnimeMania]

I am totally confused, at the start of the episode they showed Phoebe's death scene completely different from the one last episode. Cora was in a different sexual position and no longer noticed Cora's death or jumped up to help her or hit Frankie. Frankie had to ask people to come help him and nobody responded. Then Frankie crumpled Cora's rib cage (the only part that was the same).

I blame Cora's parents for not raising the alarm when all their children disappear. How can they declare Phoebe dead, they couldn't have done it legally, since they didn't have a body. Did none of Phoebe's doctors find it odd that she was no longer coming in for treatment. The police could have tracked Cora's phone which JD had and put an end to all this nonsense in one day.

I was expecting an over the top story, but everything was so underwhelming. Bland Cora, Cora's mother religious fanaticism, Cora's father's night time visits, JD the drug dealing boyfriend, Maddie the jealous ex-girlfriend, Detective Perversion, Lady cop with the blabbermouth, Over-the top lady detective, and many others all were underwhelming compared to what I imagined they (would/should) be like. The only people who exceeded my expectations of them were Frankie the super sweet boyfriend and Phoebe the Twisted Sex Sister. Maybe I hyped my self up too much for a story that was sort of mellow and mundane. That might have been my fault.

[Shellbell59]

18 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I thought the detective found that wallpaper in one room at the Beverwyck already. Didn't  we see him looking at it there?

ugh I hated this finale. So lame. I had high hopes for this show after the first episode but boy did it keep going directly downhill.

I was also wondering about that...but looking at forensic monitology...it's pretty obvi...the wallpaper at the Beverwyck was like that of $100 dollar bill...whereas this newly discovered wall paper was that of the standard $1 dollar bill. teeheehee...j/k. :-)     (Yet another unnecessary rabbit trail to drag this series out...effing w/our minds along the way)

lmao

[Dowel Jones]

Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer boredom.

[Shellbell59]

Lucky for Ambrose..and subsequently Cora that Maddie ended up having a baby...and going ahead with the name "Winter". Hmmmm....

[SoSueMe]

9 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

Bill Pullman gives side eye of mythical proportions.

Yeah, sooooo creepy.

[Laurie4H]

So everything went down at Frankie's parents house and not at the Beverwyck?  Did they even explain how JD got his limp?  Wasn't Phoebe wearing something different  on the couch then she was in in last weeks episode?

[Auntie Anxiety]

I was laughing to myself about the possibilty that JD got a tick bite in the woods while helping Dr. Father with burying Phoebe. Then he developed Lyme disease. Divine almost justice!

[pfk505]

Eh this wasn't that bad. Full of clichés but entertaining enough with a solid cast. Everyone involved put in good performances, plus Jacob Pitts elevates whatever he's in significantly.

Loose writing and plot holes aside, I don't regret watching it. Should have been four hours tops.

[lucindabelle]

this was epically disappointing.

Yes we've met the father before but it was basically a criminal ex machina. It's preposterous in the extreme that a loving dad who is a doctor would have as a first or even second impulse kill the witness, no take her home and keep her drugged.

Do. Not. Buy. It.

It'sridiculous that somehow after this horrible night Frankie DID go to med school and graduated and was normal enough to have a girlfriend.

Do. Not. Buy. It.

I expected much, much more. Don't know what, but more.

this was preposterous and depends on an otherwise normal suburban guy being an extreme criminal or having those tendencies.

That Frankie was the ONLY one with the right attitude-- it was an accident-- when Dad was THERE makes no sense. Would have made more sense had J.D. attacked Frankie before he called his dad. But once an adult was on the scene the whole next section including dad with the hunting mask... preposterous.

As for being "sorry"-- not so sorry you didn't LIE to the police about whether Frankie had ever seen Cora, and not so sorry you weren't willing to let her go to prision for 30 years.

12 hours ago, nikita said:

I took the last shot as the detective is now reevaluating whether he needs and deserves "punishment" for the things he felt were his fault (even though he knows they weren't), especially after Cora got some kind of absolution.

Huh.

I took it as a hopeful thing that he'd stop punishing himself with his unloving wife, and go back to his caring dominatrix. Seriously. Making a better choice.

And agree with all who say the parents are a huge gaping hole here. Supposedly mom did love Phoebe. Makes zero sense.

And what about the aunt? Didn't she notice Phoebe dying suddenly? No funeral?

And as predicted the attack pattern was a big red herring.

[slothgirl]

2 hours ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

I was laughing to myself about the possibilty that JD got a tick bite in the woods while helping Dr. Father with burying Phoebe. Then he developed Lyme disease. Divine almost justice!

They actually foreshadowed this plot point when the other detective refused to go searching the woods with Ambrose because he didn't want to catch Lyme disease. Since they told us JD had Lyme, we were supposed to be intrigued enough by this bizarre explanation of JD's limp to go "Ah HAH... maybe JD was in those woods!"

But I just didn't care enough to pay that close attention, and you can get Lyme pretty much anywhere up here in the Northeast

7 hours ago, candall said:

Not buying for a minute Cora's husband morphed into such a good guy--but I skipped Episode VII, so maybe he had an epiphany.  

When was he ever the bad guy? He seemed to support her through the whole ordeal except for not visiting her immediately after her arrest. Frankly, if my spouse went full on psycho-killer out of the blue and hacked someone to death in front of our kid, I think I'd take a time out too rather than go rushing off to the prison to visit!

 

16 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

That's what I am wondering! Like...why would they not initiate and pursue anything when two daughters didn't come home--I mean, unless they were resigned to the whole "oh, well, they just ran away to Florida" thing. But wouldn't they freak out about how the hell they girls would be able to pay for Phoebe's medical care? And did I miss something or did the cops just take the parents' word for it that Phoebe died shortly after Cora left? If the cops had been under the impression that the mom meant that Phoebe had somewhat expectedly died of natural causes, would they not at the very least verify it as SOP?

No s*#&. Worst detective work EVER. No one bothered to verify the family's story about the death of the sister, and as another posted mentioned... her doctors just accepted the idea that such a sick girl who had barely even ever left the house ran off and nobody cared? Mom was more interested in condeming them for being bad, and Dad was probably relieved to have them gone. You have to wonder why he even stayed with his wife once the girls left. Or why he stayed while they were there... if he didn't care enough about his daughters to override Mom's weirdness about looking for them, then why would he have stayed with such a crazy woman in the first place, cause it wouldn't have been for the kids. Or if he stayed for the girls, why did he stay once they were gone? Seriously... the whole story of the parents actions makes no sense even in the context of the mother being a whack-job.

[meep.meep]

Is the parents' motivation better described in the book?  Because having two children go missing overnight, one of them a critically ill patient on multiple medications, and not saying anything is really unusual.

 

I thought in one of the earlier episodes, JD's current girlfriend said something about him being in an accident, resulting in the limp.

[Auntie Anxiety]

So who was the blond at that house where JD got killed?