S01.E01: Part 1

[Quilt Fairy]

Quote

After the June 2015 prison break from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY, Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell is questioned about her involvement with the two men. Months earlier, Tilly enjoys her job at the prison tailor shop, balancing the temptations of David Sweat, a younger inmate, and her obligations to her husband, Lyle. Richard Matt, an inmate with an artistic talent, supplies oil paintings to guards in exchange for special treatment. Ultimately, his attentions turn to Tilly. Limited series premiere.

[LoveLeigh]

I LOVED this episode. These actors are amazing. They actually physically transformed themselves in to the parts they play. 

I think Tillie totally believed they loved her. She certainly loved them. She probably couldn't wait to get to work every day. She will be out of prison soon.

However, I think there will always be a part of her that misses those guys and misses the time she worked at Clinton and had relations with them and allowed herself to be seduced by the whiff of strong masculinity and their "bad boy" demeanors. 

I honestly think at the end she got cold feet, but probably looks back with almost no regrets. I think it was an exciting time in her life. She never thought of the consequences and probably did not even care that it was a crime. 

Edited November 20, 2018 by DakotaLavender

[Joimiaroxeu]

Ten minutes in, I think Patricia Arquette might be a lock for another Emmy. She'll get a nomination at the very least. In fact, I think there will be Emmy noms all over this. It is excellent.

The accents Tilly and her husband have are interesting. They sound kind of like stereotypical  Minnesotans to me. Is that usual in upstate New York or did they move there from another state?

Why was Tilly so awed by the guy with the two women outside the ice cream shop?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Why was Tilly so awed by the guy with the two women outside the ice cream shop?

I had the same question. I hope an upcoming episode will make it clear what transpired in that scene. 

And agree the Patricia Arquette is crazy good in this. As is Bonnie Hunt. 

[CynicalGirl]

One of my first thoughts was about Arquette's Emmy too. I think she's a shoo-in. Voters will love how she dared to play such a dowdy, unattractive character. They always do. 

Also loved seeing Bonnie Hunt again. 

As for the story, I enjoyed the episode but found myself wondering how and why it would take seven episodes to tell this story. It's not like we don't know how it ends. Then I read some reviews and many mentioned the same thing, i.e., that five episodes would have been plenty. 

I'll give it another shot but not sure if I'm all in or not. 

eta: I think the ice cream shop scene was just to show how bored and unhappy she is in her life, and how she longs for some excitement, like to be one of those girls with the handsome stranger. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by CynicalGirl

[Guest]

1 hour ago, CynicalGirl said:

: I think the ice cream shop scene was just to show how bored and unhappy she is in her life, and how she longs for some excitement, like to be one of those girls with the handsome stranger. 

Yup. I think you're right. 

[sheetmoss]

14 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Ten minutes in, I think Patricia Arquette might be a lock for another Emmy. She'll get a nomination at the very least. In fact, I think there will be Emmy noms all over this. It is excellent.

The accents Tilly and her husband have are interesting. They sound kind of like stereotypical  Minnesotans to me. Is that usual in upstate New York or did they move there from another state?

Why was Tilly so awed by the guy with the two women outside the ice cream shop?

Wasn't the guy outside the bar  Benicio Del Toro's  prisoner character  and she was having a fantasy?

Isn't there an accent bad that goes across the northern US  that sounds like the  MN one

     I've also heard Canadians that sounded similar

Edited November 20, 2018 by sheetmoss

[EtheltoTillie]

I just love this.  I can't say enough good about it.  The production is amazing--how they re-created the inside of the prison--so oppressive.  The characters--all are flawed in some way, yet you want to see more.  Just a fantastic job.  As a true crime buff, I wouldn't miss this.

I guess they filmed the first episode in winter outside the real prison.  So creepy, how that building dominates the landscape, yet people seem to live right across the street.

II live in NYC and Sing Sing is nearby.  I've driven by it.  It's not quite as big but it has that same look.  But people don't live quite as close, since the prison is down near the Hudson River bank.

As for the accents, that was my one quibble also.  They did sound more like Minnesota accents, or maybe Chicago.  The upstate New York accent has some flat vowels too, but it's a little different. 

[Quilt Fairy]

After seeing what Patricia Arquette looks like IRL and having seen every episode of FaceOff, I can't help but wonder how much time she had to spend in the makeup chair every day and exactly what they did to  make her look like that.

They certainly got a good cast together for this series.

As to how they're going to stretch the story out to 7 hours, I'm not sure but there are two areas where they may do a "deep dive".  First, the way Matt and Sweat worked their way out of the prison is very complicated, interesting, and dramatic.  That night could be one episode all in itself.  Second, they (Bonnie Hunt's character, I assume) found an incredible amount of incompetence and both active and passive corruption at the prison.  If you re-watch this episode, take note of every place where Tilly and the inmates pass through check points.  There are a lot. 

Spoiler

And yet Tilly managed to smuggle hacksaw blades and other items into the prison and the inmates managed to get them to their cells.

That's a lot of people looking the other way.

[Armchair Critic]

"Who's my boy? Say it!"... "Mommy!". LOL at that sex scene.

[patty1h]

I thought the first episode was well acted and directed, though I could have lived with less sex scenes.  I liked the music choices and was pleasantly surprised to see one of my favorite actors (David Morse) in the cast.  The negative for me is Benicio Del Toro... that guy skeeves me out.  He always seems to play a dirty looking, mumbling, menacing lunk, and it's more of the same in EAD.   

[LoveLeigh]

6 hours ago, patty1h said:

I thought the first episode was well acted and directed, though I could have lived with less sex scenes.  I liked the music choices and was pleasantly surprised to see one of my favorite actors (David Morse) in the cast.  The negative for me is Benicio Del Toro... that guy skeeves me out.  He always seems to play a dirty looking, mumbling, menacing lunk, and it's more of the same in EAD.   

Are you aware of the true story? The sex scenes are the motivations for much of what happened. I think there will be plenty more. 

[EtheltoTillie]

7 hours ago, patty1h said:

I thought the first episode was well acted and directed, though I could have lived with less sex scenes.  I liked the music choices and was pleasantly surprised to see one of my favorite actors (David Morse) in the cast.  The negative for me is Benicio Del Toro... that guy skeeves me out.  He always seems to play a dirty looking, mumbling, menacing lunk, and it's more of the same in EAD.   

Here's a picture of the real Richard Matt.  Yikes.  Del Toro looks positively clean cut next to that.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matt

Richard Matt was also said to have a very large, er, member.  So there's that . . .  Yes that detail was salaciously retold all during the chase.

Edited November 21, 2018 by GussieK

[WaltersHair]

Quote

The negative for me is Benicio Del Toro... that guy skeeves me out

Yes, thank you.

I was hoping there would be a thread for this. Seven weeks though? I read one of the main books tied to the story and it took all of two long plane flights to finish.

Not usually a Patricia Arquette fan, but she's very good in this as is the emo kid from Little Miss Sunshine.

The cinematography definitely captures that far northern winter-bored claustrophobia. Over the years I've worked in upper Maine, northern Minnesota and other states and the accents do seem to be similar; a bit of the state mixed with a bit of Canadian.  I'm fairly sure the people in upstate New York aren't thrilled with the treatment they've gotten so far, however.

I hope the rest of the series is this good. I'm all the way in.

Edited November 21, 2018 by WaltersHair

[EtheltoTillie]

I will grant that Del Toro always seems a bit creepy. 

[tennisgurl]

Patricia Arquette is definitely looking at some major Emmy love coming up. She just comes across as so pathetic, and desperate for excitement, even if its giving into these "bod boy" prisoners she guards. I also love seeing Bonnie Hunt in this, its like a weird, super professional variation of her harried mom character. Except instead of kids, its government employees. I love her quiet professionalism, in the face of Tillys awkward desperation.

They're really nailing the claustrophobic vibes of a prison, especially in an eastern winter. Actually, with the snow, the prisoners, and the accents of Tilly and her husband, I almost feel like this is a new season of Fargo.

I also loved the 2014/2015 soundtrack. Really sets the mood, even as it was just a few years ago.

[Quilt Fairy]

I was just reading the Wiki article about the escape and it mentioned that Tilly earned $57K a year for her job as shop supervisor.

[LoveLeigh]

When Tillie is wistfully watching that man and those two women outside the bar (after she walks out of the movie in the museum) there is a haunting song playing very low in the background. It sounded like Helen Forest. Does anybody know what that song was? 

[theartandsound]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

When Tillie is wistfully watching that man and those two women outside the bar (after she walks out of the movie in the museum) there is a haunting song playing very low in the background. It sounded like Helen Forest. Does anybody know what that song was? 

According to TuneFind, it is "Better Days" by Graham Nash.

[LoveLeigh]

7 hours ago, theartandsound said:

According to TuneFind, it is "Better Days" by Graham Nash.

Thank you! I had seen that named at the song.... but in the scene it does not sound like that was the song. The music used for the scene at the bar has a much older sound to it and it is haunting, very similar to what played in the film "Carol" when Carol and Therese were riding through the tunnel. It sounded similar to this: song at 0:51.

Edited November 24, 2018 by DakotaLavender

[chrissybk]

On 11/19/2018 at 5:17 PM, GussieK said:

I just love this.  I can't say enough good about it.  The production is amazing--how they re-created the inside of the prison--so oppressive.  The characters--all are flawed in some way, yet you want to see more.  Just a fantastic job.  As a true crime buff, I wouldn't miss this.

I guess they filmed the first episode in winter outside the real prison.  So creepy, how that building dominates the landscape, yet people seem to live right across the street.

II live in NYC and Sing Sing is nearby.  I've driven by it.  It's not quite as big but it has that same look.  But people don't live quite as close, since the prison is down near the Hudson River bank.

As for the accents, that was my one quibble also.  They did sound more like Minnesota accents, or maybe Chicago.  The upstate New York accent has some flat vowels too, but it's a little different. 

They did a great job.

17 years ago I got married in this prison. The man I married was an inmate who also was on the "honor block". 

It was always strange to me, seeing that big white wall, smack in the middle of a little town.

Right across the street was a little bar called Ruth's Tavern. It seemed like the town was so small that the majority of jobs were in the prison. It really does dominate the area. 

*Edited to say, please, don't judge me, we all make stupid mistakes when we are young, lol. 

Edited November 26, 2018 by chrissybk
to explain my stupidity!

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, chrissybk said:

It seemed like the town was so small that the majority of jobs were in the prison. It really does dominate the area. 

I think that's fairly common.  People in better off areas don't want a prison in their "backyard", but smaller towns will vie for them because of all the jobs they bring.  So just like you have "mill towns" or "mine towns" you also have "prison towns".  As I stated earlier, Tilly apparently made $57K for her job as a shop supervisor.  That's damn good money anywhere. 

Quote

please, don't judge me, we all make stupid mistakes when we are young

Sounds like you're no longer attached to that mistake?

[chrissybk]

On 11/26/2018 at 1:20 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I think that's fairly common.  People in better off areas don't want a prison in their "backyard", but smaller towns will vie for them because of all the jobs they bring.  So just like you have "mill towns" or "mine towns" you also have "prison towns".  As I stated earlier, Tilly apparently made $57K for her job as a shop supervisor.  That's damn good money anywhere. 

Sounds like you're no longer attached to that mistake?

Yea, you're right. There was one corrections officer I remember there that used to supervise the visits. This was back around 2000. A female visitor said to him "I like you, you are one of the nice guys" and he replied "I get paid $50K a year to watch you kiss your boyfriend, why wouldn't I be nice?"

And no, we are no longer attached. We are still in contact occasionally but we divorced a few years after he was released from prison in 2008. 

[Milburn Stone]

Chalk up another viewer bothered by upper New York State people talking with Upper Midwest accents.

That said, I liked the episode and will watch the next one. But while we're on the subject of voices...Did anyone else have a harder time than usual understanding a lot of the dialogue? When actors were speaking "in the clear" (i.e., not buried by music), it wasn't too bad, even though a lot of them didn't enunciate. But when there was music, the sound mix buried the actors under it. Combined with casual enunciation, it demanded closed-captioning--which I resisted, because it's just ridiculous to force viewers to resort to that, when a proper sound mix is all that's required.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[roughing it]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 9:41 AM, Milburn Stone said:

Did anyone else have a harder time than usual understanding a lot of the dialogue?

Yes!  I turned up the volume to better hear the characters, but it only made the music louder.  I really hate that.

I grew up in upstate NY, and other than the word "car" and homonyms, there is no accent.

[corcollil3]

I love Patricia Arquette. I think she is an amazing actress and advocate. That being said, I'm offended by the accent they use. I only live a few hours from Dannemora. I was surprised that our accents could be so different, so I looked up interviews with Tilly and her husband, and they do not sound like that. The accent is way off. But they also portray them as simple backwoods folks. Is that their view of people from upstate New York? I hope she doesn't win an Emmy for stereotyping.

[millennium]

The music tracks are unnecessarily loud and overbearing.   I had to fight my urge to switch off during the first ten minutes as it went from the booming Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan Song That Never Ends to the boombox on Tilly's desk.   To make matters worse, there was dialogue running under the music, almost impossible to follow.

I think this first episode was meant to show that all the characters are in prison, whether incarcerated or not.

[Jadzia]

I'm just now starting this series and watched the first episode. I may have been tired, but I didn't really get what was happening when the guard pulled Benicio del Toro away and into that one room and then brought him back to his cell. Can anyone explain what happened there?

[Unclejosh]

Just started this and I can't believe Mr Tilly (Lyle) is Sikowitz!  Wow.

Edited January 1, 2019 by Unclejosh

[Cheezwiz]

For some reason I kept passing this show up, but a friend recommended it after it got awards attention, and now I'm hooked.

I never paid attention to the real-life case a few years ago, so it's all new to me! This is a great show with amazing actors - and yes, I can see why Patricia Arquette got lots of attention at awards season. She is unrecognizable, and is so great at portraying such a dim-witted, pitiful, needy character. The title of the show refers not just to the two prisoners, but her yearning to escape a dead-end life as well.

I understand why people find Benecio Del Toro a bit creepy - he's certainly not handsome in any conventional way, but he's a favourite of mine - he  brings a certain charisma and intelligence to his roles. I've always had a soft spot for him after seeing his performance as a decent conflicted character in "Traffic". Paul Dano is great (and underrated ) as well. And the guy playing Tilly's husband! Good GOD he genuinely looks like someone beat him over the head with an imbecile stick! (and no, the actor portraying Lyle looks nothing like him in real life).

Was also delighted to see Bonnie Hunt pop up in this! I just love her and haven't seen her in ages - where's she been?

Props to Ben Stiller (!?) on the directing. They really nailed everything: from the looks of the main characters, to choosing to film in the actual village of Dannemora. What an absolutely godforsaken place it looks like in winter! I didn't know where in New York it was situated, so I looked it up on Google maps. It really is the ass-end of nowhere. Much closer to Montreal Canada than any other city in NY state! 

[Medicine Crow]

I missed the first few episodes & they're re-airing the series tonight.  I wish "they" would delineate the episodes they're airing.  Shit!!!  I'm hoping that the episode I watched tonight was the first ... showing Bonnie Hunt going to the prison.

[roughing it]

12 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I'm hoping that the episode I watched tonight was the first ... showing Bonnie Hunt going to the prison.

I believe that is the first episode.

[Medicine Crow]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

I believe that is the first episode.

Thanks, that's what I thought.  I'm not sure how many I missed, but I recorded three episodes last night, so ...