Sharp Objects: Episode 4 "Ripe"

by Murtada

I was excited for this episode of Sharp Objects as it was billed as "Camille and Richard finally go on a date." They sort of did, in the Sharp Objects way by visiting Wind Gap murder scenes. But the episode also gave us a glimpse into Adora and Alan’s marriage and a memory involving Alan and Camille. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the latter two characters have any meaningful interactions before last night.

At the end of last week’s episode we saw Camille fleeing Wind Gap after her confrontation with Amma. However this time we start with her changing her mind and coming back. Images of dead girls fill the screen, we get it Jean Marc Vallèe, that's why she’s coming back. The constant cutting between now and the Camille's memories feels played out to me despite the story's dependence on memory. It was fresh and exciting when we first saw it 4 years ago in Wild (2014). Get some new tools, Vallèe!!

I’ve decided to let go of trying to look for clues to the mystery of the killer and just enjoy the performances and the eerie atmosphere that the series built.

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Harlots (S2:E3-4) Raging and Conspiring in the Pleasure Gardens

by Nathaniel R

Episode 3 
Official Synopsis: "Margaret must focus on business but a visit to the Pleasure Gardens leads to an unexpected confrontation. Charlotte tries to secure a powerful ally and gain Margaret's approval, while Lucy falls under Fallon's spell."
Minor Characters Rising: Noah Webster (Eric Kofi-Abrefa)... the tavern Mr. North frequents and Emily & Charlie's new brothel offer intriguing new possibilities for the show.
Our Take:What an episode! Every character is in play, and all of them are brought together under one roof (not literally - it's the first episode that takes place mostly outdoors!). On the surface it's all eye candy, flirtations, and the business of "pleasure". But the complicated and dangerously flimsy interior construction is built from personal intrigue and conflicted emotions and it might not be able to withstand all these dangerous games...

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Sharp Objects: Episode 3 "Fix"

Previously: Episode 2 "Dirt"

by Ilich Mejía

In this week's installment of Let's Obscure Patricia Clarkson's Face To Visually Storytell, we barely get to make out Patty's moneymaker. In all fairness, while obscured, Patricia's unreasonable Adora still gets to crush common sense with pastels and Southern charm in front of characters outside her own family this week. Out of a familial context, her obsession with perception is amplified to a chilling perversity as she willfully obstructs her daughter Camille's attempts at finding the murderer of two young girls because *gasp* what will people say! We see how even at home, protected from the scrutiny of people outside of her circle, she prioritizes presentation: heels with nightgowns before bed, suede sandals while gardening, a maid never seen without her uniform. She’s no different with less familiar acquaintances, winning over the local police chief and the grieving father with her facetious attention and sweetened coffee...

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Blueprints: Emmy Nominees for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

Jorge has been taking a look at the Emmy history for this year’s writing nominees. 

Let’s take a look at the four shows that made up the six nominees for Writing in a Comedy Series, the only writing category this year in which there were repeat nominations for the same show. Remember that, just as in the Directing categories, individual episodes are honored rather than overall series. For the fifth year in a row network shows were entirely shut out of the comedy writing category. (In fact network television was shut out of all three narrative writing category this year, only showing up in "Variety/Special"). Two newcomer shows and two established favorites got the comedy nominations; none of the shows have ever won for their writing.

Let's see the elevator pitches and the stats (we love a good round of statistics) after the jump... 

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Sharp Objects: Episode 2 "Dirt"

Previously: Episode 1 "Vanish"

Go report somewhere else. Let these people be"

by Nathaniel R

Team Experience has decided to pass the baton each week on Sharp Objects for different perspectives / takes on the show. Two episodes in I think that seems fitting. While the show is focused on one woman's perspective, albeit not in a first-person narrative way, its shard-like editing is disorientingly multiple in feeling, as if Camille (Amy Adams) can't shake any of her past selves but also can't just be in any moment with herself. The communal self, the incestuously local population of depressed sweaty Wind Gap, Missouri, isn't any easier for her.

The second episode "Dirt" revolves around the funeral of Natalie Keene, a young girl murdered by an unknown killer. Detective Willis (from Kansas City... and our dreams) fears it's a serial situation given a similar early crime in Wind Gap. Willis and Camille do their own individual digging while Adora (Patricia Clarkson) continually bristles at her daughter Camille's reporting...

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