Sharp Objects

[Babycakes]

I'll try to fill in some blanks:

Aug 27, 2018 0:24:26 GMT -4 kostgard said:

Like, did Alan get in trouble for so obviously knowing what was going on? They at least made it known that Vickery and Adora have had an affair and Alan knew about it.

Book Alan was completely clueless and stood by Adora's side. He sold the house (I think), and moved closer to the jail to be near her. He apparently never had any clue about Adora poisoning any of the girls. There was no affair with Vickery.

Adora was in prison for killing Natalie and Ann, but was she also in prison for clearly trying to straight-up murder Camille? (and slowly poisoning Amma for her MBP situation. And she was giving them antifreeze and rat poison? Damn, Adora). Did Camille or Amma have to testify against her?

I think she was only in jail for the MBP of Marian, and trying to poison Camille. I don't remember if either Camille or Amma testified. She was suspected of killing the girls because they wouldn't allow Adora to tame them/make them more "girlie".

But now to my major question - in the mid-credits flash, it appears that Amma had help with her murders. You can see her roller-friends holding the girls down while Amma murders them. Um, they didn’t address that Wind Gap still has little murderers rolling around? Is it addressed in the book? Was Ashley part of that group? Is that how she got the bite on her ear - one of the murder victims bit her in self-defense? And does that mean she knew John was innocent when she pointed the finger at him?

We understand why Amma is a monster. But why are her friends cool with helping her murder people? Is she really that persuasive? I really wish they had addressed that.

Okay. Book Amma was much more pyscho. I mean, super creepy and amoral. She went to the hog farm and butchered pigs in her spare time. She was the head mean-girl in town. She did anything she wanted. She bullied adults, teens, just about everyone she came across. She bullied her two best friends all the time. There were minor cracks towards the end of the book. I believe "Jodes", the one that wasn't Ashley's sister wanted to come forward, but Amma threatened to kill her too. They were exposed in the end, and confessed that they only helped cover up, but never actually participated in the killings. Ashley was a clueless wanna be/famewhore. She let her sister and her sisters friends run wild. She was with John to try and get famous.

Book Amma taunted John, and he suspected her the whole time. Book Natalie and Ann were outcasts. They'd both had violent run-ins with people in the past. Natalie was a biter. She had bitten Ashley for being a bitch to her brother, and for trying to come in between their relationship. She bit Adora for trying to paint her nails. I know the bite mark on Adora's arm was one of the clues that she was the killer. Camille saw a bite mark on Amma's thigh in the tub when they were in St. Louis, and that's when everything started to unravel.

Camille saw the bite. The St. Louis friend was found wedged behind a dumpster in an alley. I can't remember if all her teeth pulled too, but some of her hair was used for a rug in the dollhouse. Camille turned in Amma, lost the last semblance of hope she had, and proceeded to destroy the last unmarked portion of her body. After being hospitalized, she moved in with Curry and his wife, and they tried to put her back together.

ETA: Two more missing clues.

1. It was obvious, once everything was said and done, that the 3 girls were always hanging out, not afraid of being killed, because they were the killers. All of Wind Gaps kids were kept home, and their parents were terrified to let them out. Amma, Jodes, and Kelsey ran around town freely because they knew there was no killer.

2. They only showed it once in the series, but Amma's golf cart was used to transport the body after the murder. She didn't skate in the book, but went all over town in that thing.

[kostgard]

I’d feel better if maybe during that last flashback we saw Amma threatening one of the other girls. It would go a long way to explain things for me. Though...yeah. None of them seemed afraid after the murders. That tipped me off on Amma, because her confidence seemed more than just “I’m a teen and I think I’m indestructible” and I thought her friends were following her lead. I’d buy their blasé behavior from that more than the idea that none of them were sweating the murders they committed. With reporters and out of town cops coming in, you’d think one of them would get nervous.

I don’t know why they added the affair with Vickery and the paternity test, other than to maybe give an excuse to maybe why Vickery might be reluctant to look at Amma or Adora when otherwise he might have.

The golf cart makes sense for moving the body. I was like, “Did those girls just roller skate the body over to the alley?”

[Ginger]

Aug 27, 2018 0:36:03 GMT -4 Martini Girl said:

Producers said they always knew they'd end with the reveal that Amma was the killer. I feel in the book, the last 50 pages were devoted to the reveal that both Adora and Amma were monsters. If memory serves, there was no resolution about Amma's helpers in the book. It focused on Camille's revelation that her sister was evil incarnate.

I swear, the book was so much better.

I disagree with all of the above. I really disliked the book, largely because of the ending, and that's why I haven't watched the series, but am not surprised that people are really unhappy with the ending to the series.

In the book, I thought the ending (Adora is a Munchausen by Proxy killer but - twist! - Amma is a killer too) was obvious about halfway through the book and was not particularly clever. IIRC, the Amma reveal came in the final pages of the book as well. You were supposed to feel like the ending was going to be Camille and Amma living happily ever after and then get hit with the twist. Except it was always obvious that there was going to be more to it the ending than just Adora being the evil person she clearly was all the way through the book.

I like Gillian Flynn but the endings to her first two books were both terrible.

[scarlet]

Aug 27, 2018 10:32:22 GMT -4 Ginger said:

I disagree with all of the above. I really disliked the book, largely because of the ending, and that's why I haven't watched the series, but am not surprised that people are really unhappy with the ending to the series.

In the book, I thought the ending (Adora is a Munchausen by Proxy killer but - twist! - Amma is a killer too) was obvious about halfway through the book and was not particularly clever. IIRC, the Amma reveal came in the final pages of the book as well. You were supposed to feel like the ending was going to be Camille and Amma living happily ever after and then get hit with the twist. Except it was always obvious that there was going to be more to it the ending than just Adora being the evil person she clearly was all the way through the book.

I like Gillian Flynn but the endings to her first two books were both terrible.

Yeah, I'm rereading the book and liking it a bit better than when I first read it (more as a psychological study, I guess, than a mystery), but the ending was wrapped up really fast. The only difference being in the book Camilla turned Amma in, had a huge cutting incident, and then ended up living and being cared for my her boss and his wife. But all that happened really, really fast. Maybe the movie would've been better served if that last bit had been included, IDK.

That said, I thought Amy Adams was fantastic. But I'm a huge AA fangirl, so that could be influencing my judgment.

[bitca]

I feel like the series could have been cut in half if they would have left out all of Camille's fucking driving. Christ on sale. "Oh. We're in the goddamned car again."

Did they ever explain how blood got under the bed? I can't remember and that was such a "What the fuck?" incident.

Also, Amma AND Camille both kept taking the shit Adora gave them? WHY?! Camille especially. She knew SOMETHING happened with Marian and still was like, "Fuck me up, fam!" to Adora.

And, dammit, Aunt Jackie! The whole reveal that she KNEW and was so blase about it all made it very uneventful and unsatisfying.

Echoing all of the "How is Adora so untouchable?!" I realize they're a wealthy family, the wealthiest in town?, but STILL. And what was HER end game? One dead daughter from long ago and then the remaining two die at the same time?!

I enjoyed the series a lot, but damn if it didn't make me mad. 😂

[CyberCathy]

Camillle willingly took the drugs to get enough for the toxicology reports.

[kostgard]

Sept 3, 2018 1:52:37 GMT -4 bitca said:

Did they ever explain how blood got under the bed? I can't remember and that was such a "What the fuck?" incident.

It was in the mid-credits flashbacks in the final episode - you see that is where Amma and her roller-accomplices murdered Natalie. I guess it makes sense since one of the roller-accomplices was Ashley’s sister and the blood was in their carriage house.

I don’t think the show ever explained who bit Ashley’s ear, though. I learned the answer to that here.

[bitca]

Sept 3, 2018 4:40:24 GMT -4 kostgard said:

It was in the mid-credits flashbacks in the final episode - you see that is where Amma and her roller-accomplices murdered Natalie. I guess it makes sense since one of the roller-accomplices was Ashley’s sister and the blood was in their carriage house.

I don’t think the show ever explained who bit Ashley’s ear, though. I learned the answer to that here.

OHHH. Thanks. I couldn't even tell where the hell they were in that flashback.

And thanks, CyberCathy! I pretty much multitask when I watch TV. I tried to not with this one, but I must have missed that part.

I, unfortunately, remembered that Amma was the murderer from when I read the book, so I was chuckling when she was sweaty and out of it "Persephone."

[prisma]

I just got to watch the finale and was a little let down. I still enjoyed the series, but I felt Big Little Lies did a better job at pacing.

I have a few questions that a book reader could answer:

• About how old is Camille? At the beginning of the series, she doesn't recognize Amma when she first runs into her, which makes it seem like she has been gone for all of Amma's life, which would be around 14 years, right? Did she have zero contact with her family?
• When was the mental hospital incident with the toilet screw following the roommate's suicide? Stylistically, it seemed like it was happening in the present, but I realize it had to have been in the past. But if it took place in Wind Gap, wouldn't it been during Amma's lifetime? I was confused by this.
• What exactly was Camille's relationship with her editor? It seemed like he and his wife were surrogate parents to her but since Camille kept everyone at a distance, I can't see how that type of relationship (with a boss, no less) could develop.

I watched the wrap-up clip that followed the finale and was shocked that the actress playing Amma wasn't American. She did a great job.

[Deleted]

IIRC, she was maybe 32 or so in the book. Adora had her as a teenager (mystery dad) and later married Alan. I remember thinking the age gap was a bit much when I read the book, but thinking on it now, once Marian died and Camille refused to be a "good" daughter, it makes sense Adore felt the need to have another baby. Plus anyway, Camille was growing up and wasn't going to stick around.

I don't think the roommate's suicide was in the book (maybe Gillian Flynn had it in mind or it was edited out).

In the book, her boss was more of a mentor. He and his wife didn't become surrogate parents until the aftermath and the very end of the book.