The Sinner Roundtable 1×04 “Part IV”

The tension is building.

It is not a stretch to say that Wednesday night’s episode of The Sinner was the most action packed episode of the series yet. Although the last three episodes of The Sinner were good, tonight’s episode blew them out of the water. In the series fourth episode, Cora’s (Jessica Biel) repressed memories started to actually come back. Opening with Mason (Christopher Abbott) being interviewed by Detective Ambrose (Bill Pullman), viewers immediately get to see exactly how Mason is doing  while Cora has been in jail. And well… it’s not pretty. Throughout the episode, Mason seems entirely convinced that J.D is the man who abused Cora and caused her to forget that night (the 4th of July).  He even goes as far as to telling the police he got inside information from his police friend, and even going to J.D’s house just to get evidence on him. Crazy, right?

While this is happening, Phoebe and Cora (Rileigh McDonald) are shown in flashbacks together again. It seems that flashbacks are going to continue to be consistently used on The Sinner, especially those of Cora as a young girl. While these flashbacks definitely helped us understand who Pheobe was as a character, it got a little confusing at times. The two were shown spying on their teenage neighbor and his girlfriend- too bad we don’t remember why. Later on, the two then sneak downstairs to watch porn on their laptop while their parents are sleeping. What? It turns out, this was a scheme by Phoebe to show Cora that their dad had been having an affair with the woman next door.

RELATED | THE SINNER ROUNDTABLE 1×02 “Part II”

The remainder of the episode seemed to revolve around Cora attempting to “release” her repressed memories of the 4th of July with the help of a special psychologist Ambrose hired. Here, Cora has strange memories of a school bus driving past her, Maddie, a woman who was apparently with Cora on that night (and who Cora seems to really hate), the woods, and the song she heard on the beach. We won’t spoil everything, but these flashbacks were pretty wild, considering we don’t know what is real and what is fake! The episode then ended with Ambrose discovering a body in the woods that Cora described to him while at the psychologist. Yes, a body. Whose body is it? We’ll have to wait another week to find out.

For now, let’s see what our roundtable thought of Wednesday’s episode. Please say hello to:

Sophia (@sophiarxcx) – Host, Student, TV enthusiast

Michelle (@gollegly) – Freelance blogger – Jessica Biel Central @jessicabielcom

Alana – Writer for UQ Music, tv fan

Patty (@pallyglen) – Book Fan, T.V Enthusiast

[wp_ad_camp_2]

1. Why was Mason so convinced that J.D abused Cora throughout the episode? We even saw Mason take things into his own hands to prove this: (i.e.; yelling at Detective Ambrose, visiting J.D’s house, getting illegal evidence).

Sophia (@sophiarxcx) – I’m almost positive that Mason had something to do with the way Cora is now. It may be a little obvious, but I think he’s been playing “dumb” since the start. Something is going on.

Michelle (@gollegly): I think Mason is trying to find answers about who Cora was before he met her. The person he witnessed do the crime isn’t who he married in his eyes. So he is grasping at straws trying to understand. But at the same time trying to find a way to get his wife home.

Alana: I’m not sure but Mason seems like a nice guy- I think he just wants to help his wife and nice past this situation.

Patty (@pallyglen): Mason is at his wit’s end. I feel Mason can never really believe that Cora, the mother of his son, did something so crazy unless someone was behind it. He wants to put blame on someone other than Cora and maybe himself too. He saw the signs that Cora may need help but just didn’t wanted to acknowledge them.   

[wp_ad_camp_2]

2. What are your thoughts on Phoebe? Based on the flashbacks, do you like her or do you think that she is a bad influence on Cora?

Sophia (@sophiarxcx): She’s annoying. I hate how Phoebe is the mastermind behind all these schemes and plans, but Cora gets punished for them. I am curious as to what happened in her.

Michelle (@gollegly): I think that Phoebe is the root of all Cora’s issues. In multiple ways she pushed Cora to grow up faster than she should have. I still do not blame her for that though. It stems from upbringing and the way the parents raised them.

Alana: Phoebe is just a kid from what we’ve seen so far, so I can’t put too much blame on her. I think she’s the root of Cora’s issues though.

Patty (@pallyglen): It may be crazy but I think Phoebe was the normal one in that house. And, she tried to sprinkle some of that to Cora. I can’t help myself of not liking Phoebe. She always makes me think, “Child what the heck?”, but she made Cora kinda normal in that house. She pushed Cora to do things and think things that, in all honesty, she probably would have never do.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

3. When Cora called Mason from jail, he told her: “I know how these guys (detectives) are. You can’t say anything to him, do you understand?”  Why do you think Mason didn’t want Cora to continue talking to Ambrose? It seems suspicious, doesn’t it?

Sophia (@sophiarxcx): Yeah, like I said earlier, Mason had seemed suspicious from the start. I think he was directly involved with Cora on the night of the 4th of July and that he wants to hide some part of the story.

Michelle (@gollegly): I think Mason wants to be the one to save Cora. He does not want someone else to get that recognition in Cora’s eyes. But something in the back of my mind still makes me leery of Mason. I’m not sure if he has more involvement or not. I’ve got my eye on him for sure.

Alana: I think Mason may be a little suspicious, but I don’t think he’s hiding anything serious. I think he’s scared.

Patty (@pallyglen): Yes, it totally does! I don’t know if he just doesn’t like Ambrose personally, but Mason definitely has a past. I hope to see much more of it. Since the mention of who he was in high school, there is more than meets the eye to Mason. You never know there can be some twisted, crazy connection to Mason and the two months that Cora’s doesn’t remember.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

4. Do you think Cora’s repressed memories from the night of July 3rd are real or imaginary?

Sophia (@sophiarxcx): I think they’re real. It makes sense now, especially on the last scene where Ambrose found the school bus Cora was remembering.

Michelle (@gollegly): I definitely believe they are real. The one memory that solidified that for me was of the school bus. She kept seeing a school bus, but not in the right context. Then we see Ambrose find the school bus near the woods with the water tower.  

Alana: They’re real. In the last 3 episodes, her memories seemed like dreams, but in Wednesday’s episode, I actually saw physical evidence that these events happened.

Patty (@pallyglen): Oh gosh, this is the hardest thing to believe or not. Even though her memories are seriously effed up, I choose to believe that it is real.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

5. What do you think is Maddie’s connection to Cora? It seems that the two have some bad blood between each other.

Sophia (@sophiarxcx: She was there on that night and something must have happened to her.

Michelle (@gollegly): To me it seems like Maddie and Cora have a bigger history than just JD. I think that Maddie comes from her youth and her families religious background. We see Cora’s dad going next door to the neighbors house and we learn that Maddie and JD are polyamorous. Could this be a theme? Was her dad the same way with her mom and the neighbor?

Alana: I don’t know of a connection, but Maddie seems to have been involved with J.D on the night they met Cora. I have a theory that may be she was abused like Cora by J.D.

Patty (@pallyglen): I feel Maddie was Cora’s first friend that she thought she needed in order to be more of a grown up. Maddie is the polar opposite of Cora, and Cora may have been seduced by that. I feel Cora soon realized she didn’t need her and started to despise her cause she got in the way to JD.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

6. Lastly, who do you think is behind the mask?

Sophia (@sophiarxcx):  I think it’s Cora’s dad. I don’t know, he just seems weird as hell and like something he would do.

Michelle (@gollegly): The creepy masked man. I have 2 theories on who this is. My first thought is there has to be a way to connect this to Frankie. He had to be killed for a reason that was not just a song. Perhaps he is the guy behind the mask, even if his parents said he was across country. He seemed to recognize Cora on the beach somehow. My 2nd thought is Mason. But, I’m not sure how. Maybe he was involved with this group but eventually got out. Then he decided to follow Cora to make sure she was ok, and eventually fell in love and  married her.

Alana: Maybe Frankie or “J.D,” put the mask on while doing something to Cora on that night. It’s creepy.

Patty (@pallyglen): Oh gosh, that masked man! I feel that masked man has a connection to her family. At first, I thought it JD, but that’s too easy. I think it’s a family member, like her mom’s black sheep brother that no one talks about.

[wp_ad_camp_2]

Final Verdict: It seems like Cora’s story is finally coming together.

Overall, we’d say that this week’s episode of The Sinner was its best yet. Writing, acting, plot- everything was clear and made sense (to an extent). We’ve made it to the halfway point, which means the remaining four episodes from now on should be packed with information. Finally. These last episodes have been a great buildup thus far, and we’re excited to see what happens next. What do we hope to see next week? Well, we’re hoping we find out who is behind that freaking mask! Also, whose body was in the woods the night Cora was there? We’ll be waiting at the edge of our seats for now. See you next week.

The Sinner returns next Wednesday, August 30th at 10/9C on USA.