Review of 'The Sinner' Season 4
The Festering Seaside
The Sinner starring Bill Pullman as Harry Ambrose came to a hard end earlier this month -- hard in terms of it was not only the end of the season but the series (unless another enlightened network or streaming service picks it up), and hard in terms of everything is difficult for Harry, as he tries to navigate his life through the murders and mayhem he's always prone to investigate.
Harry is really a detective like no other. Plagued with his own problems, including his masochistic taste in sex, utterly devoted to his investigations, to seeking the truth, with or without a badge, no villain or pervert wants Harry on his or her case. But each investigation, even though it results in the truth at last revealed, takes its toll on Harry.
At the beginning of the fourth season, Harry is so distraught he's on the verge of taking his own life. What saves him is witnessing a suicide, as Percy, a young woman whom Harry has briefly established a connection with as some kind of kindred sufferer, jumps off a cliff, literally, before Harry's horrified eyes. He cannot help but be drawn into an investigation of why that happened, even though it's not a murder. His investigation uncovers all sorts of underbellies of life, in a sleepy seaside town in Maine festering with crime, resentment, dysfunctional families, and touches of depravity. Fans of Hightown or any place along the East Coast north of New York will recognize the environment.
Harry finds some peace in the end in working through the labyrinth to finally understand why Percy jumped. But he doesn't yet have much peace in his soul, and this means there's ample opportunity for future stories in the world of The Sinner, Harry's world. I hope we can see them sooner rather than later. But Harry is such a timeless character, and Pullman brings him to life so well, that I'd be up for seeing more of Harry any time that's on a screen.
About the Creator
Paul Levinson
Novels The Silk Code, The Plot To Save Socrates, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles; LPs Twice Upon A Rhyme & Welcome Up; nonfiction The Soft Edge & Digital McLuhan, translated into 15 languages. Prof, Fordham Univ.
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