Varun Patel
‘The Sinner’ season 3 has done well to remain fresh by doing things slightly differently. It begins with presenting a crime with a relatively low level of involvement from Bomer’s character, Jamie. However, by the end of the fourth episode, Jamie is shown to have possibly committed a murder. Hence, currently, the show’s plot has reached a point where viewers would find it difficult to gauge which direction the narrative would advance towards. Of course, that is a good thing since it keeps the suspense going and makes the series less predictable. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Sinner Season 3 Episode 5 Recap
The fifth episode of the season kicks off with Jamie dumping a bloody stone and his blood-stained clothes into a trash bag. He then dumps the bag into a water body. In a flashback scene, Jamie recalls going to Sophie’s house after Ambrose fell asleep in the car outside his (Jamie’s) house. Jamie recalls speaking to the psychic after going back.
Ambrose calls Jamie and the two meet. The former offers to have Jamie’s sentence reduced if he confesses to the crime. Ambrose then goes to meet Sonya. Sonya figures out that he and Jamie were together and went to Sophie’s party.
An NYPD detective, Jones visits Jamie at the school. After a few preliminary questions, she asks for his DNA sample. Sonya meets Leela at her shop. Detective Jones meets Ambrose. Ambrose shows her CCTV evidence of Jamie getting out of his house at night. Then, he asks her to speed up the investigation.
Leela confronts Jamie about Sonya having visited her. She tells him that Sonya told her about the grave and Sophie’s party. She asks Jamie to move out as she feels unsafe around him.
Sonya goes to Ambrose’s house and tells him about her having met Leela. Then, the two share a kiss. Jamie’s superior at school wants Jamie to take a leave for two months after which a decision to keep him or not will be made. However, Jamie refuses to leave his job and storms out.
Detective Jones visits the Dorchester police station where she questions Jamie. She shows Jamie footage of him leaving his house at night and evidence of him holding the trash bag. Jamie tells her that he had gone to school late at night for some extra work. The detective does not buy that and thinks that Jamie should confess. Jamie tells her that he will be hiring a lawyer.
Detective Jones asks Ambrose about the night. She asks him why he called Jamie after that night and accuses him of playing both sides. She tells him that she does not have enough evidence to frame Jamie. Ambrose storms out of the cabin. Detective Jones and Ambrose have a heated confrontation after that which is only broken by Ambrose’s superior.
Flashback: the psychic tells Jamie about facing death and then abruptly stops speaking. Jamie urges him to continue but he refuses since it is too messed up. In a fit, Jamie attacks the psychic with a stone and kills him.
Ambrose is spending time with his grandson. Then, while he is away, he notices Jamie talking to his grandson outside their house. Ambrose asks Jamie to stay away from his family. Jamie tells Ambrose that he has nowhere to go to. Ambrose puts his foot down to tell him to stay away. When Jamie calls out to Ambrose’s grandson, Ambrose chokes him and roughs him up. Jamie does not have a choice but to leave. He tells Ambrose that he will be seeing him again.
The Sinner Season 3 Episode 5 Review:
The fifth episode of the third season basically depicts the aftermath of the murder committed in the fourth episode. For an episode dealing with after effects, the writers have done quite a good job at making it engaging. Moreover, the episode also proves the fact that Jamie did murder the psychic and showcases how he did that. This way, it puts all speculations to rest.
However, that leaves one to wonder what direction the show would be heading to. The reasoning behind the first and the second murders have pretty much been cleared up. In all probability, the rest of the season will further shed light on Jamie’s psyche. Although, that has already been tackled in great depth. Plus, the investigation into the second murder also seems to be fairly straightforward.
Will Jamie commit another crime? Will the case affect Ambrose’s career? It has already started to bear a negative effect on it. Detective Jones proves to be a great addition to the season’s characters. By taking such an unpredictable route however, the third season of ‘The Sinner’ has proven to be fresh. It has managed to aptly cement its ability to stand on its own footing, devoid of the success of the show’s previous seasons. Moreover, it has persisted the series’ aversion to being typecast with a dissimilar narrative structure.
Read More: ‘The Sinner’ Season 3 Episode 3 Explained
