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Harper's Island
They were so dumb to exile this show to Saturday nights--if they had given it a little longer, it would have found its audience, because it's really good.
Relationships
When I started watching this show, I wasn't interested in Henry and Trish's relationship at all, and I thought Abby's potential reunion with her old ex, Jimmy, was boring and formulaic. As of tonight, though, I'm officially shipping both couples. The flashbacks to Abby's past made Jimmy seem a lot more appealing to me (even if he is supposed to be a bad boy kind of like Wakefield--at least from Abby's parents' perspective), and he saved her life! And never even held it over her head. I like him a lot more now.
And I couldn't resist the idea that Trish and Henry have been it for each other since they were, what, six? That picture was adorable, and I really liked the fact that Abby's trying to help Trish not make the same mistakes she made. In fact, I loved all of the Trish-Abby bonding in this episode; it really felt like they connected over their shared experiences of loss, and I liked the fact (a) that they let Trish really grieve, since the deaths so far have felt almost cartoonish, so it was nice to see that they actually have a profound impact and (b) it set up all the flashbacks to Abby's past.
Backstory
It was fascinating to get so much backstory in this episode. I was wondering how they were going to slow things down, now that the murders were known, and this seemed like a good choice to me. I liked actually getting to see Sarah Mills, and finding out that she and Abby had similar tastes in men. And I'm intrigued that we're finally getting an explanation for the Wakefield murders; I had been under the impression, before this episode, that Wakefield had just been a random serial killer. How much more interesting it is to find out he was out for revenge on the sheriff.
And the identity of scar-face was revealed, and he isn't Wakefield--quite the opposite, really. This makes me wonder what his relationship with J.D. might be, though. I didn't ever think J.D. was the killer, but I do now wonder what he's up to, besides trouble-making.
The highlights of the backstory, though, were of course Abby's relationships with her mom and dad. I was pretty horrified to realize that Abby hadn't merely found her mom, but actually heard her being murdered. (I assume those were the screams she heard). I liked the little bits we got to see of their relationship before her death, though.
And wow, suddenly Charlie's decision to send Abby away makes a lot more sense, even if it did have a devastating impact on their relationship. My heart was breaking for Charlie in some of those confrontation scenes (though not, perhaps, in the one where he suggested Sarah might have brought her death on herself). But I really am a sucker for the whole "I'll let you hate me as long as it keeps you safe" plots.
I also thought it was interesting that Charlie was set up as the passionless good guy Sarah chose for safety's sake after fleeing from Wakefield, because Charlie clearly is not passionless, if he organized his deputies to beat down Wakefield and then had him sent to prison for resisting them. And while I don't approve, I like the complexity it brings to his character.
The obligatory murder
I was actually glad it was Malcolm, because it continues to muddy the waters: is the same murderer killing everyone, or was this one of his buddies getting revenge for their friend's death? Also, frankly, his is the only death so far (other than Trish's ex) that didn't upset me; I kind of agree with his friends' disgust that he left his buddy's body out in the woods so he could keep the money. (And if he hadn't climbed on the boat in the first place to get the money, his friend would never have died).
The future
I couldn't believe they'd actually kill off Madison, so I was happy to see the previews for next week. Kidnapping Madison is a genius way to keep everyone on the island, and I was wondering how they were going to manage that logistically, considering they have 6 more episodes to go.
I haven't really been playing the "guess the murderer" game very much so far--I've talked to a couple people about theories (e.g. it's Abby or her dad, just because they seem least likely), but tonight's episode is making me think it's Henry, just because he was present at so many of the key events (including Wakefield bombing the pier), and also because something about his self-blame over the J.D. situation struck me as false.
But I'm far from wedded to this theory.
Relationships
When I started watching this show, I wasn't interested in Henry and Trish's relationship at all, and I thought Abby's potential reunion with her old ex, Jimmy, was boring and formulaic. As of tonight, though, I'm officially shipping both couples. The flashbacks to Abby's past made Jimmy seem a lot more appealing to me (even if he is supposed to be a bad boy kind of like Wakefield--at least from Abby's parents' perspective), and he saved her life! And never even held it over her head. I like him a lot more now.
And I couldn't resist the idea that Trish and Henry have been it for each other since they were, what, six? That picture was adorable, and I really liked the fact that Abby's trying to help Trish not make the same mistakes she made. In fact, I loved all of the Trish-Abby bonding in this episode; it really felt like they connected over their shared experiences of loss, and I liked the fact (a) that they let Trish really grieve, since the deaths so far have felt almost cartoonish, so it was nice to see that they actually have a profound impact and (b) it set up all the flashbacks to Abby's past.
Backstory
It was fascinating to get so much backstory in this episode. I was wondering how they were going to slow things down, now that the murders were known, and this seemed like a good choice to me. I liked actually getting to see Sarah Mills, and finding out that she and Abby had similar tastes in men. And I'm intrigued that we're finally getting an explanation for the Wakefield murders; I had been under the impression, before this episode, that Wakefield had just been a random serial killer. How much more interesting it is to find out he was out for revenge on the sheriff.
And the identity of scar-face was revealed, and he isn't Wakefield--quite the opposite, really. This makes me wonder what his relationship with J.D. might be, though. I didn't ever think J.D. was the killer, but I do now wonder what he's up to, besides trouble-making.
The highlights of the backstory, though, were of course Abby's relationships with her mom and dad. I was pretty horrified to realize that Abby hadn't merely found her mom, but actually heard her being murdered. (I assume those were the screams she heard). I liked the little bits we got to see of their relationship before her death, though.
And wow, suddenly Charlie's decision to send Abby away makes a lot more sense, even if it did have a devastating impact on their relationship. My heart was breaking for Charlie in some of those confrontation scenes (though not, perhaps, in the one where he suggested Sarah might have brought her death on herself). But I really am a sucker for the whole "I'll let you hate me as long as it keeps you safe" plots.
I also thought it was interesting that Charlie was set up as the passionless good guy Sarah chose for safety's sake after fleeing from Wakefield, because Charlie clearly is not passionless, if he organized his deputies to beat down Wakefield and then had him sent to prison for resisting them. And while I don't approve, I like the complexity it brings to his character.
The obligatory murder
I was actually glad it was Malcolm, because it continues to muddy the waters: is the same murderer killing everyone, or was this one of his buddies getting revenge for their friend's death? Also, frankly, his is the only death so far (other than Trish's ex) that didn't upset me; I kind of agree with his friends' disgust that he left his buddy's body out in the woods so he could keep the money. (And if he hadn't climbed on the boat in the first place to get the money, his friend would never have died).
The future
I couldn't believe they'd actually kill off Madison, so I was happy to see the previews for next week. Kidnapping Madison is a genius way to keep everyone on the island, and I was wondering how they were going to manage that logistically, considering they have 6 more episodes to go.
I haven't really been playing the "guess the murderer" game very much so far--I've talked to a couple people about theories (e.g. it's Abby or her dad, just because they seem least likely), but tonight's episode is making me think it's Henry, just because he was present at so many of the key events (including Wakefield bombing the pier), and also because something about his self-blame over the J.D. situation struck me as false.
But I'm far from wedded to this theory.
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I agree with pretty much everything else you said. And, ooh, Henry as killer sounds awesome. Although I'm still wondering if it's Wakefield, and he's back to chip away at things until he isolates Abby and/or Charlie and then tries to kill them. (Also, was I the only one thinking through that whole thing that maybe Abby's actually Wakefield's biological daughter? That would be an excellent twist.)
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I was just commenting on starry_dawn's review that I'm wondering now if Wakefield actually did all the original killings. It's possible he blew up the dock but had an accomplice for the actually killings, or something--because I can't think of why else they wouldn't show his face, unless of course CKR is too expensive.
It didn't occur to me at all about Abby potentially being Wakefield's daughter, but that would be an excellent twist. (It would almost certainly mean Charlie is going to die, though, which would suck. Though he's probably going to die anyway. My problem now is that I'm starting to get attached to people enough not to want them to die, and we know there have to be at least 5 more deaths!)
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Not showing Wakefield - I had the CKR is too expensive thought too, and I wondered if it was because Abby never really saw his face. That seems unlikely, but possible.
I would love it if that's the biggest twist!
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Did Wakefield kill his parents, btw? Do we know, canonically, how they died? I can't remember.
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I don't think they've mentioned Wakefield's parents thus far, so I have no clue how his parents died. Why? What do you suspect?
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