Sharp Objects Review: Falling (Season 1 Episode 7)

On Sharp Objects Season 1 Episode 7, “Falling,” the answers to the series’ ongoing mysteries start to fall into place at a breakneck speed. Detective Willis makes some disturbing discoveries about Marian and Amma, while Camille continues to unravel

It’s been an agonizingly slow journey to get here on Sharp Objects, but at last we now know Adora’s definitely not winning any Mother of the Year awards. The scariest part isn’t even that Adora poisons her own children to get attention, it’s that her behavior is the worst kept secret in Wind Gap.

There’s been this ongoing antagonistic relationship between Jackie and Vickery, and the origin of the animosity is Adora. Jackie’s been hinting all along she knows more about everything going on, but she chooses to sit back and watch other people figure it out.

There’s the implication the Sheriff has, at some point, engaged in an intimate relationship with Adora, and because of this, he’s turned a blind eye to her more disturbing behaviors. It’s difficult to be sure at this point because when Vickery learns Amma is sick, it appears to set off alarm bells.

This entire time on Sharp Objects, Amma has shown no signs of having any health problems. On “Falling,” her vast medical history paints a picture of a girl who has been in and out of the hospital for most of her life — a fact that would be common knowledge in a town like Wind Gap.

It would also raise more than a few eyebrows given what happened to Marian. How could this completely escape Vickery’s attention? At the crux of Adora’s mental health issues is her need for attention, so keeping Amma’s ailments quiet flies in the face of her condition.

Why are viewers just learning out about this now? Because placing emphasis on Adora’s ongoing nursing of a hung over Amma would likely have clued us in on what Adora’s been up to.

Camille begins to grow suspicious when Amma mentions the best part of getting wasted is having her mama take care of her afterwards. Suddenly, Camille begins having flashbacks of Adora trying nurse her, but Camille refuses Adora’s toxic home remedies and her mother’s attention.

Obviously, this is the real reason Adora doesn’t love her daughter. Camille always fights back.

It’s feasible Jackie and the nurse would have trouble proving their suspicions. People get sick all the time with invisible illnesses that can be difficult to diagnose and impossible to treat, but are we supposed to believe they couldn’t go to someone higher up in the law enforcement food chain?

What about the doctors? What about toxicology reports? The real crime is the complacency that allowed Adora to slowly and systematically torture and kill Marian. A complacency that continues. A town outraged only to the point where it looks good or it’s convenient to be mortified.

The Inhabitants of Wind Gap stands idly by and let little girls get hurt, damaged, and killed.

And what is going on with Alan on “Falling”? He sits downstairs — looking distraught — as his wife “dotes” on Amma. There aren’t many ways to misinterpret his behavior. He knows, or at least strongly suspects, exactly what’s happening under his own roof.

Detective Willis figures out at least part of Camille’s dysfunctional family history, but after discovering her with Keene, he calls Camille’s a “slut” and a “drunk” with a sad story. He knows it goes so much deeper, and, yet, he resorts to this misogynistic behavior.

Then he just dumps part of the files into Camille’s car, leaving her to deal with this truly horrifying revelation. Who is the cop here?

Maybe this doesn’t fall under his jurisdiction — a decades-old murder mystery — but he’s supposed to be investigating dead girls, and Marian just falls into his lap.

Clues come fast and furious: Ann and Natalie were difficult girls, Adora had a keen interest in both (seeing a bit of Camille in them, no doubt), there were physical altercations, and the identity of the “Woman in White” is coming into focus.

Is Adora and her proclivity towards metaphorically eating her young a detour, or is Sharp Objects careening down the right road, and we just need to hold tight, strap in, and wait for the inevitable collision? Will dreams finally disentangle themselves from reality only to turn into a nightmare?

It just would have been nice if all of this had been spread out over the course of the show as opposed to cramming it into the final two episodes.

What did you think of this episode of Sharp Objects? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Sharp Objects airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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