What a way to start off a miniseries. I'm glad it's HBO and not Netflix. I couldn't binge this show in one sitting. It's too dark and intense so having it spaced out per week gives me time to breathe properly. Plus, I love the anticipation of waiting to find out what happens next. Although, I have a slight idea of what's going to happen next because I did the read the book. The book is written by Gillian Flynn who wrote the New York Times Bestseller "Gone Girl". It's only the first episode and I am already very pleased with the outcome. The episode opens with a flashback with two girls skating then having to sneak back in their house to avoid their mother. Both girls go up to their room which then brilliantly cuts into an apartment room with present day of the main character sleeping. One of the two girls is about to cut the present day character's hand until she wakes up. We realize it was a dark dream. We see Amy Adams play an alcoholic who clearly has personal issues she needs fixing. The character we are being introduced to is Camille Preaker and she couldn't look more like a mess. Fresh from a stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille is faced with a triggering assignment. She has to go back to her hometown of Wind Gap in Missouri and cover the murders of two preteen girls. Now the episode clearly sets up the town of Wind Gap as a washed out, small, and gossipy place. For Camille, there are demons she has to confront in her hometown. She has a dysfunctional relationship with her neurotic mother, Adora, and barely knows her half-sister, Amma, who acts one way at home and another with her friends. Camille had a sister whom she loved dearly named Marian who died at a young age. The book is very brief about Marian but it looks like they will develop it more in the series. Marian will be part of that one thing that haunts Camille when going back home. Now, in present day, Camille has to deal with two dead girls who were brutally murdered. Who knew that going back home would be so traumatic and scarring.
There are little things in the episode that caught my attention. Especially with its direction from the amazing "Big Little Lies" director, Jean-Marc Vallee. There were brief flashbacks from Camille's past that's causing Camille to either hallucinate or just being drunk. There's a moment when Camille lifts the trunk of the car and when she closes it, the word 'dirt' suddenly appears. However, the next morning driving back to her mother's house, the word 'dirty' appears on the exact same spot. I am wondering if that's a editorial goof or it's supposed to trick up the audience. I'm pretty sure it's a trick because if it isn't, then that would mean the show has a lot of editorial goofs. Camille, not only has a drinking problem but has a serious issue of cutting. When we get a glimpse of Camille's apartment table, there are a lot of words carved out. However, the most disturbing part of the episode, show there are carved out words all over her body. It's at the end when she is getting ready to take a bath and you see her body filled with words and marks. It's a gruesome look at self harm. Now I'm starting to realize that even in the dead heat of the summer in Missouri, Camille refuses to wear nothing but layers to cover the words up. There was a part I don't remember in the book which is Adora, whenever she is anxious, starts to pull out her eyelashes. I may have missed that in the book but I do think it adds a nice touch to how neurotic she is. There are many other little eggs of clues but listing them all would be too long. Just knowing that the feel of this show is very dark and eerie sums up this and all future episodes.
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Amy Adams is exceptional. Just within the first few minutes, Adams has already inhabited this complicated role and we can't help but want to take this journey with her. I'm beyond excited to see more of Adam's amazing performance in the upcoming weeks. Patricia Clarkson is a perfect casting choice for Camille's mother. Adora is such a complicated woman filled with contradictions and perfectionism. You somehow like and get intrigued by this strange woman. Eliza Scalen is definitely going to be the rising star of this show. Her devious looks and piercing way of talking is so on point. I'm so excited to see what's in store from these beautiful leading ladies. I am impressed with one casting choice and that is of Sophia Lillis. She plays a younger Camille and she matches Adam's looks very well. The writing is good. I need to watch more to decide but judging from the first episode, it's not bad. Overall, I'm so excited for what Sharp Objects has to present. It's really going to be a summer hit and something a lot of people will be talking about soon.
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My Rating of Episode 1 "Vanish": 8.9/10
