The Sinner - Season 2
Elisha Henig as Julian Walker | Photo by: Zach Dilgard/USA Network
The Sinner TV TV Recaps

“The Sinner” Ep.2.07: “Part VII”

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We’re only one episode from the conclusion of “The Sinner” and we’ve finally gotten a few answers. Some big ones remain, like who is Julian’s father? Who is actually doing some of this killing? How long has all this shady stuff been going down in Keller? I do suspect we’ll only get some answers in the finale and the only one I really want is WHO IS JULIAN’S FATHER?

The Sinner - Season 2
Bill Pullman as Detective Lt. Harry Ambrose | Photo by: Zach Dilgard/USA Network

“Part VII” opens almost immediately after “Part VI” closed out. Though Harry is crazy – how is he still staying at the creepy murder hotel?! Honestly, it’s my biggest issue with the back half of this season. I mean is it the only hotel in Keller or is Harry just as big a loon as the police chief thinks he is? The only answer we get is that the police chief is also a loon when he raids Mosswood and arrests Vera because he lost Julian and can’t take responsibility.

Harry goes to the foster home to look around for clues. There don’t appear to be any signs of foul play but there are sunflower seed shells on the window sill that lead Harry over to a parking lot across the street and the delinquents who hang out there. They confirmed seeing a brown camper van the night before in the parking space right next to a pile of more sunflower seed shells. Pro tip for all criminals: don’t eat food that leaves really obvious evidence of your criminal activity. Harry goes to the precinct and tells them to put out an Amber Alert immediately and Heather totally does even though the chief is against it.

One thing about this episode is that we get a bunch of flashbacks of Harry and Julian’s previous meetings, which are fun to watch, but I’ll admit to not knowing at all what they could possibly mean in the context (other than Harry feels guilty which I figured out without the flashbacks). He goes to talk to Vera, who’s still in custody, and she tells him saving Julian won’t save himself. I definitely get it, but I also would just totally love it if Harry and Vera had a for real honest conversation because I think we could avoid more deaths that way.

The camper van is found on the side of the road on the way to Canada, but it’s empty. Harry and Heather search the woods nearby but all they find is a rope knotted five times. Harry uses his seemingly vast knowledge of monks to say it’s a belt that monks wear, though usually only with three knots. They easily find out it’s from a local convent called The Grey Daughters, but not before Vera tells Benji to get a message to ponytail guy to head over to the convent as well, therefore, confirming that she knows who stole Julian.

Heather and Harry go to the convent and find out big surprise: that Marin was there. She was going by Laura and she originally arrived there for their rehab program but she stayed almost three years and almost joined as a nun. I find Marin the absolute most tragic figure of this season. She ended up trading the cult of Mosswood for drugs and alcohol, then for many rehab centers and finally for a convent. Just one cult for another for 12 years, all in search of a family WHICH SHE HAD WITH HEATHER!

We get some more flashbacks of Marin coming back to Mosswood several weeks before the beginning of Season Two. Vera seems very pleased to see her and welcomes her back warmly until Marin says she’s not staying and she only came back to pick up Julian and leave. This makes literally zero sense because she hasn’t seen him in fully 13 years since he was a tiny baby and he doesn’t know her at all. Vera obviously says no because Marin abandoned Julian 13 years ago and she forfeited all her parental rights. Additionally, Vera has legal guardianship over Julian. Bess notices Marin and looks worried about her but they don’t interact yet.

Bess and Marin do interact the next time Marin is on the compound trying to abduct Julian. She does not succeed and Bess escorts her off the grounds. It starts becoming clear what happened at the start of the season, and we get a further flashback to confirm. Bess and Adam were bringing Julian to Marin when he thought they were stealing him so he killed them to defend himself.

As we can all guess, Marin is the one who stole Julian from the foster home once she calmed him down and told him she was taking him home. Though it’s not too long before Julian starts freaking out because they’re not going in the direction of Mosswood. She ends up pulling the van over and Julian escapes into the woods. She follows, leaving the van where it’s later found by Harry and Heather. I’m sure it didn’t help Julian’s freak-out that Marin never said who she was until he was right in the midst of it. She’s also definitely trying to get him to Canada which is for sure an Interpol offense, but whatever.

Heather’s feeling pretty guilty because all that Marin ever wanted was a family and she ruined it by falling in love with her. She doesn’t say it in so many words, but we all know that’s what she meant. She’s feeling even more guilty because she has to do it again by adding Marin to the Amber Alert.

Over at Mosswood, it turns out a bunch of residents decided to leave after the raid. Vera’s not surprised and she’s only really worried about finding Julian, though Benji insists Vera won’t be able to keep him even if they do find him. She seems to accept it but mostly ignores Benji, especially when the ponytail guy shows up with Marin’s bible from the convent. It has a bookmark with a symbol on it that clearly means something to Vera.

Still trying to get to Canada, Marin and Julian get on a bus, which seems like a poor idea when there’s an Amber Alert out for you, but it works out until Julian realizes that Bess and Adam were trying to take him back to his mother and he freaks out again because he definitely killed them for no reason. Once they’re off the bus Marin calls Heather and basically asks for a head start. Heather says she can’t do that obviously and it’s really heartbreaking as their last interaction.

Luckily Heather and Harry find Marin’s cell phone at a gas station bathroom that has a handy map of the nearby Reservation which straddles the border; it has a hotel and is definitely where Marin is going to try to cross with Julian since they have no passports. They arrive at the motel to find Marin shot dead out front of the hotel she was in with Julian. It’s unclear who killed her and I am extremely disappointed that she’s dead because it’s just ultra-tragic for Heather for no discernible reason.

We’re left with many new and old questions. Where is Julian? Who stole him this time? Who killed Marin? Is Julian tired of being stolen by multiple people he barely knows? WHO IS HIS FATHER? Hopefully, we get at least two of these answers in the finale and some kind of closure for Heather, since this has been a very tragic handful of weeks for her and she could maybe use a spa weekend. It’s hard to know exactly what will happen but so far the journey is just as satisfying as season one and I’m super excited for the final chapter!

I’ll be live-tweeting “The Sinner” every Wednesday on Shuffle Online at 10/9c. You can follow me at So…I’m Watching This Show. 

Featured image credit: Zach Dilgard/USA Network

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  1. Pingback: "The Sinner" Ep.2.08: "Part VIII" • Shuffle Online

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