‘Sharp Objects’ Season 1, Episode 4 ‘Ripe’ Recap: On and Off The Record

The vision that the Protagonist saw while driving almost helped bring the breaking point closer. However, when it fades, the Protagonist recognizes that she has a job to do, so shrugging it off is mandatory. Once again, the duties of a journalist bring personal feelings and family out of the picture. Sharp Objects portrays a family with issues left unsolved for years. As a result, the family might reach the point of no return regarding healing.

In this week’s episode of Sharp Objects, Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) tours Detective Richard Willis (Chris Messina) around the various crime scenes around town. Meanwhile, Allan Crellin (Henry Czerny) becomes suspicious of Adora Crellin’s (Patricia Clarkson) confidence in Police Chief Vickery (Matt Craven). Later that day, John Keene’s (Taylor John Smith) off the record revelations have Camille rushing to find Amma Crellin (Eliza Scanlen).

A Husband’s Duties

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Adora and Alan’s relationship experience a rift in this episode. While Adora welcomes Chief Vickery into her home, Alan becomes jealous of how Adora is more open to Vickery’s worries than to his. Based on the fact that both Alan and Gayla (Emily Yancy) asks Vickery for “the usual” as his refreshment, Vickery’s visits have been happening for some time. However, Vickery’s itinerary usually has something that involved Adora’s daughters. Still, Alan’s frustrations are understandable.

Throughout the time after the loss of Marianne Preaker, Adora mainly focused on how she felt. As seen through flashbacks, this affected everyone in the family. During Camille’s teen years, Adora continually neglected her feelings. As a result, Camille shut herself off from everyone. At one point, Camille ignored Alan and Gayla’s birthday surprise for her.

Possibly, Alan reached his breaking point. Also, his jealousy towards Vickery was not the beginning. Like Camille, Alan’s grief over Marianne’s loss never got put into consideration. After all, he lost a daughter, too. Because of this, the couple argues. Unfortunately, the couple had no idea that they had more significant problems other than their relationship.

The Tour

Anne Marie Fox/HBO

Finally, Camille decides to give Richard a helping hand in his investigation. In return, Richard would answer any of Camille’s questions, on the record. Because of this, Camille brings Richard to different crime scenes. At each crime scene that they visited, Camille gave a brief background story. This pattern would continue until they reach the mysterious cabin.

While Richard mentions how he has been there before, Camille gets an eery feeling. Richard figures out that Camille had a traumatic experience there. However, this fact becomes irrelevant. As they stood there, Camille finally admits that she likes Richard. Strangely enough, she does so in an unconventional manner. Camille unzips her pants and places Richard’s hands in them, letting him finger her.

As Richard drove Camille home, they notice Chief Vickery leaving the house. Unknown to Camille, Richard has an agreement with Vickery. Whatever Camille tells Richard, Richard would tell Vickery. In return, Vickery would let him in on what he thinks. After Vickery left, Camille let Richard fondle him once again before entering the house. In contrast to how her day went, Camille met nothing but aggression from her mother, who blamed Camille for everything wrong with her life.

Off The Record

Anne Marie Fox/HBO

John Keene’s day did not go so well. He lost his job at the Preaker Pig Farm. Also, John finds his mom hungover when he goes home. In memory of his sister, John still fed his sister’s pet spiders. However, when he checks her room, the spider is gone. Later that day, John spends his time at his girlfriend, Ashley Wheeler’s (Madison Davenport) house. However, his thoughts about the spider still bothered him. Despite Ashley’s attempts to satisfy him sexually, John left. He heads to the forest to find another spider and brings it home.

That evening, John joins Camille for a drink at the bar. He tells Camille stories about how close his sister was to the other victim as well as to Amma. This information catches Camille’s attention. Camille may have known that Adora tutored both of the murdered girls, but she did not realize that Amma was a close friend of theirs. Eventually, John blames the mysterious cabin in the woods for their deaths. The three of them used to play there, and John thought of the cabin as cursed. Because of this, Camille rushes to find Amma. However, Camille was too late.

Sharp Objects continues next Sunday, August 5th, with “Closer” at 9/8c on HBO.