Yeah there's so much like quiet whisper-talking in this show that my wife and I are asking each other what they said every few seconds.

how is this going to wrap up in 8 episodes?

Really enjoying this one.


Edit: Are there 3 or 4 timelines?

bobinator said:

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Yeah there's so much like quiet whisper-talking in this show that my wife and I are asking each other what they said every few seconds.

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My FIL lived with us back in 2015 when on hospice care and was basically completely deaf - he heard a little with hearing aids. But because of that we started watching everything with CC on for him - he liked movies. And we just really liked it especially for any british or accent heavy shows (which are a lot on Netflix, etc.) or where they mumble. So we just leave it on almost always now.

The only time I turn it off is live sports because it is delayed and annoying over the action.

aggiepaintrain said:

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how is this going to wrap up in 8 episodes?

Really enjoying this one.


Edit: Are there 3 or 4 timelines?

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3 timelines

1980 - original abduction, Will dies, investigation, Woodard mess, Hays early relationship with Amelia.
1990 - Julie turns up via fingerprints, press conference, reopening the case, going back to witnesses, Roland with the church lady
2015 - Hays with his son, Hays with the lady Elisa making the documentary, Hays with Roland on the porch, Hays sort of seeing and reliving flashbacks (tying those together at times)

they have talked about some stuff in the 1985-1989 timeframe but it happened offscreen. and in 2015 they are talking about events in 1991ish but again offscreen.

An aside

One of the things that gives me tremendous reservations about the 2015 timeline is it is ALL Hays and someone.... none of it is via other character POVs. That is what gives me some pause as to the trustworthiness of the narrator (Hays) in that case. I believe 1980 and 1990 are being shown true to their accounts - but 2015 may simply be Hays view of things - which given his memory issues makes it all suspect (to me). It could be all authentic as well but it could be he is just nuts. We don't really know maybe this is the 10th time he has gone through this process of remembering and reinvestigating the case and his notes. Maybe the documentary maker is part of his imagination of exploring his thoughts. Notice that's always a closed room and we don't see him come in and out of there. He did visit her hotel though - hmmmm. Maybe his son is just entertaining him knowing it is useless to argue it and maybe he has been out to West's 10x but never remembers it. Again I kinda doubt it as Pizzalotto or whatever has said there is no trickery or misdirection per se.

Greeze06 said:

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....he visited her hotel room where there were two glasses of wine that he asked about, and she said she was alone.

What that means, no idea.

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Yeah I have a theory on that too - and that's one of the reasons at least some or most of it is likely legitimate.

The other person is either:

A. Henry - his son having a relationship with her but protecting him at the same time
B. Becca - his estranged daughter, who may be pissed about what happened and knows more via the deceased mother (Emelia) and her book, and/or took up that line of investigative work herself, and is getting some revenge on dad.

Of the two Ithink B is more likely.

Or it could be Julie Purcell in the present. Trying to figure out what happened to her or something.

I would be more inclined to think that there are narrator shenanigans going on in the present timeline if they weren't actively showing that at times his thoughts aren't straight. I don't know if that makes sense, but you'd think if they were going to pull a "it was all in his head" move then they wouldn't have already shown us that he's having mental issues.

bobinator said:

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Or it could be Julie Purcell in the present. Trying to figure out what happened to her or something.

I would be more inclined to think that there are narrator shenanigans going on in the present timeline if they weren't actively showing that at times his thoughts aren't straight. I don't know if that makes sense, but you'd think if they were going to pull a "it was all in his head" move then they wouldn't have already shown us that he's having mental issues.

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hmmm... interesting. as i said it may be nothing it's just something to watch for. but on your point - it would be harder to sell it (as more than a cheap cop out ploy) if you have not shown him to be unreliable in his memories.

The St. Elsewhere method of never alluding to anything and then pulling back the curtain at the last moment would piss people off.

And yes it could be Julie..... but it also could be Julie and Becca or Julie and Henry. Meaning both involved in some way with her research - not meaning both having a relationship with her( the wine glasses). Elisa has said she may have a "couple" of investigators.

It could also be Rust and Marty - following him in the car too - seems to be a popular fan wish for that cheap cameo. But Arkansas is not far from Louisiana so who knows. Although I would hope she was not having a relationship with a 55+ year old....now in 2015. The original S1 case was set in 1995. If they were 35ish then they are 55ish now in 2015.

cclearman said:

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yeah, there was something ominous about their conversation in 1990 (Ep 3) that made it seem like they knew something / covered something up.

also, the description of a brown car with a black man and white woman....she's pretty light skinned? and she was with a guy in one of the first episodes (outside the town hall meeting). didn't get a look at his car

she was in San Fran in the late 60s / early 70s and got into "some bad stuff".

I was feeling like he ended up covering for her and she's involved...somehow.

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I'm definitely getting that vibe now.

Nagler said:

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Are we sure the daughter is estranged and not dead? She was the sick one when Hayes went home.

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Well they don't talk about her like she is dead - Wayne asked several times but his son just says it's been a while since he's seen her and then Wayne says that "she doesn't like it here". Now is that a cover up - Wayne doesn't remember and they don't want to upset him every time her name comes up - maybe.

If she is alive we have some odd parallelism too - Julie does not want to return home because of what she believes, and apparently Becca does not want to either. Both are younger daughters and have an older brother.

Could be either way. But I do believe she is alive in 2015.

WES2006AG said:

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I also had to rewatch the old man porch conversation with CC on. Couldn't understand a thing that Hays was saying.

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Damn, some of y'all grew up in the midwest or the plains and ti shows.

Fair enough

I rewatched the first episodes.Thoughts: 1)There were 3 boys in the VW bug. They only questioned 2? 2)The old white man in the ghost sequence looks a lot more like the grandfather than the dead officer to me... 3)Hay's daughter that he keeps asking about in the 2015 timeline - it's a common practice in dealing with alzheimer's
patients to not repeat facts if it will upset them. They will relive the anguish like hearing it for the first time, every time you tell them. So I think they had a major falling out (never want to see you again) or she's dead. 4)What ever happened to the pedophile they beat up and put in the trunk?

I don't think it had anything to do with a sex trafficking ring. That is a more recent issue and not that prevalent in the US in 1980.

The guy in the trunk went back to prison for parole violations.

who is this????

i've been curious about this person since it was shown - i'm not going to reveal when it was - but this person made a brief appearance. Have we seen him since???

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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who is this????

i've been curious about this person since it was shown - i'm not going to reveal when it was - but this person made a brief appearance. Have we seen him since???

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That seemed to be the guy dating Amelia before Hays. I could of course be completely wrong but he doesn't seem to play a role in any of this.

I dunno, if this really a True Detective Season 1 reskin then he might be behind the whole thing

Yeah it's probably nothing - but we know so little about Amelia - she avoids talking about family or pretty much anything personal or in her past.

I think he just seemed creepy to me...and the car.... probably nothing.

The theory that Amelia is the culprit seems to be a popular one but seems unlikely unless she had some help with stealing/planting evidence.

cc10106 said:

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The theory that Amelia is the culprit seems to be a popular one, but I'm not buying it unless she had some help with stealing/planting evidence.

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Yeah Amelia is a head scratcher - I left her out of my list of those involved....as have most.

But there is something going on with her - she is VERY manipulative of Hays. She uses sex as a weapon with him - when questioned on motives, involvement etc. she tends to distract by picking a fight about some other miniscule thing, then escalates it until he is seething and then resorts to distracting him with sex and it all boils over and he has forgotten the original issue and even what the fight was about. Classic control through sex.

And she has definitely been more involved than ever let on but it may simply be opportunistic for the book, etc. and she knows how to play men. But she may be more involved, but just in knowing or finding out things that even the police did not know in her own research and methods of enticing men. How that plays out with Hays will be interesting.

But to believe she is some part of the overall conspiracy - like she was placed at her position to lure or identify kids for example... well then there would be no real reason to get so close to the police in fact she would likely distance from any police. Otherwise if you believe she was supposed to do this manipulation as part of the plot you would have to know or assume the cop was going to be black and therefore attracted to her. This was 1980 and the likelihood of it being a black cop was very very small. Interracial was not very common then so you could not assume a white cop would go for her (although some have been persuaded by her charms). And to go so far as to marry and have kids.... not buying it.

Just seems highly unlikely she is part of any grand plot - just an opportunistic go getter who may get deeply involved because of her methods and drive.

Amelia suspicion is a classic red herring imo. But who knows.