User Reviews

Cora (Jessica Biel) is a normal looking young woman who commits a shocking crime in full view of many witnesses. As viewers, we witness the crime also, so there is no doubt of her guilt.

Means and opportunity are never in question, but what is the motive? That is the central mystery around which this series revolves. And it is the question that drives police detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) to dig deeper despite Cora's confession of guilt.

Ambrose is a sad sack character who seems to commune better with nature than with people. Perhaps he understands compulsion and seeks to unravel his own while investigating Cora's.

In the first episode, Cora says, "I never thought that I would have a normal life." This is a major clue that her behavior may be rooted in her early years. Throughout the show, there are flashbacks to various happenings from all periods of Cora's life--clues that form pieces of the jigsaw puzzle solution.

As for the acting, most of the heavy hauling involves Biel and Pullman, who are convincing. The tone of the show is moody, suggesting the turmoil that lies just beneath the surface.

It remains to be seen if the writing can weave a tale that keeps the story interesting over the course of the 8-episode season. This is a good start.

Update 8/25/17: After four episodes, I am raising my grade to "8". The story is riveting. I would recommend this show to anyone who likes a good police mystery.

Couple of things: Jessica Biel never ages. Pullman can pull off weird disturbed detective well. This is a series that will keep you guessing till the end- very unusual, very dark and very disturbed. You won't feel good about yourself at the end in the nicest possible way. Very addictive and I loved the soundtrack too! Check it out.

"The Sinner" is (so far) a three-part series asking what drives people to commit murder. Each story is 8 parts.

The first one stars Jessica Biel as a married woman, mother of one, who goes to the beach one day and stabs someone to death nearby. A police detective, Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) becomes interested in the case and works to find out what happened.

The episode will have you on the edge of your seat, as there is one surprise after another, leading to its shocking conclusion.

The second series concerns a young boy who, while he is in a motel with his parents, poisons them. Again, Harry Ambrose becomes involved, determined to find out the boy's motivation. Though this series of episodes isn't quite as good as the previous, it's still terrific and again, will really have you guessing.

Then we come to the third series. Every review you will read will tell you to skip it. Just one problem. No one who says "skip it" happens to mention that it stars the gorgeous Matt Bomer. I wouldn't have cared if he read the phone book for the entire episode, I would have watched it.

However, it is absurd. A real let-down from the previous stories.

I am not sure if Bill Pullman is good or not. He plays a pretty wacky guy and basically has one expression, kind of a half-smile, throughout all of the episodes. Frankly I found his personal life somewhat of an intrusion, as those details were unneeded.

Highly recommended, one of the best things I've seen, with the exception of the third story. But, hey, it stars Matt Bomer.

Jessica Biel was the perfect choice, the first season is amazing. I loved it. The second was enjoyable as well. However I felt like there's a hole, somehow could've been better. And the third season is okay. Not more. I wouldn't rewatch it. Shame. I was really excited about it.

"Harry" keeps doing idiotic things. It's distracting. And Pullman's mannerisms have become far too exaggerated. This newest season feels like a mimic of NBC's "Hannibal."

I like the previous two runs.

But THIS one? In each episode, Harry just screws up. I realize, obviously, that the plot is intentional. But it's impossible to become "invested" with a character who acts illogically at almost every turn.

And it's not just Harry. I just keep thinking to myself, "Hey, that person would NEVER do that!" And I'm not discussing "Jamie," who is unbalanced.

But the third season is horribly terrible or terribly horrible take your pick.. First off, the story was boring and it didn't hold my interest and it seemed forced.. Secondly, I think the actors who played Jamie and Nick were terrible choices because I just didn't care about the characters they played like I did in the first two seasons because they were so much easier to connect with which made me care about what they were going through.. I've read that there's going to be a fourth season and even though I didn't care much for season three I will watch it because Bill Pullman is fantastic as det. Harry Ambrose..

Season one was a great new take on a detective drama with great performances by Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman. Each episode was consistently good and the whole season merits a 10/10

Season 2 should never have been commissioned. Season 1 wrapped everything up neatly. However, despite that it still merits a watch because at least there is development of the back story to Bill Pullmans character that explains some things from Season 1. However the series never truly grips you the way the first season did. 6/10

Season 3 is simply an abomination. It beats me how anybody could have given that script the green light. There isn't anything original, the characters are dull, the acting is appalling from almost everyone including the usually reliable Bill Pullman. It's starts badly and gets worse. 0/10

No more please leave it alone. The horse is dead and doesn't need flogging

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This is become one of my all-time favorite anthologies and streaming series ever and I rank it right up there with the likes of Breaking Bad The Sopranos everything else although it's impossible to compare any of these truly because they're so distinct and that also describes the sinner. Each episode focuses on the main character a detective who who seems to walk a fine line between the real and the Paranormal and always seems to be attracted to the most difficult cases and the most interesting ones like opposite charges attracting one another. There are so many themes and sub themes to this series especially including the concepts of religion life death suicide this is just an amazing series and I can't even begin to write a proper review without spending a lot of time but please give it a try.

This new limited "USA Network" series "The Sinner" is one to watch as it shows how the secrets and problems of the past of one's upbringing can cause them to change and commit violent crazy acts. And the themes mostly involve around moral choices, dark secrets, sex, and religion. Set in upstate New York Cora(Jessica Biel in a dark and crazy role)a young mom who seems to have it all with husband Mason(Chris Abbott)all of a sudden one day her life and others around her take a spin for the worst. At the beach one day Cora does a violent act, soon each episode is revealing as to what lead up to the blood and surprise killing as secrets from childhood and other people involved are revealed. No one is who they seem, even Harry(Bill Pullman)the detective who investigates the case also has his own dark demons. One by one everything seems to involve a connection of dark pasts and moral choices brushing up against religion, sin, sex, and the unexpected twist of what you don't think. Overall good limited drama series that spotlights the bad and dark nature of many.

First 2 seasons are definitely worthwhile but the 3rd took a BIG nosedive.... We actually stopped watching because it was so painfully SLOW..... There's some sort of "big reveal" which they keep milkin' episode after episode... Got sick of waiting!!

This show, "The Sinner" is certainly a slow-burn show. It won't appeal to everyone; and the episodes do move slowly, but with purpose - to build a greater sense of tension and curiosity in the viewer. It's a little extra-sexual in parts, (and I agree with the comment on Ambrose, I feel like his sexual preferences/habits aren't really central to the plot of the show) but for the most part, this too is purposeful...Cora (Jessica Biel) was obviously abused and extremely oppressed as a kid, so she's had less freedom to find herself than the average (30 -something?) woman.

Out of "Somewhere Between", this show, and "Midnight, TX", this is the one I find myself coming back to. It's dark, moody, you KNOW something's just not right but what is it???

Start watching, and keep watching, to find out.

An interesting original crime mystery in which Jessica Biel gets the chance to show her acting weapons. The story in intriguing from the beginning. A woman spends a family breakout at a lake and out of nowhere stabs a guy in public... The case seems clear but a police detective thinks there is more behind it. Biel is very good in the leading role but in my opinion it was Bill Pullman who stole the show. Although I question some attributes about his character, the way it was written etc, he really was able to bring a lot of personalty and sympathy to it. A great and underrated performance. Another wonderful turn of the show was done by Nadia Alexander who shall have a great future. She reminds me on a young Amy Adams. Wonderful performance. The rest of the cast is solid as well, there is actually not one bad performance. Some characters are either stereotype or weirdly written, but in the end it works for most of the part. The film had some really good twists. Actually half way through it, almost each episode has a twist. And I liked how the first episodes actually created some false traps and leads which they made the audience believe .. sometimes quite subtle. A good show for audiences that enjoy a good crime/mystery story.

Bill Pullman is a great actor and seasons 1 and 2 were spot on. Change of pace and ideas for season three which missed the mark for me. A bit too odd ball and story line was too far fetched. I just couldn't suspend reality that much. I hope there is a season 4 along the lines on 1 & 2. 3 is worth watching but not perfect.

Given what the story is, eight episodes is overkill. I think they intentionally set the number of episodes, and then stretched out the content to fit. There are a number of cycles repeated in the show that is mostly rehashing things already shown. There are also a number of side things that don't really advance the plot. Still, it's certainly not bad and for something to just watch casually it's fine. It's nice mystery drama, and is quite detailed in terms of settings and events.

This season is so bad it's almost unwatchable. Bill Pullman has one expression the whole time. He's ineffectual and gets himself into the stupidest situations. Matt Bomer has one look too. It's the wide eyed look of someone who's just sat on glass. There's no one to like in this season. No one to root for. Hated it.

Life could end at any moment so let's jump off this bridge real quick..... You have the ability to do anything so let's kill people and have restricted abilities for life. This is the logic of season 3. People overthinking life and doing silly things. The guy who I assume is Henry Cavill's skinny brother just acts like an oddball throughout the series. The Sinner could of been an overall great series and I can't believe it turned out like this.

This is an anthology that goes with the notion that crime is never impulsive it's mostly structured coming from the backlog of your life that creates those impulse. All criminal would have been good people if they were treated good by the society, family.

Criminals are not born they are created and best way to stop crime is best way to dissect the psychology.

Anthology with only protagonist in common . Do watch if you like crime psychology related fictions.

Season 1 is great. Season 2 is good. Season 3 is absolute garbage.

I'm giving it a one to compensate for all the people who rated this back in 2017, when it was still good. Yet another show ruined by SJWs.

I don't do many reviews on here. Usually only if something is extraordinary or horrible. This show had me on the edge of my seat the whole season from start to finish! Jessica biel has always been a good actress, but her performance in this blew me away! Hope she does more dramas like this in the future.. she's a natural.

A good series 1&2 that degenerated into utter garbage in season 3. It looks like the script is written by an AI engine that is just awful with its algorithm. I am amazed that someone looked at that script and said "Yep, I'll put my money into this". It makes no sense. It's a pity that people need money and sometimes have to do distasteful things to earn it. Otherwise the crew could have just walked off the set and not be associated with this travesty. Simply Awful. Watch it if someone pays you to do it. Ask for at least 6 figures. Otherwise it's just not worth your time.

The major flaw in season 3 is that there's no compelling reason for Jamie to feel any of his existential angst other than his own solipsism. It's not a convincing argument, emphasized by the fact that most of the characters don't behave the way people normally would when faced with these situations; which is also unexplained. Everyone is both drawn to and repulsed by Jamie, but he's really not worthy of either emotion.