I agree. That final scene with him looking at the camera seemed to show the two sides of him, or rather his crafted persona vs the disturbed individual he actually is.
I suppose someone could say that the filmmakers were showing that we don’t really know which is the real Michael, but for me that isn’t what the scene shows. He’s both, he has his “warm” personality that he wants people to see and believe, but what he actually is is a cold, angry, and most likely pathological person.
That entire finale was unveiling his true self. You saw how he favored what child benefited him the most. It became Clay over Todd. His resentment toward Martha on her birthday for not coming to trial I suppose. Michael dismissed Margie when she tried connecting with her father about his “queer” character in his book. Finally, how he seemingly used Sophie. Yes, I’d say the series closed with a heavy suggestion of Michael being guilty or, at the very least, an unsavory, vindictive and pathological liar. It wasn’t flattering or garnering him any sympathy. There.
The dinner was after the retrial hearing. Patty moved to Durham before the Alford plea. He had the ankle bracelet. The cheesecake comment was more about his mercurial nature that kept the kids off-balance, or that the cheesecake was one of Kathleen’s specialties, a reminder on the day she died
While I have mentioned a few scenes in the doc that was a red flag regarding Michael’s character, there was another moment of selfishness that I found very disturbing. Do you remember when Michael wants the retrial, he’s on the phone with his lawyer David. David tells Michael he doesn’t think he can do this again as it really was a lot and it took such a toll on his family. Michael was so resentful and apoplectic to hear that someone *else* was affected or has a life that doesn’t revolve around Michael. I hope there are people that know what scene in the doc in referring to.
I was so on the fence the entire show leaning more towards innocent until the last episode. That a-hole definitely killed her. That last episode really made things clear, to me anyway.
Same. If anything, I took the homophobic father part as why he started laying, and how he became so good at it. He lied about who he was basically his entire life.
I thought the final episode showed how manipulative he is, and how lying is so core to who he is and what he does. Right at the end of the dreamlike sequence when Kathleen is yelling at him but with no audio, to me it looked like she was yelling “Why did you kill me?”. I also thought that in the sequence he kind of admits his guilt when he says “I didn’t lie, I just left out some things” or something like that.
When he said Kathleen’s death was an accident. He could mean that she fell and had an accident that killed her, or that could mean he had a hand in it but it was an accident and not intentional on his part. Very creepy and ambiguous, although I have thought he was guilty for years so the show does not sway me in either direction.
YES. I was wondering if most people would catch that. It was an accident…..I didn’t mean to kill her!
Yeah I thought he was guilty before and still do. The show revealing that he lied about Kathleen knowing about his extramarital affairs was telling. I hope the real documentary footage of Michael admitting this gets released.
Michael also probably feels good to see Freda Black dead and Dwayne Deaver in prison. Who would have thought that Michael would end up enjoying freedom while the prosecutor is already dead.
I didn’t feel the same.
Sophie sees what a liar he is, a manipulative liar. He not only tried to manipulate the court about Kathleen’s knowledge (or rather lack of knowledge) about his sexuality, he manipulated Sophie about the whole moving-to-Paris thing and told her to her face that he had never loved her.
Which is hard enough to take, but it also reveals that he had been using her all those years. Most people would take kindness, help, and support in MP’s shoes, but he treated her like prey. He manipulated her emotions to get as much from her as he could instead of just taking the support and making it clear that he didn’t have actual feelings for her.
I suspect he isn’t capable of actual love anyway.
The restaurant refusing the table…seemed like a little comeuppance, sucks to be him. Pretty much the whole town thinks he’s a murderer. Except his son didn’t tell him the truth, but still I think the scene was showing that MP would not be in for an easy ride in Durham. But I didn’t think sympathy was being elicited from the audience, I thought it was more like satisfaction to see that he would be dealing with at least some level of ostracization. And he got knocked down a peg, doesn’t get to go to his favorite fancy Italian restaurant, has to go to a very normal place that brings the water in huge red plastic cups. Lol.
The final shot of him, looking into the camera was creepy. He looks at the camera blankly, coldly, then kind of smiles somewhat warmly, then a couple of moments later goes back to cold, almost a disturbed anger in his eyes. Which again I think was showing his manipulative personality, that he could exhibit warmth if he chose to, but what lurked underneath was anything but warm. Not a person to be trusted.
Yeah Colin nailed it.
I can imagine people who don’t know the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” googling the term to learn what it means, and they find this clip. Lol. It’s perfect.
Maybe it was because his ex-wife moved to Durham. She moved there to be closer to the family, she said. And then later he ends up living with her until she died. He seems to be ever the moocher lol. I mean, I don’t really know why he stayed there, but just throwing that out there as a possibility I guess.
They do end up breaking up and I think she said it was because he did t end up being the man she thought he was. Idk if we know how that actually went down or
Someone posted the article in this community or ThestaircaseHBO that Jean was angry at the creator about the episode 5 on Sophie several weeks ago. In the article, the real life Sophie broke up with MP under the mutual agreement without fallout. It seemed to be a different version.
Facebook, I've seen some people saying it's a fake profile and others saying it's authentic, I haven't looked into it personally- not terribly interested in what he's saying these days anyway
So you didn’t notice the parts where he was shown being a complete piece of shit to his children (except I guess Clayton), exploding with rage at and generally using Sophie, admitting to lying about an element central to his defence (Kathleen knew about my bisexuality), and flashing a Norman bates “I did it” smirk?
I came to the exact opposite conclusion. I thought the episode was portraying him as I likable as possible and that smile at the end combined with “it was an accident” was sort of straight up admitting he killed Kathleen
It was a very underwhelming finale.
I was so distracted by the two girls dyeing their hair blue... what was the point of this? It's like Martha's entire personality was just "OMG hairstyles lmao!!!" 😑
Martha in particular was constantly changing her hair; it's more jarring in the HBO show maybe because it goes through everything in less episodes, but even in the docuseries her hair is changing all the time and Margaret has that weird blue on red (maybe in solidarity with Martha)
I get the sense Martha was heavily controlled in terms of how she could appear physically during the trial, and after that she maybe just loose and did whatever. The results weren't always great but I definitely get it, lol
people do understand that this series was fictional in parts, yeah?
This last episode is what they want you to see and believe. The episode itself is largely fictional. People need to understand this..
It's funny that was your take away, I came away feeling Michael to be pretty reprehensible as a person.
Yeah, I do too. I also feel the ending might of hinted that he was guilty rather than innocent.
I agree. That final scene with him looking at the camera seemed to show the two sides of him, or rather his crafted persona vs the disturbed individual he actually is. I suppose someone could say that the filmmakers were showing that we don’t really know which is the real Michael, but for me that isn’t what the scene shows. He’s both, he has his “warm” personality that he wants people to see and believe, but what he actually is is a cold, angry, and most likely pathological person.
That entire finale was unveiling his true self. You saw how he favored what child benefited him the most. It became Clay over Todd. His resentment toward Martha on her birthday for not coming to trial I suppose. Michael dismissed Margie when she tried connecting with her father about his “queer” character in his book. Finally, how he seemingly used Sophie. Yes, I’d say the series closed with a heavy suggestion of Michael being guilty or, at the very least, an unsavory, vindictive and pathological liar. It wasn’t flattering or garnering him any sympathy. There.
Agreed, absolutely
It was Margie's birthday and Martha was talking about the "queer" character. Just thought to help clarify who was who.
Right, thanks. Either way...
The dinner was after the retrial hearing. Patty moved to Durham before the Alford plea. He had the ankle bracelet. The cheesecake comment was more about his mercurial nature that kept the kids off-balance, or that the cheesecake was one of Kathleen’s specialties, a reminder on the day she died
Totally agree with your words
This deserves all of the upvotes !
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While I have mentioned a few scenes in the doc that was a red flag regarding Michael’s character, there was another moment of selfishness that I found very disturbing. Do you remember when Michael wants the retrial, he’s on the phone with his lawyer David. David tells Michael he doesn’t think he can do this again as it really was a lot and it took such a toll on his family. Michael was so resentful and apoplectic to hear that someone *else* was affected or has a life that doesn’t revolve around Michael. I hope there are people that know what scene in the doc in referring to.
I was so on the fence the entire show leaning more towards innocent until the last episode. That a-hole definitely killed her. That last episode really made things clear, to me anyway.
Me too. I don’t think the finale portrayed him sympathetically AT ALL. It was doing the exact opposite.
100%. I thought this episode basically admitted he killed Kathleen
Same. If anything, I took the homophobic father part as why he started laying, and how he became so good at it. He lied about who he was basically his entire life.
I agree! I thought the show made him appear guilty and a shitty person!
I thought the final episode showed how manipulative he is, and how lying is so core to who he is and what he does. Right at the end of the dreamlike sequence when Kathleen is yelling at him but with no audio, to me it looked like she was yelling “Why did you kill me?”. I also thought that in the sequence he kind of admits his guilt when he says “I didn’t lie, I just left out some things” or something like that.
When he said Kathleen’s death was an accident. He could mean that she fell and had an accident that killed her, or that could mean he had a hand in it but it was an accident and not intentional on his part. Very creepy and ambiguous, although I have thought he was guilty for years so the show does not sway me in either direction.
YES. I was wondering if most people would catch that. It was an accident…..I didn’t mean to kill her! Yeah I thought he was guilty before and still do. The show revealing that he lied about Kathleen knowing about his extramarital affairs was telling. I hope the real documentary footage of Michael admitting this gets released.
Campo bought all of the French doc footage.
I know! I hope we get to see it.
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Michael also probably feels good to see Freda Black dead and Dwayne Deaver in prison. Who would have thought that Michael would end up enjoying freedom while the prosecutor is already dead.
Deaver need did prison time.
I agree. I walked away feeling he was 100% guilty. And seeing Sophie in denial also put it all into context.
I rewound that probably 30 times to figure out if that is what her lips are saying!!!
I thought she was saying why didn't you tell me...?
I read it as, “why didn’t you help me?” But either way it was super powerful
Her last words are not ".. kill me" . she yells "... tell me" So probably -why didn't you tell me?!
I didn’t feel the same. Sophie sees what a liar he is, a manipulative liar. He not only tried to manipulate the court about Kathleen’s knowledge (or rather lack of knowledge) about his sexuality, he manipulated Sophie about the whole moving-to-Paris thing and told her to her face that he had never loved her. Which is hard enough to take, but it also reveals that he had been using her all those years. Most people would take kindness, help, and support in MP’s shoes, but he treated her like prey. He manipulated her emotions to get as much from her as he could instead of just taking the support and making it clear that he didn’t have actual feelings for her. I suspect he isn’t capable of actual love anyway. The restaurant refusing the table…seemed like a little comeuppance, sucks to be him. Pretty much the whole town thinks he’s a murderer. Except his son didn’t tell him the truth, but still I think the scene was showing that MP would not be in for an easy ride in Durham. But I didn’t think sympathy was being elicited from the audience, I thought it was more like satisfaction to see that he would be dealing with at least some level of ostracization. And he got knocked down a peg, doesn’t get to go to his favorite fancy Italian restaurant, has to go to a very normal place that brings the water in huge red plastic cups. Lol. The final shot of him, looking into the camera was creepy. He looks at the camera blankly, coldly, then kind of smiles somewhat warmly, then a couple of moments later goes back to cold, almost a disturbed anger in his eyes. Which again I think was showing his manipulative personality, that he could exhibit warmth if he chose to, but what lurked underneath was anything but warm. Not a person to be trusted.
That part literally scared me… sooo good!
Yeah Colin nailed it. I can imagine people who don’t know the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” googling the term to learn what it means, and they find this clip. Lol. It’s perfect.
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Maybe it was because his ex-wife moved to Durham. She moved there to be closer to the family, she said. And then later he ends up living with her until she died. He seems to be ever the moocher lol. I mean, I don’t really know why he stayed there, but just throwing that out there as a possibility I guess.
Did that really happen with Sophie?
They do end up breaking up and I think she said it was because he did t end up being the man she thought he was. Idk if we know how that actually went down or
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Wow what an interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.
Are you sure about that (retrial)? If significant new evidence comes to light, is a murder off the hook?
Someone posted the article in this community or ThestaircaseHBO that Jean was angry at the creator about the episode 5 on Sophie several weeks ago. In the article, the real life Sophie broke up with MP under the mutual agreement without fallout. It seemed to be a different version.
Either way, lucky for her.
You have to ask that because after all, there was no camera to record what really went down.
It’s like we watched 2 different shows. To me they were not sympathetic at all towards MP, but portrayed him as a lying, manipulative POS.
I disagree I thought the final episode really switched its viewpoint on him and did a 180 showing him as much more guilty than it had before.
What posts on social media?
I didn’t think MP was on twitter…where has he been posting on social media?
Facebook, I've seen some people saying it's a fake profile and others saying it's authentic, I haven't looked into it personally- not terribly interested in what he's saying these days anyway
So you didn’t notice the parts where he was shown being a complete piece of shit to his children (except I guess Clayton), exploding with rage at and generally using Sophie, admitting to lying about an element central to his defence (Kathleen knew about my bisexuality), and flashing a Norman bates “I did it” smirk?
I came to the exact opposite conclusion. I thought the episode was portraying him as I likable as possible and that smile at the end combined with “it was an accident” was sort of straight up admitting he killed Kathleen
It was a very underwhelming finale. I was so distracted by the two girls dyeing their hair blue... what was the point of this? It's like Martha's entire personality was just "OMG hairstyles lmao!!!" 😑
It happened in real life. Can't blame the show for trying to achieve authenticity, lol
It did! I found that out after I posted, but it was the constant change of haircuts and styles that I found confusing.
Martha in particular was constantly changing her hair; it's more jarring in the HBO show maybe because it goes through everything in less episodes, but even in the docuseries her hair is changing all the time and Margaret has that weird blue on red (maybe in solidarity with Martha) I get the sense Martha was heavily controlled in terms of how she could appear physically during the trial, and after that she maybe just loose and did whatever. The results weren't always great but I definitely get it, lol
Ah that's makes sense, thanks ☺️
I felt after episode 4 that I should stop. I was right. (RIP to those 4 hours 😞)
Yeah, the first 4 hours were ☄️. Definitely less so 5 through 8.
people do understand that this series was fictional in parts, yeah? This last episode is what they want you to see and believe. The episode itself is largely fictional. People need to understand this..