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Season 3 - In-depth analysis or an anti-climactic ending?

posted 8 years ago by alirioaguero2
5 replies | jump to latest

Season 3 is seemingly very different from seasons 1 and 2. The most obvious contrast is that now they had the 'who', a 'what' and a 'how', and they needed only a 'why'. Now the game of cat and mouse can be played more openly and we can learn more from the past and reason of Paul Specter. We get the opportunity to finally see what is beneath all of his sociopathic behavior and aggression towards women. What works really well is the acting, from Anderson and Dornan to all the supporting performers. All the emotions are very realistic and you can see that they all feel what they say and do. Another great thing this series always had is the feeling of suspense, helped by slow frames and even unnaturally slow speaking and diction from almost all the characters. If you look at it realistically, it seams bit forced that nobody ever shouts to one another, mumbles or talks at the same time, even in the situations of the highest pressure. Yet again, as an artistic form, it helps to uncover the raw emotions of these statements and built the air-tight tension. It all worked in seasons 1 and 2 and it worked well again in season 3.

Then again, maybe season 3 has been too similar to season 1 and 2 in a way, and not always for it's benefit. When the cloud of mystery was there, they could spend much time over philosophical questions and emotional turmoils. Now, when Paul is caught, I felt like it needed more actual events to built it up to the long awaited climax. As someone noticed, the whole episode 1 was half-wasted on medical terminology (which hasn't been part of the show until now, minus few random sentences by Paul's wife). It was not the only thing: If you notice, a whole screen time of a whole episode or even two would go spent on medical, legal or psychological jargon which should only help to support the crime story plot, not astray from it. At times I asked myself why do I find this scene boring when it's obviously not. And the answer is - maybe it *is* a bit boring, but filmed in the same exciting nail-biting way all the other scenes are, so they hope viewers wouldn't notice.

I am aware this is supposed to be a psychological thriller show, not an action thriller one, but the way they brought Paul back and prolonged the case so much after he has been discovered required bit more action, in my honest opinion. Also, I cannot be the only one bothered by some very well built-up subplots, which unfortunately didn't result in anything as big as it could. For one, Katie Benedetto slowly, but steadily became one of the scene-stealers of the show. The way she was built-up as a side plot made me to believe she was going to do something to set Paul free, or continue the murders to sidetrack from him. Ultimately, she was just peacefully apprehended. That is not the only example of a letdown subplot. Paul's wife also had her snap, and while I would be sad if she actually killed herself and the kids, she could have done something to harm the investigation or Paul for betraying her trust. Or even the most unlikely candidate, Rose Stagg, could have been a twist villain, brainwashed by him while kept captive. Not saying any of these had to happen, but to have at least three opportunities to have a great supporting antagonist development and not to use any of them felt bit flat.

At the end, what Paul himself did was quite interesting and thrilling to watch, but even that ended in him taking his own life (and one other side-villain) and not trying to actually escape and continue his crimes. At what point did he decided to end his life - was it his original intention or did he do it only after his pathway to freedom was locked. If the latter, he didn't take long to change his plans so radically. If the former, it was too much effort to off himself and a weak guy who he had interaction with a lot of times before. Again, despite knowing this isn't primarily an action show, a much more climactic ending would be Paul actually escaping the asylum (and leaving a lot of corpses behind) and then confronting Stella in her apartment. Then she or someone close to her kills him in self-defense by shooting him or trowing him through the window. The way that he went was a tribute to what happened to his mother, but still it felt like ending of HIS story, not THEIRS. For a show that builds the tension between two characters so much, it ended in such separate ways.

Overall, I find season 3 still quite good and mostly engaging, but I have to admit that several things played out much more tame than I hoped for.

[–] lisagenest-22424 8 years ago

In my opinion, Paul killed himself solely to antagonize Stella; it was his last effort to torture her. He knew she was desperate to keep him alive so he would be judged for his crimes and be sentenced to life in prison. She said as much. He stole that from her by committing suicide. He saw that as victory.

[–] alirioaguero2 8 years ago

That is also a good way of seeing it. Paul might have done it as a final act of hate to Stella, himself and the world around him.

Personally, I believe that Paul faked his memory loss since the beginning, but it is up to interpretation.

[–] ixoxeles 8 years ago

I was pretty happy with the ending, save for not truly understanding why killing Bailey was necessary to secure a "suicide room", but by then Spector was on a tear, so what's one more person to a man with no conscience? The writers had already used the James Tyler/domestic abuse subplot to bring about the Season 2 cliffhanger. Doing that again with Katie, having her help him to escape would've been repetitive and clichéd. Having Spector escape and show up at Stella's apartment, only to be shot by her in self-defense would also have been a total cliché. I love the fact that the writers started some of the subplots just to heighten the tension in the hospital setting...

- WOULD they reveal that he was faking amnesia by having him kill his attending nurse and/or Rose Stagg?
- WOULD Tom Stagg attempt to kill Spector while in the hospital?

One little subplot I was hoping for was that one of the early stalking journals the police found in Specktor's storage unit would be traced back to Wallace, his assisting solicitor. She was the right age and had the right look, so I thought they might add that to the story as a forcing function to have her quit the case.

I think that while he initially had some minor amnesia, he quickly began to recover who and what he was. Ultimately, Spector committed suicide to vex Stella, but in doing so, he also vexed and antagonized US, the viewers. I love that rather than having a cliched ending, my feelings were directly aligned with Stella's as entered her dark, empty home, and as she sat down and had that glass of wine.

[–] filmfancy 8 years ago

I think that while he initially had some minor amnesia, he quickly began to recover who and what he was. Ultimately, Spector committed suicide to vex Stella, but in doing so, he also vexed and antagonized US, the viewers. I love that rather than having a cliched ending, my feelings were directly aligned with Stella's as entered her dark, empty home, and as she sat down and had that glass of wine.

I agree. While I too was left sitting in the dark wondering 'is that all?' at the ending I'm ultimately glad it wasn't full of clichés. Paul came full circle and ended his life as his mother had ended hers. His troubles seemed to have begun after her death.

Initially I was waiting for something to happen to the ICU nurse as she perfectly fit the description of Paul's victims. I think he still had amnesia while being tended by her, she seemed to affect him in a positive way. He even asked her why she was so kind to him.

As another poster remarked, Katie was becoming his sidekick in a way but she was young and obsessed and full of anger at the loss of her father. Hopefully Stella's talk with her, sharing her own pain, may have some influence on Katie as she gets older.

I think the note that Stella pinned to her fridge (written by the ICU nurse) summed up what the show's creators wanted to say -- that without love there is only death (paraphrasing). Stella was trying to impart this to Katie, trying to explain the difference between a love based on equality and compassion and something that only revels in another's pain and makes one feel bad (Katie mistakenly believing her obsession with Paul was based on love while he barely saw her).

And all the pieces matter (The Wire)

[–] drjono13 8 years ago

I do think it's significant that the camera focuses on Paul's hand as he is dying; it reaches up toward the plastic bag and belt as if he had second thoughts and would remove them but sank too quickly into unconsciousness and death.