The Sinner season 2, episode 4 recap: ‘Part IV’

Vera pushes Detective Ambrose to his mental limits, while Heather digs deeper into the past to learn more about Marin on this week’s episode of The Sinner.

The Sinner introduced us to the man, Lionel Jeffries, who started the infamous Mosswood Grove. Suffice to say, there is something eerie about the man and we have a sneaking suspicion there is a lot more we will come to learn about him. After the brutal death of Dr. Poole last week, Harry and Heather where they pour over his journals to learn that he was a big part of the Mosswood community.

They can’t seem to find a direct connection with Poole’s patients and Mosswood, but they do find out about a malpractice suit against him from a lady named Carmen who is now at the same psychiatric hospital as Ambrose’s mom was after the fire that engulfed his home as a kid.

The reason for Carmen suing Dr. Poole was due to the fact that he removed her entire uterus instead of performing the abortion she went to him for. When Heather asks Carmen about Marin, she gets a very cryptic response about her ending up in a “purple lake”. Things get weirder when Carmen alludes to the Beacon planting eggs in her brain who Heather presumes to be Lionel Jeffries.

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Ambrose has an interesting encounter with Vera this week and we have to say that Carrie Coon’s performance of the mysterious, strange Vera is a testament to her incredible talent.

There is something so off and odd about Vera, and Coon is creating such intrigue that we’re hooked. Ambrose meets up with Vera at Mosswood Grove per her request and then gets lost in the woods when she leaves him to fend for himself.

Based on an audio tape of Bess, Vera reveals that Bess had an unhealthy interest in Julian which is what led to her abducting him. She hopes that this tape can be used as a form of evidence to help Julian but honestly, we’re not sure if she is trustworthy or what the truth is amongst all the noise. And after she left Ambrose alone in the woods, she’s just not helping herself.

Eager to learn what exactly Vera does, Ambrose asks her to perform a therapy session with him, before which he learns that Lionel Jeffries was indeed referred to as the Beacon and was once the leader of Mosswood Grove.

And then before we know it, Ambrose falls under Vera’s hypnosis and has visions of his house going up in flames as a kid and his mother at the hospital. He wakes up to find himself back at the scene of the crime with his badge and gun lying next to him. What. Just. Happened.

The Sinner airs every Wednesday on USA at 10 PM EST!