The Sinner is streaming now on Netflix U.S., where it is currently the second most-watched TV series behind Firefly Lane. Netflix users may have noticed that the three seasons are not labeled as "Seasons" on the streamer, but that each of the three groups of episodes is named after a different character: Jamie (played by Matt Bomer), Julian (Elisha Henig) and Cora (Jessica Biel.)
As this suggests, The Sinner is an anthology series, meaning that every season has a new main character and tells a new story. Though these seasons can be watched in any order, "Cora" was the first season released by the USA Network, followed by "Julian" and then "Jamie".
Though these stories are mostly independent, there is one thread that ties all three seasons together; Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman), the detective who is investigating the crimes that are at the heart of every season.
Two of the seasons also share a setting. Seasons 1 and 3 are set in Dorchester, a fictional town in upstate New York. This means that, alongside Ambrose, a few members of the Dorchester police force cross over from season to season, with the Police Chief (Adam LeFevre) appearing across Seasons 1 and 3 and Detective Dan Leroy (Dohn Norwood) making an appearance at the start of Season 2 after being Ambrose's partner in the first season.
Season 2, meanwhile, was set in another fictional upstate New York town, this time named Keller, the city that Ambrose grew up in.
Per the showrunners, one reason to watch the seasons in the order they aired is to track Ambrose's emotional growth across the show.
"Ambrose is our main character. We can't resolve him quickly because he is the character we follow through these seasons. So, his journey is a longer one," showrunner Derek Simonds said in an IndieWire interview.
In a USA Network interview, meanwhile, Simonds explained: "You saw with Cora, an awakening to his own trauma and his own past, so it was a coming-to-terms with his own wounds and inner life...Julian brought him back to his past and made him face his own demons and his childhood head-on."
Season 3, meanwhile, sees Ambrose explore even more of his trauma. In another USA promo, The Sinner Season 3 star Chris Messina teased: "His character faces some serious demons, he's up against the biggest challenge that the show has ever brought to him."
Asked by GQ how his character has evolved over three seasons, meanwhile, Pullman said: "In the second season, there was his inability to contain his anger as he risks being more vulnerable to other people. He's trying to keep himself from going off of the rails. In the third, he's up against this person who has said, 'you're a lot like me, Harry Ambrose, in more ways than you're willing to admit. You're angry and you're going to act out on that.'"
Originally, the plan had been for the anthology series to be a trilogy, but the show has been renewed for a fourth season, set for 2021. Pullman is expected to return once again, those it has not been revealed who the new characters will be.
The Sinner Seasons 1 to 3 are streaming now on Netflix; Season 4 is coming in 2021 to the USA Network.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
