‘Sharp Objects’ Episode 6, Cherry Review — Who Is the Killer In ‘Sharp Objects’?

Warning: Spoilers for Sharp Objects episode 6, “Cherry,” ahead.

Although Sharp Objects is more a character study than a murder mystery—the most interesting moment of this episode was the rejected apology from one of Camille’s high school rapists—the first major piece of evidence in the murders of Natalie and Anne has finally surfaced, so it might be time to get down to business.

As usual, the men in Sharp Objects are incompetent or just completely delusional. See the moment mentioned above: When Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) attends a get-together with some of the Housewives of Wind Gap she used to cheer with, she’s cornered in the hallway by one of the men that raped her back in high school. The man—who just directed the Calhoun Day rape play the episode prior—tells Camille that he regrets what he and the other boys did to her, especially now that he has daughters of his own. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Some men need to be closely related to women to have the slightest bit of empathy. When it’s clear Camille isn’t interested in easing his conscience, he tells her that day has been haunting him. “Well, looks like we both got fucked,” she replies.

Meanwhile, Chief Vickery (Matt Craven) and Detective Willis (Chris Messina) unearth Anne Nash’s bicycle from a lagoon of pig feces at Preaker Farms, but that’s just about the only thing they do right. Adora (Patricia Clarkson) and Bob Nash (Will Chase) are both called to the location, but no tape prevents them from walking all over the crime scene. Nobody takes photos of the bike before a bare-handed Willis takes a towel to the seat so Nash can identify it—something that could have been done at the station after the evidence was properly handled. Then Willis spends the rest of the episode investigating Camille’s past instead of the killer he’s been assigned to apprehend.

Camille, however, may be getting better at her job. She points out it’s unlikely the killer would dump the bike in a “shallow pool of pig shit” unless they were stupid or trying to frame someone. Then, she makes a sharp observation on the phone to her editor:

Camille: Everybody thinks that a man is behind this and no one is looking at the women.
Frank: ‘Cause it doesn’t fit the profile. Women don’t kill like that…that violent.
Camille: Until they do.

So, it seems that the killer is a woman. When Camille interviews John’s girlfriend Ashley (Madison Davenport) again, she says she knows he didn’t do it, because it would have made him popular—which feels like an odd thing to say about the murder of two children. Camille asks her if she thinks popularity was the motive. “What other reason is there?”

Who are the Wind Gap residents who care about popularity more than anything? They could now be our top suspects.

Amma (Eliza Scanlen) has been a top contender since early in the series when she drunkenly declared, “My friends love me. They’d do anything I say.” The queen of creep definitely has a hold over the two girls who follow her around, and if John is to be believed, she had a tight relationship with the murder victims—though she originally claimed to not have much to do with them.

In tonight’s episode, after aggressively persuading Camille to get stoned with her at a house party, she explains how she gets people to do her bidding. “When you let [boys] do [stuff] to you, you’re really doing it to them. You get the control and they like you,” she says. “It’s not like that with girls. I can get them to do what I want, but they don’t like me.” She wouldn’t need the strength to pull out the victims’ teeth if she could get someone else to do it. Plus, she has access to her family farm.

Then, there’s Ashley. Remember, this cheerleader thinks murder would make whomever killed those girls popular, which is pretty messed up. Not to mention that in her interview with Camille—which she insisted upon, then became intensely angry when she learned the reporter didn’t plan to publish it—it’s revealed that John’s sister bit a chunk of her ear off.

Her pursuit of attention, a love for her boyfriend that borders on obsession, and a hatred for her boyfriend’s sister (and Amma) sounds a lot like motive. But the only way she could have the strength to murder both girls and remove their teeth would be with the help of John (Taylor John Smith), who also has access to the farm, and it seems unlikely (to everyone but the townsfolk) that he murdered his sister.

Finally, there’s Adora. If last week’s Calhoun Day episode proved anything, it’s that appearances are everything for her: She must be the perfect host, with the perfect home and the perfect family. Although she is unlikely to have believed that murdering the two girls would bolster her untouchable image in any way, once the bike is found, she seems keen on getting Camille out of her house. When she gets the call about the discovery, she purposefully keeps her eldest daughter in the dark. Then, she asks her husband Alan (Henry Czerny)—who, we also find out, sleeps on a pull-out mattress in his own home—to ask Camille to leave.

Popularity doesn’t seem like the right motive for Adora, but there is definitely something going on with her. When Ashley confronts Camille at the high-school party, she tells her, “If you want to know about Natalie, ask your mom.”

Sharp Objects airs on Sundays at 9 P.M. EST on HBO.