Netflix has been making a habit of churning out some phenomenal telly over the past few years, so to call something a highlight is quite a compliment.
However, 2017's The Sinner was one show definitely worthy of the title, after leaving viewers glued to their seats with its twisting, turning plot line.
The Sinner was praised for its fresh take on the murder mystery genre and there's no denying it was thrilling to watch. However, one quite massive plot hole has kind of ruined it for us.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Where most murder mysteries aim to find out who committed the crime, The Sinner is different in that we all know who did it.
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In fact, we watched Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) stab a seemingly innocent man to death on a crowded beach, in front of her husband and infant child in the first episode, so in terms of 'whodunnit' there's not really much to be asked.
Instead, the show asks why the murder took place, because for reasons that become clear later down the line, Cora has no idea why she did what she did.
So far, so good. But in episode eight, things go a bit awry.
It is revealed that Cora has been supressing memories from a night during which she took terminally ill sister Phoebe out to a bar and ended up at a party, courtesy of Frankie, the man she would go on to kill on the beach.
Phoebe is accidentally killed when he has a heart attack and an attempt to revive her results in her ribcage being cracked by Frankie. Cora dives to her sister's aid and hits Frankie, pummelling him with her fists in all the same places she would later stab him. Cora is then hit over the head with an ashtray and knocked unconscious.
Desperate to protect his son, Frankie's father buries Phoebe's body and keeps Cora locked in his house, drugged up to the eyeballs on heroin for two months.
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Once he's satisfied that her memory has been wiped, he dumps her in a back alley where she is found before being put in rehab. Cora is later released with no memory of her sister's death.
OK. But why do Cora's parents not even bother to ask where Phoebe is after she turns up in rehab. Don't they want to know where their terminally ill daughter, who was bed-ridden for all of her life, has gone? Aren't they in the least bit curious?
If they had just asked Cora about this in the first place then it may have jogged her memory and prevented her from going on to murder a (sort of) innocent man. But instead they just, what? Assume she's dead?
How a plot hole this catastrophic got past so many people we'll never know. Still, though, decent show if you can ignore all that.
Featured Image Credit: NetflixTopics: TV and Film, Netflix