Harper's Island

[Boann]

Originally Posted by MHcarrollton

Confused by one thing, why with whom the killer turned out to be that Jimmy was not close to the first one killed.

I think the reason was that Jimmy was being set up as the killer.

[Google]

 

[Mike'sgirl]

Originally Posted by Boann

I think the reason was that Jimmy was being set up as the killer.

I agree. If Henry and/or Wakefield had actually killed Shea and Madison, then he would have killed Jimmy easy; but they escaped (sure wish Sully had gone with them) so he decided to set Jimmy up since Shea was already suspicious of him.

I do still wonder whether the Sheriff was aware that Sarah had a child previously with Wakefield. But either Charlie did not know that Henry was that child, or if he knew, it probably never occurred to him that Henry was as wacky as his father; or that Wakefield new the identity of his child and had an accomplice. Wakefield may have assumed the sheriff didn't know because he never suspected that Wakefield was working with someone. Oh heck, I don't know.

I'll check Karim's notes of an Assassin blog when it is posted, and if he addresses it - will comment on it.

[Twiddler]

I did find it ironic that the money was actually meant for Malcolm in the first place, heh. And I literally started clapping when I saw him in the end video scene. I really, really liked that greedy bugger.

[Realitychick]

I might be one of the few, but I enjoyed how they wrapped it up. The entire show they built on the friendship between Henry and Abby. When the big reveal happened, although I wasn't shocked, I did like how it played out. Henry wasn't evil, just messed up in the head. Although he was insane, I thought his intentions in his own mind were very sweet. He was a product of his circumstances and although it doesn't write off the horrible things he did, I was a little teary eyed when he died. It was obvious it WAS all about Abby. When he said I love you to her while he was dying, just broke my heart. I'm such a dork but I try to see the goodness in everyone even when they do bad things. It was heartbreaking the scene with Trish and Henry. I didn't like how that ran it's course. I thought it should have been more in depth. Since Henry was with Trish for such a long time, I think they kind of half assed it and Trish deserved better. It was also difficult to watch when Sully realized it was Henry. Just wow. I guess I look at it as very sad. Henry knew all these people for years and years and was living with this hate and sadness, and then killing them off was very difficult for me to watch because of the history he had with these people. I thought it was fantastic that he ended up killing Wakefield. But the scenes with him and Abby were tough for me to watch, because of their long and deep friendship it was sad to see him have to do these horrible things, so he could be closer to Abby. I'm just an emotional dork, but I really enjoyed it.

[liz_momof2]

I was happy that in the end Henry wasn't necessarily bad/evil like his father but just disturbed and manipulated by him. I was glad that he killed Wakefield as well.

I did think more attention needed to be paid to Trish. I think her death scene was just as long as Danny's.

I watched it again last night with my husband. A few things are definitely not ringing true for me.

Henry's adoptive parents definitely didn't seem like bad people. But if J.D. is biologically their child, even though Henry didn't know he was adopted, a part of him may suspect that he was different.

After watching it last night, I don't think that Henry spent the summers with Abby (and his mom, although the kids didn't know that at the time.) I think his parents came to the island every summer as a family vacation and they spent a lot of time together. Charlie said something about how they were leaving early this year or something to that effect.

The patience to plan something like this and NO ONE have any idea is stretching it a bit. Trish and Henry were together by the time of the original rampage, right? I know that was in one of the first episodes so I may be wrong. So no one, Trish, Abby (although he may not have seen her much,) Danny, Sully (his best friend since jr high,) Malcolm, Booth, not mentioning the bridesmaids because I assumed that they were more Trish's friends and although they knew Henry, they may not have been aware of his behaviors saw any difference in him. With all that rage bottled up in him and the killing going on for 6ish years, no one suspected a thing. Either they are just really stupid or Henry was that good of an actor. I know that it is just a tv show but make it plausible at least.

[marlap]

I am so happy that Jimmy and Abby survived and can be together. Yay!

Trish's death was very sad, and Sully's and Danny's...

I was satisfied with Henry as the killer...I also felt sorry for him.

Early on and for a long time I thought it was going to be Cal, but I do remember wondering about Henry some back then because of JD and Wellington expressing how they didn't trust him.

I thought Uncle Marty's money for Malcolm's brewery...that was a good twist, even though it was really sad.

[Starbucks880]

I didn't mind it being Henry--he was always my top choice. I did feel kind of sorry for him (as much as I hate to admit)--he really was off his rocker, talking as though it was logical why he was doing what he did. It was actually creepy to watch. He was very disturbed and too bad, really, that John Wakefield got to him before, say, a mental health professional. John Wakefield definitely manipulated him. It doesn't make what he did any less horrible, of course. I also don't think it too far-fetched no one saw how crazy he was--I have seen plenty of patients with mental problems who still are astute enough to know when to hide it. many people who we have sent to the psych facility see the doctor and act totally normal to get out. They also act completely normal to the nurses, because they know they report to the doctor. Many times, it works. However, once they are out, they start acting crazy again. Just because you are crazy doesn't mean you don't know how to hide it. And as for him going on so long as a killer--how many serial killers have successfully hidden their tracks and when they are caught, their family and friends are always shocked. There also were a few people who saw something wasn't right with him--Mr. Wellington, JD at least didn't like him for a reason. Perhaps they saw something dark in him. I did like the scenes with Sully and Abby.

I do wish, though, that they had handled the scene with Trish a bit differently and put more detail in the back story. They could have handled Trish's death and her finding out a whole lot better. I also wasn't very happy with how he met Wakefield--they made it sound like there was an instant connection after he lowered his weapon, he tells him he is his father after he finds him, and then immediately Henry starts to kill for him. I don't think it would happen that way. I wanted more explanation about Henry's adoptive family. Why did he hate them so much? I do realize that it would probably be hard to take hearing the news, but I wanted more time spent on this. He did hint to "urges" so maybe he was a sociopath to begin with and had a lot of anger and John Wakefield to help push him over the edge. Maybe it didn't have to do as much with a bad home life. I did think it quite ironic about the money being for malcolm, though.

[Mike'sgirl]

^^^ I agree Starbucks I've known patients to sound fully coherent talking to the doctor and as soon as the doc leaves the oom, start talking crazy again.

While I loved the show, there are thins I would have liked to see done better. I still want to know whether Henry killed his parents...... no explanation ever given how they could both have died within a few years of the rampage, and JD having to be raised by Uncle Marty. I can see one parent dieing early, but not both; unless something like a car accident.

I wondered why Wakefield did not kill Henry during the rampage when they first met - he didn't know that Henry was his son then. They left a few things out and I think Karim knew it because he said he would try as best as possible to answer questions after we saw the finale.

When I saw episode 13 the second time, I felt more sympathy towards Henry watching him let Abby say goodbye to Jimmy, but unlike the first - I clapped when Henry died. He was twisted, but I still wanted Abby to do what her father told her and "end it".

[Little Sew&Sew]

I've always had a soft-spot in my heart when it comes to CHRISTOPHER GORHAM, so it was kinda sad that he was the killer, although (like many before me have said) it was better that he was crazy evil than just pure evil.

Looking forward to watching whatever he might be doing in the future, although my favorite will most likely always remain Jake 2.0

[stacerace]

Originally Posted by Realitychick

I might be one of the few, but I enjoyed how they wrapped it up. The entire show they built on the friendship between Henry and Abby. When the big reveal happened, although I wasn't shocked, I did like how it played out. Henry wasn't evil, just messed up in the head. Although he was insane, I thought his intentions in his own mind were very sweet. He was a product of his circumstances and although it doesn't write off the horrible things he did, I was a little teary eyed when he died. It was obvious it WAS all about Abby. When he said I love you to her while he was dying, just broke my heart. I'm such a dork but I try to see the goodness in everyone even when they do bad things. It was heartbreaking the scene with Trish and Henry. I didn't like how that ran it's course. I thought it should have been more in depth. Since Henry was with Trish for such a long time, I think they kind of half assed it and Trish deserved better. It was also difficult to watch when Sully realized it was Henry. Just wow. I guess I look at it as very sad. Henry knew all these people for years and years and was living with this hate and sadness, and then killing them off was very difficult for me to watch because of the history he had with these people. I thought it was fantastic that he ended up killing Wakefield. But the scenes with him and Abby were tough for me to watch, because of their long and deep friendship it was sad to see him have to do these horrible things, so he could be closer to Abby. I'm just an emotional dork, but I really enjoyed it.

I was hoping it was Jimmy (although I suspected it would be Henry and I think I even mentioned Scream 3 parallel earlier in the thread which certainly ended up being correct) and that Trish, Henry and Abby would have survived (with Shea and Madison too, of course!) but I'm OK with the way the ended it as well for the reasons you stated. In fact, I agree with EVERYTHING you said. I totally cried when Trish died and also when Henry died. Not as much as when Cal and Chloe died. I totally BOO-HOO'd like crazy because it was soooooo romantic and tragic.