‘Sharp Objects’ on HBO Episode 2 Recap: “Dirt”

Taking place entirely on the day of Natalie Keene’s memorial service, “Dirt” opens up the world of Wind Gap to the viewer by introducing us to more figures from Camille’s past, while still feeling just as close and claustrophobic as Adora’s stifling mansion.

Coming down to breakfast out of fitful nightmares (and in a black dress Adora has lent her), Camille is reminded of her status in the house when Adora tries to talk her out of attending the service, scolding her for describing it as “work,” and then prevents her from cutting up her own apple, handing the fruit and knife to Gayla; when the adults have left, Gayla silently collects all the kitchen knives, so: we know Adora is aware of Camille’s history of self-harm.

At the church, Camille and Adora sit with Jackie (Elizabeth Perkins), a friend of Adora’s inasmuch as anyone can be a friend of Adora’s; we’d already heard in “Vanish” that Adora wasn’t speaking to Jackie, and now she’s trying to stop Jackie speaking at all, chiding her to use her “inside voice,” obviously jealous of Jackie and Camille’s friendliness. When the service is underway, Adora repeatedly tries to stop Camille from taking notes. This sends Camille into a memory of Adora rejecting her after Marian’s funeral, leading young Camille to try to soothe herself by stroking her own cheek with one of Adora’s yanked-out eyelashes. After one more attempt by Adora to interfere with adult Camille’s reporting, Camille departs the church…

…and heads to the convenience store for a sewing kit. There, she runs into Amma and two of her friends, shoplifting vodka. Amma, clearly the alpha of the group, wheedles Camille into giving them money to buy Sprite; Camille makes sure to let Amma know she clocked the booze.

Camille then multitasks, mending a tear in her dress while updating Frank on the day’s events. “You can’t fix her like another thing in this house,” warns Eileen, his wife, when he’s ended the call. Camille may need help from someone, though: she’s about to use the sewing needle to make a new scratch on the “SCA” scar on her forearm when she looks up and sees Natalie’s father (D.B. Sweeney) throwing Bob Nash out of the reception at the Keene family home.

Camille’s car door lets us know she’s “SCARED” to attend the wake, and it’s immediately clear why as we hear all the mourners discussing her in barely hushed tones. But Camille’s only one of the Wind Gap outsiders being uncharitably assessed: John’s girlfriend Ashley (Madison Davenport), rebuffed by Mrs. Keene in her attempts to comfort them with food, hisses to a friend about their failure to fit in after their recent relocation from Philadelphia: “Just sitting by themselves in a group of people? And then they wonder why they’re not a part of this town.” Of Mrs. Keene’s eulogy — which had characterized Natalie as bright, curious, and independent — Ashley adds, “That girl she described is not Natalie. Believe me, I should know.” Camille is soon set upon by four of her former high school friends; they’re at various levels of marital and maternal happiness, but united in their suspicion of how much public crying John’s been doing.

Camille slips away to inspect Natalie’s room, noting the “Like” and “Hate” lists Natalie had scrawled on her mirror, and a spider in a jar. When she takes it outside to free it, she gets a quiet moment with Mr. Keene. He confirms that Natalie had been friends with Ann Nash, the town’s other murdered girl, but that it was fine with him when they fell out: “That dad — he’s a strange one.” Mr. Keene tells her he was in Philadelphia at the time of Natalie’s murder, and angrily refutes her suggestion that John could have been responsible: “My son loved Natalie. He would have died before hurting her.”

Camille’s path then takes her on a drive through town, where she sees something unusual for this moment in Wind Gap: two unsupervised boys playing catch in a park. One tells her about James Capisi, who claims he witnessed Natalie being led into the woods by a woman in white. Camille follows his directions to the Capisi house, where an unsettling visit ensues, and not just because James is played by Dylan Schombing, formerly the victim of The Slap‘s titular Slap: he’s confident that he won’t be abducted because he has a handgun. When his very ill mother comes to the door, she doesn’t seem to share Camille’s concerns about this. Vickery then confirms that he’s heard James’s report and dismissed it as idle talk from a neglected kid seeking attention.

Camille ends up back at Sensors, the bar that’s becoming her local. A clump of her former male classmates rudely hail her and even more rudely try to send “four blowjob shots just for Camille!” as she’s trying to talk to Richard. He’s been investigating too, and tells her what we’ve already seen: that in order to see how much force the killer would have required to remove all Natalie’s teeth, Richard purchased a pig’s head on which to perform a dental experiment. Turns out that’s…not easy.

Back home, Camille checks in again with Frank before starting her draft, mentioning some details about Natalie’s room and lying that she’ll be fine including them because Mrs. Keene gave her a house tour. Later, though, we see her considering whether to cut them when she hears screaming downstairs: Amma is throwing a very babyish temper tantrum, Adora trying to calm her and angrily telling Camille it’s because Amma’s scared about her classmates’ murders. Camille is dubious, and Adora launches into a fit of her own: “I just want things to be nice with us, but maybe I don’t know how. Natalie reminded me of you, always running around in the woods, coming home wild and filthy. I thought maybe I could help her, since clearly I couldn’t help you.” “It’s okay, Momma,” Amma whimpers. “I think Camille could be good.”

If this is a performance of immaturity for Adora’s benefit, Amma doesn’t give it away. Camille files her piece with the dodgy details intact and, with no overbearing mother to tend to her, takes her sewing needle to her stomach to soothe herself.

Writer, editor, and snack enthusiast Tara Ariano is the co-founder of TelevisionWithoutPity.comand Fametracker.com (R.I.P.), as well as Previously.tv. She co-hosts the podcasts Extra Hot Great and Again With This (a compulsively detailed episode-by-episode breakdown of Beverly Hills, 90210), and has contributed to New York, the New York Times magazine, Vulture, The Awl, and Slate, among many others. She lives in Austin.