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Netflix The Stranger - Anyone up for discussion with spoilers?

174 replies

Dennisreynoldsduster · 02/02/2020 17:32

Just finished it and I’m curious to see what people thought - with SPOILERS allowed so don’t read on if you haven’t seen it or haven’t finished it!

OP posts:
Janus · 04/02/2020 18:38

Ah I see. But (!!!!) wouldn’t forensics be able to tell he was quite freshly dead and therefore shot after Katz was in custody?? Because I don’t think Adam would have been able to go back home and leave his wife half buried and hope someone would find her pretty soon so that he could tell the boys??
I don’t know why but stupidly I thought she was still alive!!!
I think I’m overthinking it now though!

Ritascornershop · 04/02/2020 21:13

I found it distracting that terribly wealthy and rather posh Adam’s dad used to live in Coronation St Grin Another backstory I have to make up in my head about why Adam grew up poor but now has a wealthy dad.

AcrossthePond55 · 04/02/2020 21:46

Now you're getting into the real forensics, Janus!!! IDK how exact science is on determining time of death. Guess this is where the phrase 'suspension of disbelief' comes in. My big 'thing' is WHY would Katz (a policeman) leave his own weapon at the scene of the crime. That (to me) would make me think that he didn't do it, that it was a plant or someone stole his gun.

I originally thought that Jo was going to try to make it look like a suicide, but I assume the gunshot wounds wouldn't bear that out. I think her overall thought was to just get Adam out of there before anyone showed up and then let the chips fall where they may. If they pointed at Katz, all the better. And there's really no saying that she hoped/expected the bodies to be found right away. It may be that she actually hoped it might take some time, the better to make it harder to determine TOD. The natural timeline for discovery would be Tripp going missing, wife files report, search initiated, car found, search of woods, bodies found. Or someone just reporting an abandoned car in the carpark in the woods etc etc. Either of those would take, what, a week? Maybe Jo was going to call in an 'anonymous' tip.

I think Jo would have convinced Adam that it was far better to leave Corinne there than to risk the boys losing both of their parents (her to death/him to prison).

On one hand it's fun to 'pick apart' a murder mystery. On the other it ruins the satisfaction of the resolution. Double edged sword.

yogo · 04/02/2020 21:47

It had such potential but it was glib and transparent.

MarshaBradyo · 04/02/2020 22:24

I can’t remember exactly the order but timing for the dead body at the end would be out as Katz was arrested already. Although maybe the hour or so grace or whatever with identifying time of death exists.

Also the extra story lines were quite good at distracting but I found the poisoning the daughter unresolved and not sure why Katz was so corrupt.

LoseLooseLucy · 04/02/2020 22:32

I think Katz knew about Heidi because her daughter had messaged the 3 men to tell them she couldn't see them anymore because her mum was being blackmailed, and didn't hear back from the Ethical man, so he sent Katz to find out what Heidi knew?

I enjoyed it overall.

MarshaBradyo · 04/02/2020 22:44

Also why did Katz kill Heidi.

I kept thinking did main guy take time off work as he was always around.

I liked the teens.

The stranger was a bit annoying.

Doyoumind · 04/02/2020 23:32

Katz killed Heidi because she got suspicious about him. He originally went there to try and find out who the people with the information where to sort out things for ethical guy. He didn't know Jo knew her until Heidi was dead and then he started to shit himself.

EachandEveryone · 04/02/2020 23:56

Which area of Manchester was it? The same area as Cold Feet?

Chickenitalia · 05/02/2020 13:32

Binged this in 2 days, it was ham acting at times but I had to know what happened. I don’t think Katz intended to kill Heidi, he went for info on the blackmailers at the request of ethical man who was spooked by Kimberly cancelling on him and worried about his investments going bad. Then when Heidi tried to call Jo for help he realised they were friends and he was going to be identified, so killed her.

The bit I was baffled by was the alpaca. What did a load of drugged up teens have to do with the rest? After Dante woke up and said how daisy had been involved, they never spoke to her? Or carried on the investigation into Mike with the bag covered in blood? I mean I know that all the killings and disappearances were probably more important for police time, but what was the point of that whole bit? Interesting that it wasn’t in the book.

Anthony Head though. Lovely.

vjg13 · 05/02/2020 13:51

I think the gorgeous houses were in Didsbury, same as Cold Feet.

PeppermintPasty · 05/02/2020 13:57

It was enjoyable tosh with loads of silliness all the way through and I spotted loads of the twists, still fun though. The ending had me rolling my eyes out of my head though.

Someone said it had the feel of a kids’ prog, I agree, and my 13-next-week ds loved it so there you go!

Mooserp · 05/02/2020 14:23

Enjoyable tosh is a good description!

I love (hate) it when characters say 'I will tell you everything, but not here...' Does anyone ever actually say that?

Knowing the full story, Corrine's reaction when confronted about the fake pregnancy made no sense. Why all the fearful looks and mystery? And why did she need to tell her about the woman that she'd met and give him her full name (obviously for the plot, but just a bizarre reaction)

Also, how did Joanna work out the situation in the woods within a couple of seconds of seeing Adam with a gun, the dead neighbour and Corinne in the ground.

Mooserp · 05/02/2020 14:25

need to tell him* (i.e. Adam) about the woman

poorbuthappy · 05/02/2020 14:35

I have purposefully read this so I don't have to watch the rest of it but still know what's happened.
So the Dante alpaca storyline means nothing?

MarshaBradyo · 05/02/2020 14:52

It must be a technique to throw in loads of twists that add to intrigue but come to nothing. I enjoyed it but now find I can hardly remember what happened, so much going on.

MonkeyToesOfDoom · 05/02/2020 15:03

Enjoyable tosh is perfect description for it.

Not one is watch again but I don't feel I lost the hours I spent watching it.
Not like I did when I watched The OA, there's several hours I'll never get back.

Egghead68 · 05/02/2020 16:24

Nothing wrong with a bit of enjoyable tosh!

Sparrowlegs248 · 05/02/2020 18:33

@MarshaBradyo I feel like that, I watched it in 3 sittings over the weekend, and reading these posts I feel like I must have missed lots. I don't recall ethical man at all, before the failed operation in the bar.

happinessischocolate · 05/02/2020 20:11

Guess this is where the phrase 'suspension of disbelief' comes in. My big 'thing' is WHY would Katz (a policeman) leave his own weapon at the scene of the crime. That (to me) would make me think that he didn't do it, that it was a plant or someone stole his gun.

He didn't leave his gun at the scene of a crime it was at the strangers flat. Didn't jo take it back to the flat again after Adam used it or did I get that wrong and she was just hiding it in a random wall

Duvetdweller · 05/02/2020 22:46

Just finished it - I really enjoyed it (even thought there were may plot holes). Gorgeous houses are in Hale @vjg13 - same as the other adaptation Safe. There was a lot set in Stockport too - they made it look quite nice!!

AcrossthePond55 · 05/02/2020 23:00

He didn't leave his gun at the scene of a crime it was at the strangers flat.

I'm not sure!!! You're probably right. I thought she was just wiping it down and planning on leaving it there but now you mention it I do remember something about the gun and a wall. (I watched it half asleep, I'll have to rewatch the last half).

But I guess even if the gun was never found ballistics would show that the same gun was used in both murders. In the US, if the gun was registered, that would be enough to trace the gun back to the owner. I'd assume it would be the same in the UK and that as a police officer any gun Katz had would be registered. 🤷🏼‍♀️

vjg13 · 06/02/2020 07:11

Duve, at least one of the houses is in Didsbury, I know the road and used to walk my dog there when I lived in Didsbury. !

ivykaty44 · 06/02/2020 07:21

I think that Katz killed Heidi after he realized that she knew Joanne

You clearly see Joanne show a photo of her and Heidi after Katz murder of hued I and that’s when he realised it was her friend

sycamore54321 · 06/02/2020 20:52

Oh I enjoyed this! It doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny but it was an engaging and fast-moving plot. Some of the twists I could see coming, others not.

Was there a continuity error at one point - did someone refer to Katz as Philip rather than Patrick in an episode halfway along?

Like others, as soon as i noticed Killane referring to “my child” and not using “he” or “she”, I could guess that the Chris would turn out to be a girl and the stranger

This sounds a bit mad but what do people mean by bad acting? I’ve never particularly noticed someone acting well or not, i just end up with an overall impression of the story as a whole. Can someone point to an example of what was so bad about the acting here?

Separately, a similar show I watched recently on Netflix was called Unforgotten and featured a strong female lead, crime mystery, even some similar plot points in one series, etc, so I can recommend that if you’d like more of the same.