‘The Sinner’ Season 3: Five things to know about the detective mystery

The Sinner is back, and once again, we find ourselves winding through the dark, misty forests of the northeastern United States.

Bill Pullman as Det. Harry Ambrose is back, too, bringing his gravelly voice and ever-questioning persona. His “knack” for feeling when things aren’t quite right is still alive and well, and almost immediately, we’re plunged into yet another mystery.

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Season 1’s main case was a woman (executive producer Jessica Biel) stabbing a man to death and not remembering why or how, Season 2 focused on a young boy poisoning a couple, and now, Season 3’s big mystery involves a fatal car crash on a dark road.

If this sounds simple enough, you’ve clearly never watched The Sinner. Here are five things to know about Season 3:

As with previous seasons, there is far more going on than meets the eye

“Fatal car crash” seems rather cut and dry, but nothing is ever that simple on The Sinner. From the moment Pullman’s Ambrose gets the call, he can feel that something is up. Once he gets to the actual scene of the crash, we can tell just by his look that he knows there’s more to it. The driver’s body, still stuck in the windshield of the car — he wasn’t wearing a seat belt — sets off alarms for Ambrose as he examines the hood, noticing bloody fingerprint smears and strange patterns.

But hold on, that’s not all! Why does the driver’s phone, a BlackBerry, still have 30 per cent battery power left if it was at the accident scene for hours? Ambrose asks plenty of questions that we won’t spoil here, but this first episode really leaves you thirsting for answers.

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Matt Bomer and Chris Messina are here to ramp up the intensity

One of the best elements of The Sinner is that every season features mostly new cast members (aside from Pullman). This allows the series to bring in fresh blood (pun intended), spice things up and prevent character stagnation. This time around, Matt Bomer (American Horror Story, Magic Mike), the car’s passenger, and Chris Messina (The Mindy Project, Sharp Objects), the car’s driver, bring a certain intensity to the show.

The pair knows each other, but The Sinner takes its time introducing them and hinting at their connection. It’s enervating but also tantalizing. What’s the story here? What’s their connection? How will Ambrose be able to expose the lies these two men are obviously telling?

The show doesn’t skimp on the gross

Another thing for those new to The Sinner: the show often features grotesque and graphic imagery. The show is about murder, death and mystery, so it’s really no surprise. Particularly nasty in the first episode is the juxtaposition of a dead body with meat grilling on a barbecue or Bomer slicing tomatoes. You definitely won’t be hungry while watching, that’s for sure.

It’s the same ol’ Harry

If anything, the only difference with Harry is he’s slightly older. He’s still being pushed to retire, with everyone from colleagues to family telling him he’s past his prime and that he needs to take more time off. But no one is going to push Harry into retirement, no sir. Not when he has this tantalizing new case in front of him.

In Episode 1, we catch a glimpse of Harry’s emotional side as he attempts to spend more time with people close to him. Season 3 may, in fact, delve deep into Harry’s past and tell us his full story — which we still do not know.

The series is addictive, with lots of question marks

One thing about The Sinner: the show always leaves you wanting more. It lays out just enough breadcrumbs, but with any reveal, it tacks on three or four more unanswered questions so anticipation of the next episode is high. Clocking in at eight episodes per season, each of them is dense, and there’s barely any time to contemplate things in detail.

You’ll most likely be hooked after Episode 1. As you meander with Harry into the darkness, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

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‘The Sinner’ Season 3 premieres on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase.