Everyone In Wind Gap Thinks They Know The Murderer In 'Sharp Objects,' Here's The Main Suspect
Sharp Objects is now four episodes into their eight installment run. At the halfway point, two main suspects have emerged as the leading contenders to who killed Ann Nash and Natalie Keene. The first is Bob Nash, the father of Ann. The town thinks there something not right about him. The other is Natalie's brother, John Keene. The town thinks there something definitely not right about him either. Did John Keene kill Natalie & Ann on Sharp Objects? Warning: Spoilers For Sharp Objects follow. This post only discusses the happenings in the TV series so far.
The Keene family is not originally from Wind Gap, which makes them semi-outsiders, even though there's a suggestion they've lived in Missouri the better part of five years. As John reveals, the family lived in Philly before that. His sister made the transition fine from the big city to a small town. She grew into a popular teenager with a pack of friends, she was known and liked about town. John, on the other hand, did not.
Wind Gap residents say there is something not right about him or his mother. Neither seems to have transitioned into small-town life very well and because of this lack of connections turned to each other as friends. John is not a football player jocular type either. He's a bit of a nerd, a quiet dude, someone who seems too intelligent for the pig farming he's stuck doing.
John's girlfriend is Ashley Wheeler. Ashley is... well she's trying really hard here. She wants to remake John into the popular guy she believes he should be, and she's bound and determined to project that image despite his opinions on the matter. For instance, when she sits him down for an interview with Camille to get his side of the story out, she dresses up in her cheerleader uniform, so everyone knows he's dating someone wholesome.
John's recalcitrance at being forced into boxes by other people is one of the reasons people believe he's not right in the head. His public grief at losing his sister is another. Men are supposed to be stoic, strong-for-the-family types. John instead stands before the congregation openly weeping at the loss of his little sister. Memes pop up suggesting he's some sort of pervert who felt incestuous towards Natalie. Even the out-of-towner, Detective Willis, feels it doesn't ring right. After all, at 17-years-old, no boy should willingly cry in public.
But Camille feels for John. The rest of the town might not understand him or feel he doesn't fit into their preconceived notion of how a teenage male should act. But she gets the intense longing to escape the oppressive atmosphere to conform. A childhood spent raised by someone like Adora leaves Camille unsympathetic to Ashley's ultra-obvious machinations. For what it's worth, she doesn't think Keene did it.
But if John Keene didn't do it, who did? The murders still remain unsolved, and the police chief follows Keene around enough to make it seem like he's still Suspect Number 1 until further notice.