Penny Wilbur-Harris

I love the concept of the show. As a psychotherapist for many years, it never gets tiring to watch the origins and development of psychopathy. The actors do a fabulous job, and I especially appreciate Ellen Barkin’s portrayal of Smurf, especially when she emotionally seduces her sons (and Jay) with moments of warmth, homemade meals and emotional comfort while simultaneously psychologically castrating them and putting them in horrifically dangerous situations. Such duplicitous messages are the ingredients to create madness in others. Her sense of maintaining control over her emotions as well as the show keeping her a potent sexual woman is imperative to her character. Therefore.... 1. Changing Smurf into a helpless character and/or unattractive character compromises our fascination with this character. I think it was a mistake to keep her incarcerated for such an extended time.... or to not find ways for her to maintain her aura of power & control while imprisoned. (She should have at least had some sexual affair with the warden or some other powerful figure there to keep her maintaining her sense of self in her world). 2. Again for the exact same reasons as above - I think it is a terrible mistake to subject Smurf to having cancer. It would have been more interesting to see HER reaction to one of her children becoming dangerously ill...to assess whether external situations can modify one with a such an extreme personality/character disorder. 3. The flashbacks of Smurf’s earlier life in Season 4, are awful....and distract the viewer from the storyline. There are so many more creative ways to help the viewer understand her and her past. Thanks for taking the time to read this commentary.