TV Recaps The Sinner recap: As Harry gets closer to the truth, his circle of trust continues to shrink By Matt Cabral Matt Cabral Matt Cabral is a freelance writer at Entertainment Weekly. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 24, 2021 11:03PM EST The Sinner's penultimate episode picks up right where we left things last week. Having been rescued by Meg at the boatyard—where very bad things are clearly happening—Harry's healing up at her house. While she applies ace bandages to his wounds, he ponders what's behind his disturbing discovery: "Maybe a prostitution ring or pornography." Sean comes in to help, and Colin calls, but Ambrose keeps quiet—he still doesn't trust the Muldoon men. Meg insists it's not her sons he should suspect but boatyard owner Don instead. She hands him an old pistol and the keys to her Jeep. When Ambrose leaves, Sean hesitantly approaches his mother: "Ma, there's something you need to know." Harry heads directly to the police station, where he brings Chief Lou Raskin up to speed on his harrowing night. But Lou's got some big news too: "Mike Lam killed Brandon. We got DNA." Brandon's lobstering gloves, covered with Lam's prints, were apparently found at the crime scene. Ambrose isn't buying it—he believes the evidence was planted. With his circle of trust evaporating, Harry rebuffs Raskin's suggestion of filing a report and filling in the mainland detectives. He instead goes to the Lam's restaurant, where Mike's wife reveals the secret the couple had been keeping. Late one evening, Mr. Lam witnessed a group of men and women being hurriedly transferred from Brandon's boat to another vessel. Piecing this info with what he'd found at the boatyard, Ambrose suspects human trafficking. A tip from Mrs. Lam—who had an uncle that needed "help" crossing the Canadian border—brings Harry to a buoy shop run by a man skilled in the art of phony documents. With some persuasion—and his borrowed pistol—Ambrose convinces the shady character to spill the beans. In a flashback, we learn Percy Muldoon had previously visited the same shop; armed with a photo of a missing woman, plenty of accusations, and the threat of police involvement, she pressed the man for information. The shop owner reluctantly admits to crafting fake IDs and gives Harry a description of the boat that picks up the forgeries. Ambrose corroborates the intel with harbormaster/lunar goddess-worshiper Em, who connects the vessel to the island home of one Verne Novak. Harry grabs the keys to a Boston Whaler and makes waves to Novak's place. Knowing he's navigating dangerous territory, possibly hastening his own demise, he dials Sonya on his smartphone. Imaginary Percy stops him: "Calling her one last time? It might be what you want, but you know it will only scare her." Ambrose arrives on the island to not only spot the boat the ID-maker described, but also Meg meeting with Verne. When Grandma Muldoon leaves, Harry—borrowed gun in hand—confronts Novak. Following a tense altercation, Verne's on the floor with a bullet in his belly. Before Harry pulls the trigger, however, he calls him out on his smuggling operation and accuses him of killing Brandon: "He cut you out of some profits, so you had to take him out." While Verne bleeds out, Ambrose calls for backup. But Novak reveals the police are on the wrong side: "The night she died, the Muldoon girl went to the cops... and you saw how well that turned out for her." Raskin arrives with the Portland PD. They arrest Harry and bring him to the station for questioning. Ambrose fills them in on Novak killing Brandon, Mike Lam's innocence, and the planted DNA evidence. He also details the migrant trafficking operation and suggests Verne's cell phone history might uncover the corrupt cop he'd alluded to. Raskin and the mainland suits opt for a sidebar, allowing Harry to snag Novak's phone and slip out the back door. He dials the device's last number. Inside the station, Officer Josh—the uncooperative cop from last episode—checks his phone but doesn't pick up. But when he peers out the window holding the buzzing phone, Ambrose is able to identify him as the bad seed. Things go from bad to worse for Josh when Raskin questions him about Percy coming to the station the night she died. The shady cop denies seeing her that fateful evening, but a flashback reveals the truth. Percy brings her hunch of human trafficking to Josh, who agrees to take her directly to Lou to share her suspicions. But Josh mysteriously bypasses Raskin's residence. Percy begs him to stop the vehicle, even offering evidence that could implicate Brandon and Don. "Trust me, you don't want to do that," Josh says before pulling up to Percy's own house. The Muldoon brothers approach the police cruiser. "Thanks, Josh. We'll take it from here," says Uncle Colin. Sean then escorts his tearful daughter from the car. Back in the present, Harry's also arrived at the Muldoon's. He immediately confronts Meg about her meeting with Verne Novak. "You were stringing me along all this time." But Meg insists she just met Verne that afternoon and didn't know anything prior. Harry presses her about the "family secret," but she becomes defensive. "You need to let this go for good... forget about Percy." Harry reminds her she wanted him to investigate her granddaughter's death, but Meg—now focused on protecting what family she has left—remains silent. Harry pours salt in the wound: "Colin and Sean are in deep with this racket. Percy must have found out. Who was she supposed to turn to? It could have been what drove her to do what she did." While clutching Percy's Celtic star—the one with "Valerie" etched into its reverse side—he continues, "Someone else died. Who was it?" But his final plea to Meg—"Make this right, for Percy"—is met with a surprising 360 from the woman who'd saved his life just last episode: "Let me put it this way. Maybe you'll finally get it. You're not safe here if you stay." Related content: The Sinner recap: A disturbing discovery finds Harry literally running for his life The Sinner to end with current 4th season The Sinner premiere recap: A creepy new case pulls recently-retired Harry back in Bill Pullman promotes the use of 'freedom masks' with Independence Day throwback