MovieChat Forums > The Sinner (2017) Discussion > What happened to the cult leader Lionel ...

What happened to the cult leader Lionel Jeffries?


did I miss something?

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I'm pretty sure they implied a few episodes ago that Vera poisoned him with tea.

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I just want to know where his body is. They searched the purple lake!

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Vera put a little bit Jimson weed in Lionel's tea to make him hallucinating and got sick, while she grabbed the power of their group and then sent him away for "treatment". After Lionel recovered, he knew he would not be welcome if he returned. And he had tired of those "pretty things" around him in Mosswood anyway. So he left for a new place to start over and probably found some new followers in no time.
This is most likely what happened, otherwise there is no way Harry would let Vera get away with murder.

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you are making a lot of assumptions

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Which part?

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We see Vera giving him the tea and it is not mentioned after. The Jimson weed was severely poisonous as we saw in the show and there was no way he would have survived being poisoned. It's a plot hole.

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No, hownos. You didn't pay attention to what Vera told Julian about the Jimson weed in the woods. She said "...it's dangerous. A little bit in a tea will make you hallucinate and some more will make you pass on (their view of death)". And when Harry asked where is Lionel, Vera told him that the beacon left. If Harry thought that Vera poisoned the cult leader to death, he would still have to report it to local police and had Vera arrested.

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cult leaders don't usually just walk away voluntarily. I think it was obvious he was dead.

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"cult leaders don't usually just walk away voluntarily."

Agreed. Like I suggested, he didn't just walk away, he was doped and sent away. He didn't return because he realized that everyone in Mosswood was following Vera's leadership in his absence and no one held her accountable for what she had done, that meant they did have problems with their violent and sexually abuse "work" and he would not be welcome if he went back.

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I also think she poisoned him.

Maybe Harry believed her when she said that The Beacon left, or maybe he simply didn't care enough about that personage to dig further, but I just don't think it's a believable explanation that he left of his own free will.

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I agree with hownos and exatera. Zeesha is making an enormous amount of assumptions in his interpretation of what happened. I mean, it could be that way, but you've basically described a "missing" episode of "The Sinner." Way too much stuff. As for Vera telling Harry what "happened," do you really think Vera's going to tell him that he murdered him? She doesn't tell him anything about the tea, but we see in her flashback that she's giving him tea.

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"Zeesha" is probably a she, and based on my other interactions with her (check out my "I have suspected that for a long time" topic, for instance), I think that's just her tendency.

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Zeesha is definitely a he with big hands and a hairy chest. Here is my xbox avatar kicking a joker at Cat's virtual housewarming party, 5 months ago: https://media.giphy.com/media/VsEr2d7ZNdGgM/giphy.gif

I never said the beacon left of his own free will, did I? What I suggested is he was poisoned with "A little bit (Jimson weed) in a tea". And indeed what happens next is my assumption because Vera's confession(or flashback, as asc85 suggested) ended right there and left us wondering. But on the other hands, we saw what happen to Harry after having a session with Vera- He ended up in the motel with no recollection of how he got there. That's the work of "A little bit in the tea", right?

I don't understand why you guys are so determined to nail Vera on the murders' list. From my understanding, she is too smart to kill someone to get what she wants.

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