Everything We Know About Detective Ambrose's Past On The Sinner

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Sinner season 2.

As promised, The Sinner season 2 is dedicating a lot of its terrifying time to uncovering the backstory of detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman). In fact, in classic Sinner fashion, within the first few minutes of Ambrose's entrance into 2018 premiere “Part I,” viewers are tossed into a terrifying scene that appears to be both memory and dream. Oh, boy, is it eerie.

The moment is a direct connection to one of Ambrose’s last conversations with season 1 protagonist Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel), where he explains their connection. Essentially, Ambrose went through his own traumatizing moment in his youth and felt inescapable guilt for some time, just like Cora. With the arrival of The Sinner’s second year, we’re able to learn where, exactly, that shame came from.

From what we’ve seen in season 2, something awful happened involving Ambrose’s mother and home during his early teen years. Keep reading for a complete explainer on the breadcrumbs The Sinner 2.0 has dropped about the detective’s dark backstory. Yes, even the bizarre details about his fingernails are included, along with that awful fire.