(CNN) The following contains spoilers about the "Sharp Objects" season finale on Aug. 26.

In hindsight, "Sharp Objects" became the equivalent of "True Detective 2" -- the considerably less captivating follow-up to a high-profile HBO limited series, testing the appeal of star power and ability of creative talent to produce an encore worthy of the original.

In the first case, the overwhelmed party was "Detective" writer Nic Pizzolatto. With "Sharp Objects" -- which wrapped up its run Sunday night -- it's director Jean-Marc Vallee, who, after his work on Emmy darling "Big Little Lies," again crafted an eight-episode series oozing with atmosphere, but which in this package yielded much less satisfying results.

On "Sharp Objects," Vallee essentially recycled cinematic devices like gauzy, quick-cut flashbacks, coupling that with Amy Adams' showy turn in the central role and the draw of Gillian Flynn's novel.

As Camille Preaker, a reporter whose professional behavior can charitably be described as highly questionable, Adams clearly threw herself into her portrayal of a woman bearing scars, both emotionally and physically, from her troubled childhood.

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