Sterling Point's Creator Clears Up That Big Theory About Rory's Hand

Spoilers ahead for Sterling Point Season 1.

Sterling Point creator Megan Park is ready to clarify the moment that has fans in an uproar. After former piano prodigy Rory confides in Annie about a harrowing decision to break his own hand, she discovers him playing a beautiful composition in private. When Annie asks how he can still play the piano so well despite his injury, Rory nervously tells her he doesn’t consider his performance to be at his previous elite level.

The moment has led to a lot of debate online about whether Rory was being honest about his broken hand. Some fans saw the piano scene as a revelation Rory lied to Annie about his injury to manipulate her into sympathizing for him, while others believed Rory’s explanation about being unable to play to his past potential.

Thankfully, Park has a definitive answer.

“I want to clear up a fan theory: Rory didn’t lie,” Park tells Elite Daily. “A lot of people are saying, ‘He lied about his hand.’ But to him, he really can't play the way that he used to play. He's not lying about that. In that moment Annie walks in on him playing piano, he genuinely means that to him, that's mediocre. His expectations are so much higher.”

Park confirms that Rory’s story about coercing his cousin to slam a car door on his hand as a child is truthful. “He really genuinely did slam his hand in the door and break it, and it did affect his playing,” Park says.

The showrunner clarifies that this backstory was included to highlight the immense and painful burdens that Rory puts on himself, and was not intended to be a red flag in his relationship with Annie: “That wasn't meant to be him deceiving Annie in any way. It was just showing the extent of how much he cracked under pressure — that he literally had to break his own hand, which I think is really sad.”