Too unclear in its telling. Too 'waffly' for most of the drama.
I liked the premise - when I finally realised what it was, although even that was not absolutely certain! - i_e_ that we weren't supposed to know if the protagonist (played by talented actor, Shirley Henderson) was involved in the death or not. But the problem was: this basis was unclear for much of the first 2 episodes. So the story's central purpose was invisible for half of the 4 parts.
And in any case I don't like being 'toyed with' that way by TV production companies. There is a way of being vague about 'whodunnit', without playing twisted games with the viewers. Stories should always be clear in their purpose, even if that purpose is - ironically - to be vague!
"You're wrong about me: it's you I'm here for" and other script lines seem effective . . . The text here serves its purpose: the vagueness in the words could mean the protagonist is there to 'get' the other woman or to help her. This line should have served to keep viewers enthralled. But adept script lines like this are lost in the general muddle. As the way the story is laid out just stretches everything on and on. So, instead of a good script clarifying things, confusion ensues.
A more adroit style of telling it would have been worthy of the story's plot. A sharper feel would have done wonders. But there was no such stylism. I didn't mind the concentration on the lead character's character & psychology, rather than police procedures etc. After all, we've all seen edgy crime thrillers aplenty, and they do tend to follow a model. So this drama's novel angle in a crime story was a refreshing approach. No, the problem was that the drama didn't do this approach well enough. We weren't sure what the protagonist was feeling, thinking, or doing for most of the time. And that should not be the case in a TV drama.
The programme was so annoying to watch that it took me a fortnight's gap between each episode to drag myself through the whole thing! ,-)
Too many hateful looks at neighbours; too much gossiping over the garden fence . . . All these stylisms were left unclear as to their relevance to the story. They instead just seemed an unnecessary focus on neighbourly nastiness. Pointless camera time. And it felt like they were tropes taken straight out of a soap programme. And played straight to an audience just so they too could gossip about the gossipers on-screen!
So this was another case, sadly, of Channel 5 focusing on the lowest common denominators amongst the viewers. As C5 have done too often, in their recent TV output.
Kudos to Henderson, though. She did more on-screen crying than I have ever seen an actor produce in one drama, and to good effect. She's excellent in the role: so believable as both a victim and a perpetrator . . .
And the other actors were equally as worthy. It was the ambience of the drama that was wrong, not the casting or work of the acting team.
The programme all seemed a bit soap-tastic ("Ooh! So WHO shot JR?!"), rather than clever. Too many over-lingering shots by the camera of each of the characters . . . Was the killer him?! Was it her?! Over-dramatic piffle, that just made me not much care.
Such a shame, as if the drama had been given a different style, an intelligent programme would have been produced.
Fortunately in the end scenes the emotions in the plot run high, and the endless dragging out of the story ceases as we see a worthwhile finale. Finally we find out what's been going on. And we see why the lead character had been behaving the way she did. Her true - and deep-seated - nature is revealed. And a conclusion to the tale is given to the viewer that is original, and sadly believable. So much so that the excruciating previous 3½ episodes now - surprisingly - seemed almost worth the wait.
So in the end the programme might be said to be worth a 7, rather than the 6 I had been thinking of before that point.
Nonetheless, I prefer the pace and creative approach to the story of other miniseries of this year: 'Coma' and 'The Inheritance'. Both crime dramas are well made, and deserving of the viewer's time. Yes, they differ in style and target audience, and 'Coma' has a more mature approach, but each has its merits as a crime story. The good thing is that both of these miniseries are Channel 5 releases, so both dramas put C5 in my good books.
I liked the premise - when I finally realised what it was, although even that was not absolutely certain! - i_e_ that we weren't supposed to know if the protagonist (played by talented actor, Shirley Henderson) was involved in the death or not. But the problem was: this basis was unclear for much of the first 2 episodes. So the story's central purpose was invisible for half of the 4 parts.
And in any case I don't like being 'toyed with' that way by TV production companies. There is a way of being vague about 'whodunnit', without playing twisted games with the viewers. Stories should always be clear in their purpose, even if that purpose is - ironically - to be vague!
"You're wrong about me: it's you I'm here for" and other script lines seem effective . . . The text here serves its purpose: the vagueness in the words could mean the protagonist is there to 'get' the other woman or to help her. This line should have served to keep viewers enthralled. But adept script lines like this are lost in the general muddle. As the way the story is laid out just stretches everything on and on. So, instead of a good script clarifying things, confusion ensues.
A more adroit style of telling it would have been worthy of the story's plot. A sharper feel would have done wonders. But there was no such stylism. I didn't mind the concentration on the lead character's character & psychology, rather than police procedures etc. After all, we've all seen edgy crime thrillers aplenty, and they do tend to follow a model. So this drama's novel angle in a crime story was a refreshing approach. No, the problem was that the drama didn't do this approach well enough. We weren't sure what the protagonist was feeling, thinking, or doing for most of the time. And that should not be the case in a TV drama.
The programme was so annoying to watch that it took me a fortnight's gap between each episode to drag myself through the whole thing! ,-)
Too many hateful looks at neighbours; too much gossiping over the garden fence . . . All these stylisms were left unclear as to their relevance to the story. They instead just seemed an unnecessary focus on neighbourly nastiness. Pointless camera time. And it felt like they were tropes taken straight out of a soap programme. And played straight to an audience just so they too could gossip about the gossipers on-screen!
So this was another case, sadly, of Channel 5 focusing on the lowest common denominators amongst the viewers. As C5 have done too often, in their recent TV output.
Kudos to Henderson, though. She did more on-screen crying than I have ever seen an actor produce in one drama, and to good effect. She's excellent in the role: so believable as both a victim and a perpetrator . . .
And the other actors were equally as worthy. It was the ambience of the drama that was wrong, not the casting or work of the acting team.
The programme all seemed a bit soap-tastic ("Ooh! So WHO shot JR?!"), rather than clever. Too many over-lingering shots by the camera of each of the characters . . . Was the killer him?! Was it her?! Over-dramatic piffle, that just made me not much care.
Such a shame, as if the drama had been given a different style, an intelligent programme would have been produced.
Fortunately in the end scenes the emotions in the plot run high, and the endless dragging out of the story ceases as we see a worthwhile finale. Finally we find out what's been going on. And we see why the lead character had been behaving the way she did. Her true - and deep-seated - nature is revealed. And a conclusion to the tale is given to the viewer that is original, and sadly believable. So much so that the excruciating previous 3½ episodes now - surprisingly - seemed almost worth the wait.
So in the end the programme might be said to be worth a 7, rather than the 6 I had been thinking of before that point.
Nonetheless, I prefer the pace and creative approach to the story of other miniseries of this year: 'Coma' and 'The Inheritance'. Both crime dramas are well made, and deserving of the viewer's time. Yes, they differ in style and target audience, and 'Coma' has a more mature approach, but each has its merits as a crime story. The good thing is that both of these miniseries are Channel 5 releases, so both dramas put C5 in my good books.