I don't usually put spoilers in reviews, but this show's ending left me so baffled and unsatisfied and that I have to address it. It starts off well, with a solid premise, fine production value, a lot of possible angles to explore and good acting across the board, especially from Sienna Miller.
Then around the middle, things get......goofy.
The use of flashbacks to the main characters' younger selves works well enough, especially when they are always seen in dimly lit rooms or outside in the dark of night. Young Sienna and Rupert look plausible, but young Michelle does NOT. You can change your look by losing weight, straightening your hair and switching up your style, but you can't GROW several inches after university. It would have been so easy to find a young actress who could plausibly morph into adult Kate, I cannot imagine why they didn't find and cast one.
They simply don't give us enough back story as to how Kate became estranged from her mother, or her journey from Oxford drop-out to (apparently) Australia to being a beast of a prosecutor back in London. It could have worked and made sense, but it was too murky.
The ending made no sense. I appreciated the fake-out, with him being exonerated for one crime and then ending up nabbed for another. But it was impossible for me to believe that he would actually be prosecuted or convicted for the death of Alec.
So, he gave his friend illegal drugs at a university party twenty years ago and said friend chose to jump off a building. Even if the drugs were illegal, even if he fled the scene in a panic and lied to the police about what happened, that doesn't add up to a crime that would land you in a handcuffs two decades later.
He didn't push his friend or force him to take the drugs. Did Sophie lie to the police and say he did? If so, they needed to show us that. And even if she did spin that story, too much time has passed and there is no way to prove it. It's a scandal, sure. But it's not a plausible criminal case. They should have shown him resigning in disgrace, not in custody.
Anyway, as I said, Sienna Miller is very good in the role and it is satisfying to see her journey. Rupert Friend is an excellent actor, I loved him in "Homeland," but he's a bit two-dimensional here. Michelle Dockery's performance starts off well enough but sputters when she gets to the really challenging material. I always thought she was overrated as Lady Mary on Downton Abbey and her acting here does nothing to change my mind about that.
Shout out to the actress who plays defense counsel. She's very good and delivers a closing argument that I genuinely believed could sway a jury. The rest was less convincing.
Then around the middle, things get......goofy.
The use of flashbacks to the main characters' younger selves works well enough, especially when they are always seen in dimly lit rooms or outside in the dark of night. Young Sienna and Rupert look plausible, but young Michelle does NOT. You can change your look by losing weight, straightening your hair and switching up your style, but you can't GROW several inches after university. It would have been so easy to find a young actress who could plausibly morph into adult Kate, I cannot imagine why they didn't find and cast one.
They simply don't give us enough back story as to how Kate became estranged from her mother, or her journey from Oxford drop-out to (apparently) Australia to being a beast of a prosecutor back in London. It could have worked and made sense, but it was too murky.
The ending made no sense. I appreciated the fake-out, with him being exonerated for one crime and then ending up nabbed for another. But it was impossible for me to believe that he would actually be prosecuted or convicted for the death of Alec.
So, he gave his friend illegal drugs at a university party twenty years ago and said friend chose to jump off a building. Even if the drugs were illegal, even if he fled the scene in a panic and lied to the police about what happened, that doesn't add up to a crime that would land you in a handcuffs two decades later.
He didn't push his friend or force him to take the drugs. Did Sophie lie to the police and say he did? If so, they needed to show us that. And even if she did spin that story, too much time has passed and there is no way to prove it. It's a scandal, sure. But it's not a plausible criminal case. They should have shown him resigning in disgrace, not in custody.
Anyway, as I said, Sienna Miller is very good in the role and it is satisfying to see her journey. Rupert Friend is an excellent actor, I loved him in "Homeland," but he's a bit two-dimensional here. Michelle Dockery's performance starts off well enough but sputters when she gets to the really challenging material. I always thought she was overrated as Lady Mary on Downton Abbey and her acting here does nothing to change my mind about that.
Shout out to the actress who plays defense counsel. She's very good and delivers a closing argument that I genuinely believed could sway a jury. The rest was less convincing.