Grade: C-
Lisa Donovan (played by Jane Levy) is a medical researcher on the brink of discovering a revolutionary methodology to treat cancer. Anne Montgomery (Renée Zellweger) is a ruthless businesswoman who takes a sudden interest in her research. Both her and her husband find themselves in a tight spot, both with more than enough talent and will to realize their life-long dreams, and only inches away from realizing them, but without the resources to be able to do so. In comes Anne, offering to indefinitely finance Lisa’s research, if they both agree for Sean (Lisa’s husband) to spend a night with Anne, with the caveat that if they ever discuss what happened that night then Lisa will lose her company and research to Anne. They agree. It’s a terrible and dumb decision, of course, but they’d be no story without it.
The first episode starts off pretty well, with it quickly covering Anne’s and Sean’s difficult position, and Anne wasting no time in offering such an indecent proposal (and yes, they do make a not-so-subtle reference to that film at just the right moment). Before the episode is over they both agree to it. “Fine”, I said to myself, “I can overlook that”, since again, the obvious and more sensical alternative would result in well, no series or story at all. But beyond that, the series has some other glaring issues which I’ll discuss shortly. But first, the positives.
Jane Levy and Renée Zellweger play off each other quite well. Zellweger is the more seasoned actress in the whole show, and she relishes playing the villain. It’s the first time I’ve seen her playing the bad guy (or gal) but she wastes no line, action, or mannerism of her character, savoring every second she gets to play her. She knows she’s playing an over-the-top bad guy, and that comes off through her acting without ruining her character, simply adding another layer to the cheesy, melodramatic, neo-noir-ish tone of the series. Jane Levy is the naive young woman who just wants to help make the world a better place. She plays it straight, with us believing that she believes in her idealistic goals; and that is actually a strength to the story as she is pretty much the only character we sympathize with, unlike Anne who bides her time to strike at just the right moment with the biggest possible blow to gain an advantage. They’re complete opposites to each other, and their acting methodology reflects this to improve the quality of the show.
Another positive is the tone. The directors know the kind of show they are creating. They make sure the camera lingers on characters’ expressions, with a more expensive Lifetime-esque production value complete with the obvious fake lighting, adding slow motion to dramatic moments, and just the right kind of music, all to heighten the melodrama and neo-noir style they were aiming for.
Outside of the two leads and stylistic choices, however, the series does not hold up to scrutiny, quickly falling apart as soon as you begin to analyze it at even the most basic level.
The most glaringly bad elements I found were the two side plots, one involving Lisa’s friend and the other her brother. They add absolutely nothing to the main plot of the story. I get they are supposed to be part of the neo-noir style the show is trying to capture while at the same time expanding the obvious”What/If” element the series is trying to explore, but they both simply bog down the main story. At first I was keeping an open mind since sometimes, in other series, side plots tie in with the main themes and/or main story pretty well, but here they just completely halt the pace and flow of the story. And aside from the fact that the brother side plot adds nothing to the main one, it was also simply not interesting whatsoever, being both dull and cliche to painful levels. Halfway through the season I found myself audibly groaning as soon as her brother came on screen. The one with her friend is a little more interesting, but it also takes a while to get where it’s intending to go, and by the end it feels completely heterogeneous to the main plot.
The other is the script. Outside of the two side plots, the dialogue is bad and there’s just too much exposition. In one episode one of the characters uses the exact same line at least four times, again, in the same episode, to ‘show’ his affection for another character. I was kind of baffled by it, but at the same time not really surprised given the overall quality of the writing. The other is the acting by everyone else. They range from bad to mediocre, but it’s kind of hard to blame them given the (nonsensical) development and dialogue of their characters.
In the end, I don’t regret watching it since I did quite enjoy Renée Zellweger and Jane Levy acting against each other. They both know what’s best for the tone and story of the series and use everything they possibly can to improve it, and they thankfully somehow prevent it from becoming a complete disaster. However, it’s kind of hard to recommend investing time in it given the bad quality of the script, and the fact that there’s just too much good television right now which is miles better than this, even through just Netflix alone. If you’ve seen everything else you’ve been intending to watch (which is already almost no one), or you’re in the mood for a turn-your-brain-off for an over-the-top drama, then I’d say give it a chance. It’s a shame since both the style and acting of our two leading ladies is so good, but in the end, I’d recommend watching something better like Dead to Me (another drama with a much better focus, great acting as well, and a script that is galaxies away better), or even just rewatching Stranger Things before season three drops this summer.
Wes Carpenter Flick Reviews 