Main Cast
Maya - Michelle Keegan
Sami - Adeel Akhtar
Joe - Richard Armitage
Mother in Law - Joanna Lumley
Military Friend - Emmett Scanlan
Short Intro
The story starts innocently enough with Maya, an ex-military pilot with a past that finds mixed feelings from her colleagues and the public, depending who you ask. She made a decision based on her moral compass at the time, and it didn’t sit well with her superiors.
Maya’s husband is killed after a seemingly random robbery in the park, not long after her sister was killed in a house robbery. All seems like a string of unfortunate events, but in a vacuum where family relationships are awkward.
Reflection
Several plots sprout from Maya’s investigation of her husband’s death due to her suspicion that there is something more to it than what meets the eye as well as public record. Most of her suspicions are based on her dead husband’s super wealthy family with a questionable empire.
Several plots have no bearing on the central story and turn out to have no relevance, but they do make for an interesting story. It keeps the audience guessing with who done it story with multiple possibilities. In traditional Harlan Coben style, the twist in the end surprises everyone with the least suspected character. The last episode wraps up most plot twists while the series is gripping from beginning to the end.
Characters
I loved Maya's character since although she had a petite build, her background in the military turned her into a kick-ass and no-nonsense aunt who everybody under estimates while retaining the respect of her colleagues.
The mother-in-law was a real champ in her role by Joanna Lumley. She was a brilliant antagonist making a business tycoon slash mother hen presence believable as if the role was written with her in mind.
Sami, played by Adeel Akhtar enticed audience emotional response from visual familiarity. An ex-alcoholic suffering from delusions, seeing his ex-wife. He must have known that she was just an illusion, choosing to go along with it out of comfortable familiarity. He was continuously aware that his sanity might be slipping, and although not explained outright from the beginning or being mentioned by his psychologist, it tells volumes why he didn't want a partner. In contrast, his partner was outgoing and challenged his believes, even as a gay person.
In Hindsight
In hindsight, the clues were evident from the beginning. Maya was tricked into believing that her husband was still alive with deep-fake nanny-cam footage, but she considered all theories except one. From the beginning, Maya knew that Joe was dead.
The Creative Smith Rating
The Creative Smith gives a four out of five rating for this series. The story, acting, pace and cinematography was perfect but lost points in a trend that plagues all the Harlan Coban Netflix series, too much reliance on cell phone tracking. It might be relevant that TV shows reflect actual betrayals of life by now incorporating a lot of mobile device communications. It is reality and sadly a trend that becomes more acceptable with new technology and generations. Unfortunately, all the protagonists in these stories rely on spying technology to help the story progress and some creativity and variety will go a long way.
Conclusion
This Is one of the best stories in the franchise. I recommend it as a brilliant watch that will keep detective in you wondering until the last episode.
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