THE UNDOING SERIES REVIEW

The Undoing series has been the show on everyone’s lips, the season finale was such a no-shocker no one can seem to stop talking about or truly get over it. Well, My community is also a part of The Undoing club, and we love that show. From the impeccable acting to the beautiful scenery, everything has kept me in awe of the show honestly. So, I am going to be reviewing the six-episode series in entirety, Giving you all, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Never-forget.

The Beginning. (Episode 1-2)

Described by the New-Yorker as empty lifestyle porn, The show starts with a shocker, a young boy running and then finding out something so gruesome, he has to turn away. Like David E. Kelley’s other recent show, Big Little Lies, the show is set in a beautiful scenery with luxury buildings around, and even more fancy people splurging on things that don’t matter.

Nicole Kidman-turned Grace Fraser waltzes around, in beautiful flowy gowns, the most dexterous hair, and the prettiest eyes, basically, just hinting at us, that she lives a better life than we do, but still yet, that it apparently hasn’t gotten into her head. The show centers around, Grace and her knight-in-shining armor husband–Jonathan, their love flows effortlessly through the screen, their chemistry undeniable, it’s evident to everyone in the room, and so when suspicions start to arise before even the first episode gets to it’s close, you start to worry immensely. A nudist–like Jonathan comically refers to “Elena”, is introduced, and her actions at the table with the boujee high-class ladies of New York city reveal to us the exact kind of uncomfortable ride we are just about to go on, Grace and Elena kiss very briefly, and it honestly makes you wonder whether the movie is about to take a turn into a lesbian dark- drama, I honestly would have preferred it frankly. Well, the first episode ends after endless confusing nudity from Elena, glaring stares from Grace, a lot of rambling from Sylvia, and ends up with a shocker, basically leaving us to wonder, Who dunit?

Nicole Kidman’s acting is impeccable (I’m a little biased, cause i love her), but actually, she acts this role so seamlessly, leaving the viewers to decide for themselves what exact kind of emotion they want to feel for her, When she ends up being confronted and interrogated by the police we can’t help but feel so much pity and distress for her, When she is emotionally beaten down by her husband, we have to feel uncomfortable, and When she waltzes around like a defensive independent lady, you have no choice but to cheer for her. Hugh Grant-turned Jonathan Fraser on the other hand, has now gone from charming, successful husband to the scary villain of the show, and it’s hard to properly navigate how we feel here. I must say, I hate Hugh Grant’s facial expressions on this show, he makes so many faces at the same time, it’s so hard to tell them apart, and that gets extremely mind-boggling later.

The Middle (Episode 3-4)

At this time, we’ve been invited into their luxury estates and boujee lifestyle, A fund-raiser has been held with people spending millions on a bottle of water (Eyeroll!), these are problems we could never have truthfully, and when an innocent-faced mother joins the group and tries to feed her child in the room, it gets everyone so uncomfortable, they practically can’t keep their eyes open.

The middle is characterized by Grace Fraser, basically screaming at the police, being too lenient on Jonathan, and basically giving the benefit-of-the-doubt, to someone who is seemingly guilty. When she starts to visit Jonathan in prison, you may get mad at her, especially after hearing Stuart’s diagnosis of his mental state, but after you listen to the ever doe-eyed, soft-spoken Jonathan Fraser speak, even a bit of your heart breaks for him, and you actually do want to feel bad. The person you should instead be feeling bad for though is Elena’s husband, who prances around with a kid that isn’t his, and a heart so heavy, you can read the pain in his eyes, it’s a terrible sight to watch, and you can’t help but marvel at the incredible inner strength the man must possess, to be considered as a suspect, in your wife’s murder, all the while, still grieving your said partner.

Grace’s dad Franklin, played by Donald Sutherland, continues to remind us that, indeed ugliness looms beneath the clouds, and it’s yet to come over us–both cast and viewers alike.

For some reason, best known to them, everyone continues to give Jonathan the benefit of doubt, and continues to visit him in prison although he truly doesn’t deserve it, which I find very disturbing, I get that families need to stick together but Grace needed to make him suffer for at least a year plus before bringing her son close to a gruesome murder suspect for Christsakes!

Along the way, it turns out Elena had been working on a stunning portrait of Grace, which further thrusts us back into that dark romance arc, which I really wish was dwelt into, cause honestly, it would have made for a better story. I really do think Elena did have some sort of attraction towards Grace though, and the flashbacks Grace continues to have, further confirms those thoughts, you start to nearly believe, they had some type of past romance, we all don’t know about. Jonathan Fraser ends the episode by declaring his undying love for Elena, which further reaffirms, my wonder–What the hell is Grace doing standing by a man, who doesn’t have the least respect for her. (Seems like a Khloe and Tristan situation here, don’t it?).

The End. (Episode 5-6)

The end kinda turns into some court-room drama, that makes you want to scratch your eyes off, the dialogue is so boring and lacks the swift arguments we are used to on court shows like How to Get Away With Murder and Suits. The court scenes just drag on and on, with some great interrogations, and some uncalled for ones, like Haley–the lawyer, interrogating a 10 year old boy was outright ridiculous. Grace gets very humane in this episode though as she lets her guards down, and rushes to feel good for even 10 seconds with Jonathan, It’s so annoying to watch, but it’s also so realistic, cause it’s something women are so very susceptible to do, and that is rush back to someone that has hurt us a million times over, just because we need some sort of physical contact to feel normal. (PSA Ladies: We are way above that!).

Jonathan’s mum practically reveals Jonathan as a psychopath, almost at the same time, we find out Henry hid the murder weapon, and may infact be the culprit, thereby taking our focus from Franklin as the killer, to Jonathan, to Sylvia at some point, to Elena’s husband, to Grace, and now to Henry. Henry doesn’t help matters though, he plays the role like he just may be guilty, and since we find out that he indeed knew his father was having an affair. Well, anything is possible, and Jonathan suggests that anything id possible, (The likelihood of an 11-year old boy bludgeoning a middle-aged woman is unbecoming though), it’s the most unbelievable thing I have ever heard, but of course in Jonathan’s mind and David E.Kelley’s universe, that could always happen.

Jonathan’s interrogation on the stand, is quite commendable though, so is Miguel’s, he plays the role of the distraught, confused boy, unaware of what the consequences of his words could mean, and earnestly, that’s so beautiful to watch. Well, turning to Grace finally becoming the woman we all needed her to be and turning her back on Jonathan to give a revealing statement maligning him and his character, Jonathan Fraser is able to be convicted. And if you didn’t already figure it out, he is indeed a psychopath, and the evil murderous kind, who bludgeoned his lover to death, not even in a jealous rage or, the heat of passion, or in a moment of rage, but just because she failed to do his bidding, and dared to touch his male ego. The end of the show is very anti-climactic though, instead of revealing some unforseen suspect, it leads us down the most predictable part and reveals, the suspect all along, as the killer. Which leaves all the viewers feeling played, cause you have to question how we all saw this coming, but did not know for certain?.

In conclusion, the show makes for a beautiful work of art, a timeless sequence in my opinion, and unlike the naysayers of the plot, I’m fully in support of the plot not really revealing any shockers, but still intriguing us regardless, cause Grace’s race towards Jonathan and Henry at the bridge, honestly could have broken my heart, as I wondered whether Mr psychopath will be up to his same tricks again, and truthfully, that was where my own distaste lied, not in the fact that Jonathan was indeed revealed as the culprit, but in the fact, that for a man now known for despicable antics, I did expect some wild goose chase or resistance from him last minute, but in the end, he just succumbed to the hands of justice, and that was really lack-lustre in my opinion, for a man now-revealed as an inbred monster.

So, yeah, there goes another HBO show thriving off Sexuality, Violence, Luxury and Thrill, intertwining them together, to give us a beautiful piece of art. Despite it’s flaws and failure to perfectly hit the benchmark expected of the show and it’s cast, I’d still recommend the series to lovers of all things mystery and thriller. The show does indeed serve it’s purpose and gives us timeless American entertainment, just as expected, of David E.Kelley and the HBO Family.

P.S. The plot of the series was gotten from the book, You should have known, by Jean Hanff Korelitz, so if you loved the series so much you can’t get enough, you should probably dive into that.

Ideas for this post were gotten from: www.vulture.com, www.time.com, www.independent.co.uk, www.newyorker.com

XO, ANGEL JOANNE.

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