The Small Screen

Two Magnificent Performers

I constantly alternate between streaming services. I enjoy dramas, in particular period pieces, but find fewer and fewer of them, and so instead, I’ve turned to thrillers.

I prefer the British over American: real acting and less violence, they don’t depict as much blood and guts because they rely on meaty scripts.

As we approached autumn, I watched the drama Outrageous based on the novel, The Medford Girls, which I read over 10 years ago. But six episodes felt rushed, and I would have liked them to slow it down and add more.

It’s a fascinating story of six sisters coming from an Aristocratic family and how, despite being educated at home and geared to marry well, they each found their way in the world and formed an unconventional path.

With my new phone, I was offered Apple TV. I watched one episode of The Morning Show, a boring, hyped, American, blustering, exaggerated, soap opera. Marion Cotillard, a lovely and talented French actress, accepted a role and must have needed the money to keep up her lifestyle in such a flat show.

Down Cemetery Road, a thriller, currently has my undivided attention. Written by the author who gave us Slow Horses, it stars Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. Two exceptional actresses that I prefer hands down over the two principals in the Morning Show. But Americans tend to make plain-looking actresses popular simply because they're blond, have long hair, and have toothy grins, even when they’re arrogant and strike a policeman or inappropriately call someone a retard.

Back to the show, here’s the plot: A house mysteriously explodes in the British suburbs, and a neighbor concerned about the safety of a little girl hires a private investigator to find her. The investigator gets killed, and the police label it a suicide.  The investigator is part of a duo, and his partner and wife, who is far more street savvy, is now on the hunt to find his killer and the truth, which becomes a conspiracy that unravels episode by episode.

Emma Thompson is the investigator. She’s more mature now, but I honestly think she looks more beautiful than ever.  And actress Ruth Wilson, the neighbor who seems naive and quiet, is complex and courageous. Her acting chops captivated my attention when she starred in Mrs. Wilson, the true story of her grandmother marrying for love, believing her husband was an MI6 officer, and after his death, she discovers his mysterious and secret life: he was not in Intelligence, was penniless, polygamous, and had many homes and children.      

Down Cemetery Road is a winner. Stay tuned for more.