Disclaimer- Apple TV starts 11th October

[Netaporter]

Anyone watching?

The premise; A mysterious delivery threatens to expose a celebrated journalist’s past. Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline star in a series written for the screen and directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

It’s utterly compelling. And I reached the end of ep 1 before realising the husband is played by Sasha Baron Cohen.

Just caught up. I think it's honestly turned a bit ludicrous. That scene in the bar was excruciating. And what followed TBH.

I wonder if we are watching the mother's interpretation from her book, and something else happened that means Cates role isn't as much of a biatch as it makes her out to be. Maybe it's his mums fantasy's that are being portrayed. The Kylie reference makes sense because he had posters of her on his bedroom wall.
All the sex scenes though, man I had to turn my volume down so the neighbours wouldn't overhear 🤣

I'm enjoying it but intrigued as to how the mother knew what had happened. Did Johnathan write a diary? Perhaps I've missed something, all the steamy sex scenes may have distracted me 😊

I do think the cat steals the show & he reminds me of mine 🐾

The cat is brilliant. He's going back on the counter no matter how many times they put him on the floor.
I think the narrative we're seeing in flashbacks is unreliable and things didn't actually happen that way. This is just a theory and I don't know where the truth lies. But I anticipate a twist coming. There are some things being dropped in that have to be leading somewhere (such as the knife, the wound on his arm). But everyone is so awful I'm not sure I really care.

I found this quite a mixed bag and wondered if it wasn't just really glossy rubbish.
Distracted by Blanchett's slightly obvious new looking face but I get why actors do it.
Thought SB Cohen was really good.
Thought the sex was a little bit gratuitous, not that I am prudish I don't think - I can see why it was done but I do feel for the actress somehow. I feel there are ways of showing less without harming the story.

I think a woman director would have achieved the needs of the story less explicitly.
I don't mind the property porn.

I actually really like this! Minus the unnecessarily long sex scenes. Was cringe the way she was directing him on everything and the bar scene I had to skip.

Its a bit slow moving but I like it so far. I just hope the ending isn't meh as I will be very miffed.

I FF through the bar scene.

Gosh those scenes were toe-curling weren’t they? If as viewers we were meant to feel voyeuristic, it was mission accomplished 😳

i haven’t read the book but my theory is that we are watching the Mother’s version of events as imagined through her idealisation of her perfect but now-deceased son. She has painted Catherine as a scarlet woman to fit her narrative. The earlier scene in ep IV showed the lifeguards/paramedics dealing with an injury that had a lot of blood. I think that Jonathan is somehow connected to that event.

I also predict a twist. All is not what it seems.

Agree re twist. There must be one.

I thought I’d love this but I’m struggling to finish episode 2.

I found the bar scene unwatchable.

Yes I had to stop watching those

I read a review in one of the papers that said you could tell it was written by a man!

I watched ep 4 last night and thought it was the last one as the next episode didn't automatically start! Looks like there might be 2 more then from what I've read here? TBH I did think it was a bit of an underwhelming ending🤣

I've found the scenes with the mother's grief very poignant. Thankfully I've not been in that position but her grief is so raw and her life literally ended that day. It's every mother's nightmare come true.

I couldn't watch the sex bits in episode 4. If there isn't a twist coming very soon, I'm out!

I’ve just watched episode 5. What a ride….!

This crap is mesmerising in its surprising awfulness. In a way I’ll miss it when it ends in a couple of weeks (Apple have brought the end forward by one week).

Tbf, the series was adapted by Alfonso Cuarón, but based on the novel written by a British female novelist, Renee Knight (which I have not read). I think that is why the grief scenes are so visceral. I'd be interested to see if the sex scenes are as excruciating in the book.

I love Indira Varma as the narrator - such a wonderful voice. I've no idea if there is a narrator in the book - has anyone read it?

I'm really enjoying the series, but then again, I am easily pleased and will watch anything that isn't sci-fi.

The scenes in her workplace really annoyed me in the most recent episode.(Although I love the workplace from an interior design pov)

The dialogue in that scene was risible, I honestly felt sorry for the actors involved when I was watching it this morning.

I read the book years ago and I remember being surprised reading in early 2022 that a TV adaptation was about to begin filming because the story just didn’t feel strong enough to sustain the storytelling over several episodes. But what could go too wrong, I thought, as it’s from the director of Gravity and the best Harry Potter film, it stars Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline…the answer is quite a lot.

The hotel bar scene was awful - “oh just put the boy down, for God’s sake, and go have a nice wank by yourself.”

Am I alone in thinking what she did was just not that wrong? 🤷🏼‍♀️

No you’re not alone. She shagged a 19 year old - it’s no biggie.

I think it's more than she knew he was out there in the sea and didn't alert the lifeguards as soon as they brought Nicholas in. Or at least that's what we are led to believe from last week's episode, though we don't know if that's the true version of events.

(I haven't yet watched today's so don't tell me if I'm right or wrong!)

Good lord - I’ve just got to the bit about Kylie’s boobs.

HORRIFIC STUFF