Pilot Review: Secrets and Lies

Secrets & Lies is a new American drama based on the Australian series of the same name, which aired March 3rd of this year.

First Impressions

Oh no, too sad already.

So the entire season will be the audience determining if this guy murdered the little kid? I’m sure they’ll spice it up, but man does that sound slow paced.

Anyway, I don’t think I could like this show. There are two (OK, three) options:

1. He didn’t do it and everyone, including his family, is going to judge him and wonder and it’s going to be really heartbreaking to watch the suffering.
2. He did do it, but he puts on the performance of a lifetime, and then I’ll be slightly skeptic but also disappointed that our protagonist is actually a child killer.
3. He was somehow involved in the killing, which would probably be the best scenerio for all my emotions, but there would still be too many feels because that’s almost like the first scenario anyway, huh?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqkkphZGrx0]

Looking at the file I have, it’s actually not a full episode. I’ve got 18 minutes even though this show will be in an hour-long time slot.

Too Many Feels.

Skepticism: this actor does not look old enough to have a daughter that looks as old as she does. And he looks a little like Justin Timberlake back in the day. Not very murder-y. OR very murder-y?!

Anger: the detective character is purposefully made to be unlikable. …and I don’t like her. The characters in these roles are always in a position of some type of authority, giving them the right to put you down and be mean. I don’t think this is right in real life, and so I don’t need to watch fictionalized versions of it in my fun time.

Sadness: way too sad. Too sad to see a little boy murdered. Too sad to see our protagonist going crazy with guilt and frustration. Too sad to watch these family members and neighbors try to cope with this loss. I don’t want to watch a fictionalized version of this type of event, and I don’t want to think about what it’s like in real life.

Frustration: I tried to give this mom the benefit of the doubt, that she was just sad herself. It turns out she’s more upset about the inconvenient consequences of her husband finding the body than the fact there was a body to be found. Spoiler alert: the parents are getting divorced.

No Final Judgement (sorta)

Aaaaand that’s the end of what I have!

I have three feelings:

1. I wish I could have seen the end, as it might have given a better idea of how this show will play out, stylistically.
2. And yet, I’m so glad I could stop after 20 minutes. The heartache.
3. So, either way, I probably wouldn’t have “approved” this show.

I don’t really feel like I could say more than that, so I’ll just leave this here…