THE GOOD: 'THE STRANGER'
WRITING: 80
ACTING: 85
LOOK: 65
SOUND: 50
FEEL: 85
NOVELTY: 50
ENJOYMENT: 85
RE-WATCHABILITY: 75
INTRIGUE: 90
EXPECTATIONS: 85
The Good:
There's some good, warm-hearted humour particularly in scenes with Griffin and her bumbling partner, Ross.
Richard Armitage is fairly good, as is Dervla Kirwan. They have some intense character moments together and the sparks fly all Iver the place. The family dynamic between Armitage, Kirwan and the boys is both realistic and want, making the characters and their fates interesting to follow.
I love the way the different intertwining plot strands slowly but surely move closer towards a joint conclusion. It adds to the dramatic tension of the plot.
The entire concept of a stranger walking among knowing all our deepest secrets is a fairly intriguing one.
Thanks to the constantly moving plot and deepening mystery, this series never feels long or slow, even though there ain't much actual action.
There are gripping twists and turns at every junction and the end of episodes, keeping the story fresh, the pulse high and the viewer at the end of their seat.
The Bad:
I'm bored of these generic thriller film/show soundtracks that consist of endless loops of electronic sounds that rarely bring anything to the film itself.
The first half of the series seems more preoccupied with Adams personal life and the mystery surrounding Corrinne. The central homicide case is overshadowed by this until later into the series.
The different plot strands seem very disconnected from each other minimally, which makes it difficult to figure out how things are supposed to connect.
The police work is unusually lousy, never goes anywhere and feels very unfocused throughout.
Some of the plot details are introduced early on but never explored or fleshed out over the eight episodes (such as the drug thingy with the kids), meaning that they are left awkwardly hanging.
Things turn a bit long-winded towards the end.
The Ugly:
You could say Adam pretty much tripped over the solution, amirite?
VERDICT:
Great performances and an engaging plot, with several intertwining plotlines, keep this fairly traditional thriller series interesting until the end.
75% = :white_check_mark: = GOOD
Review by TabbyloverBlockedParent2022-01-04T02:24:35Z— updated 2023-05-26T20:01:54Z
It's one of those shows where you know the plot is illogical and full of holes, but somehow you can't stop watching cause you're a closeted masochist.
I'm not a fan of Coben's writing to begin with, as he uses the same formula over and over again in all of his books i.e. something from the past is back to haunt someone, and parallel sub-plots somehow intersect in the most implausible ways . Now Coben gets to do his lazy shtick yet again via Netflix, who obviously have no minimal standards of what should be brought to screen anymore. The show somehow started off OK, but deteriorated quickly with each mandatory yet ridiculous plot twist like an ex cop who is such a criminal mastermind that even all the multiple warnings about the intended demolition of his house, couldn't think of moving the body elsewhere. Also, how convenient is it to have a creepy care taker at the football club, who just happens to be around to memorize licence plate numbers for fun?!
I also couldn't put up anymore with the super annoying synthesizer music that at some point seemed to be playing every time a character was driving a car or walking through a door for "dramatic" effect.
I only watched it for the the pretty good cast who all deserve much better than this, and did the best they could with their one dimensional characters (especially the massively underrated Richard Armitage and the always excellent Stephen Rea), but perhaps they all have massive credit card bills to pay.
Worst of all, did they really have to kill poor alpaca Louie?I found him to be the most interesting murder victim of the series!