The Undoing is a thrilling and tense murder mystery that successfully kept its audience on tenterhooks for six weeks. In fact, The Undoing beat Game of Thrones and became Sky’s biggest American launch yet. So, The Undoing must have done something right…
The Plot
Based on Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel, You Should Have Known, The Undoing follows the lives of Grace and Jonathan Fraser, two prestigious Manhattan socialites. The Frasers are successful in their careers – they have a son in an elite New York school and lead a seemingly perfect life. Cracks begin to surface, however, when a fellow school mother – Elena Alves – is brutally murdered and Jonathan becomes a key suspect. The audience is plunged into a quick-paced game of ‘whodunnit’ which keeps viewers speculating until the very end. In fact, some Twitter users even started second-guessing themselves! Take it from me, this psychological thriller really works wonders in messing with your head.
The Cast
The Undoing features a star-studded cast and utilises their talents brilliantly. Nicole Kidman executed the character of Grace brilliantly and did an amazing job in portraying the sense of desperation that she experienced throughout the six episodes. Grace finds herself trying to piece together the details of the murder mystery whilst also tackling problems in her own marriage and mental health. Kidman plays her with consideration, passion, and style (literally – have you seen the coats she wears!). As a viewer, I empathised with her character every step of the way.
As the series progressed, it seemed as though there were two sides to the character Jonathan. Casting someone as popular as Hugh Grant to play this role is risky, but he conveyed the contrasting sides of Jonathan effortlessly. Thanks to Grant’s take on the character, I had extremely mixed emotions towards Jonathan throughout the series and this character arc just helped to add to the sense of mystery!
The supporting cast is just as impressive, with the likes of Donald Sutherland, Lily Rabe, and Noma Dumezwen adding a whole new dynamic to the screen. The real star of the show for me, however, had to be Henry – the son of Grace and Jonathan. Played by 15-year-old Noah Jupe, his character introduced a raw and emotional element that the show would have otherwise been lacking.
In the Age of Netflix
I watched The Undoing as it was coming out, so I had to wait one week between each episode. I don’t remember the last time I watched a series that was released in this way. In the age of Netflix, it’s so easy to binge-watch your way through multiple series in quick succession – I feared I’d lose interest if I couldn’t watch various episodes in one sitting. However, I was surprised to find that the opposite happened: waiting a week between each episode just added to my enthusiasm for the show! Releasing the series in this way also allowed the sense of suspicion to grow as we had more time to dwell on various theories.
Now that all six episodes have been released, anyone can watch the show at a pace that pleases them. It is a testament to the writing, casting, and overall aesthetic of the show, as well as their ability to keep their original audience invested in a time where the traditional style of broadcast seems to be dying a death.
A Note on Privilege
Something interesting about The Undoing is the underlying commentary on white privilege. After the killing of Elena Alves, there are two main suspects, one being Jonathan Fraser, a rich and prestigious white doctor, and the other being Fernando Alves, Elena’s Latino husband. The show constructs it as unlikely that someone as esteemed as Jonathan would commit this senseless crime. Because of this, the eyes of the audience automatically fall to Fernando despite the lack of evidence.
On top of this, the Frasers do some questionable things in the midst of the action such as going for a lavish family lunch in the middle of the trial. If they weren’t rich and white, could they get away with this? Pitting the characters of Jonathan and Fernando against one another works to reveal the subconscious biases of the audience. It is interesting to see this exposed as the truth behind the murder is finally revealed.
Maddie Balcombe
Featured image courtesy of Jeffery Blum via Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.