TV REVIEW: The Guilty - Episode Two & Finale

WARNING, THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS.

After an interesting but not wholly lapel grabbing start, The Guilty (ITV1) has now wrapped up its trilogy of episodes. All three hour shows had a fair amount to offer, but the programme sadly suffered somewhat from what I shall henceforth be referring to as Broadchurch 2 Syndrome right through until the end.

Episode 2 saw progressively more aspersions cast as to the moral turpitude of the chocolate box cul-de-sac of the show’s setting (not a sentence I thought I’d be writing this week), with bluffs, double bluffs and presumably triple bluffs galore to boot.  Daniel Reid (Darren Boyd), father of the victim, began to act distinctly shiftily, forcing his wife Claire, played by the marvellous Katherine Kelly, to doubt not only their marriage but everything she had so far gleaned about the death of her son. Meanwhile, in a plot arc I’m still not entirely sure of the point of, despite its obvious merit in terms of subject matter, the son of DC Maggie Brand (Tamsin Greig)  is put under scrutiny as potentially being on the autism spectrum, putting a strain on both her professional life and her marriage. Putting all this to one side however she still manages to interview both the former nanny of the Reid boys, as well as deal with this series’ ‘slightly odd villager’ stock character.

This, naturally, brought us on to the finale. It would be fair to say that it did not have anywhere near the level of closure hype as the finale of Broadchurch or even the inferior MayDay, due at least in part to it being such a short run. I, at least, still found myself intrigued as to who the murderer wold turn out to be, ever unable to resist a good old fashion whodunit. By this point DC Brand had a confession on her hands, but unfortunately not one she believed. Running out of options, she is forced to consider the possibility that the answer may lie a little closer to the deceased boy’s home than anyone would like to believe, especially as Daniel Reid’s alibi begins to unravel through the unwitting handiwork of former lover Teresa (Ruta Gedmintas). As the show reached its, actually rather chilling climax, the focus began to fall on the Reid children themselves, as well as upon the condition of young Sam, as his autism symptoms took a dramatic turn for the worse. 

 

Again, whilst nothing about this mini-series felt new and exciting, the big reveal at the end certainly did pack a punch. Not in the same league as Broadchurch, no, but it did have its own shock factor to bring to the table. All in all the ending felt far more resolved than its ITV Drama predecessor, which I think it’s fair to say will come to work both for it and against it in terms of posterity. From episode one, it has been the central performances of Katherine Kelly and Tamsin Greig which have held the show together, with Kelly’s raw emotional exposure and vulnerability as the victim’s traumatised mother clashing nicely with the measured, uptight career lady next door of Greig’s DC under pressure. This remained the case throughout, and the show was all the better for it.

The Guilty could just have benefited from the elusive ‘little bit more’ in so many areas. More twists, more suspects, particularly as it only ever really felt like there were two, heck perhaps even more episodes, just to allow what was a genuinely strong and well-constructed script the space to develop.

It all needed a chance, really, and it’s just a shame it didn’t get it.

-          Jen

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TV REVIEW: The Guilty - Episode One

Whilst this is my first review for a while (the reasons for which I shall go for in our next Feature Friday), I still felt myself to be treading upon oddly familiar ground. Fitting into the modern detective drama cannon upon which I recently waxed lyrical, read the full piece here, in the way that it so neatly does, it is no small wonder that The Guilty gave me a distinct sense of déjà vu.

Bearing a remarkable similarity to both Broadchurch and May Day (see reviews here and here) due to its missing child plot, The Guilty opens on a young boy riding his scooter down a pristine, white picket-fenced suburban cul-de-sac through the orange haze of a colour saturation which can only mean that we are witnessing events from The Past. In capitals. Sure enough, we are told that this is May 2008, and are subsequently brought forward to a rainy May 2013. In the present day, the young boy’s mother, played by Katherine Kelly, is launching a new appeal to find her missing son. Meanwhile, workers digging up pipework in the local communal garden, the very same that missing son Callum Reid disappeared from, happen across a wooden casket. Enter female detective Olivia Col-, no, sorry, got confused, I meant Tamsin Greig, who must step outside of her idyllic family life with her own doting husband and young son in Broadch-, oops there I go again, in order to investigate these latest findings.

Naturally, this being May Day, no Broadch-, I mean Top of the Lake, no I’m so sorry, The Guilty, with the clue lying very much in the title – everyone is a suspect. All jokes aside however, at least for now, this show should hopefully have some points of interest in its own right. One of those is Katherine Kelly. The other is Tamsin Greig. Both give strong performances in this opening episode, leaving just enough intrigue for us to want to keep watching. Kelly’s howls of anguish as the distraught, grieving mother should cut down to the soul of even the most hardened of viewers, with Greig appearing both the mother and the detective next door in equal measure with her usual approachable charisma. A special mention too for Ruta Gedmintas as the accidental local temptress, whom I do admit to having a slight bias for having twice seen her knock-out performance in Backbeat at the Duke of York’s Theatre last year. Again, it seems The Guilty fulfills the modern detective drama criteria.

It’s certainly atmospheric, although I think it’s fair to say it doesn’t quite manage to grab your attention by the lapels until the last 15 minutes. With that in mind, as well as the constant comparisons which are doubtless already being made to all its predecessors (take your pick!), The Guilty is going to need a few tricks up its sleeves to keep people watching.

The Guilty is next on this Thursday, 9pm, ITV.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/the-guilty

Jen

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