Starring: Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, Kim Dickens, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Bobby Naderi, Gabriel Sloyer, Matthew Modine, and Lorraine Toussaint
Created by: Olivia Milch
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ho doesn’t love a good mystery? Though HBO has been dominating that space as of late with everything from the soapy fun of The White Lotus to more gritty fare like Mare of Easttown, Prime Video is throwing its hat in the ring with its newest series, The Better Sister. It has all the ingredients for a hit (A-list stars playing ultra-wealthy characters, rugged detectives, based on a novel), but it pales in comparison to the modern classics of the genre.
The Better Sister first introduces us to Chloe (Jessica Biel), a high-powered media executive who seems to live a perfect life with her husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan). However, it quickly becomes clear she’s hiding some secrets about her past—secrets that threaten to come to light after she finds Adam murdered in their home one night. Many of these secrets tend to revolve around her sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), the decidedly less successful sibling, who has battled addiction and gotten in trouble with the law on more than one occasion. When someone close to both of them becomes the prime suspect in the case, the estranged duo is forced to put aside their many, many differences and work together to prove their innocence and catch the real killer.
To make matters more complicated, a headstrong detective named Nancy (Kim Dickens) and her partner Matt (Bobby Naderi) are determined to find and expose their family’s dark past. Chloe and Adam’s professional lives also bleed into the investigation, with Chloe’s boss, Catherine (Lorraine Toussaint), having a vested interest in the public relations aspect and Adam’s coworkers Bill (Matthew Modine) and Jake (Gabriel Sloyer) guarding potentially pertinent but dangerous information regarding some enemies Adam may have had when he was killed.
Every good mystery has its fair share of misdirects and twists, but while there are plenty of suspicious characters and wild revelations in The Better Sister, it has the baffling problem of somehow being both overstuffed and thinly plotted. There are plenty of subplots—many frustratingly overcomplicated and difficult to keep straight, particularly in regard to Adam’s work situation and Ethan’s motivations—but few present compelling red herrings or go anywhere satisfying. It makes much of the eight-hour runtime a tedious, irrelevant slog, and while things pick up during the last few episodes, by that point, it’s too little, too late.
The Better Sister seems to want to say things about privilege, toxic masculinity, and race in regard to how the legal system treats rich, white male suspects compared to the lower-class, women, and people of colour, but the messaging is so awkwardly shoehorned in that it comes off as a random afterthought at best.
The only themes that are truly baked into the plot and explored with any kind of nuance are those of childhood trauma and domestic abuse, and while the respect and authenticity with which they’re engaged is admirable, neither comes close to reaching the groundbreaking heights of Sharp Objects or Big Little Lies Season 1. The flashbacks the show relies on to flesh these subjects out end up feeling more like lazy crutches than intentional artistic choices.
Despite the buzzy cast and premise, I can’t imagine there will be many tweets throwing out theories or Reddit threads dedicated to gathering clues about the killer, as the show commits the biggest sin a mystery series can by never making us particularly care who murdered Adam or why. The best thing about an entire season dropping like this is you don’t have to wait weeks to get your answers, but there were very few episodes where I was scrambling to press “play” after. There’s a lack of suspense and urgency, but more than that, a lack of specificity or freshness that makes The Better Sister ultimately feel like a hodgepodge of other, better shows. In terms of craftsmanship, there are a few memorable shots here and there, and the score occasionally helps to elevate the drama and thrills, but they’re fewer and further between than one expects and desires from a show that’s obviously trying to capture a prestige vibe.
The most frustrating part of The Better Sister is that there is something interesting just under the surface. The dynamic between Chloe and Nicky is rich, complex, and even bold in how far the show is willing to take the dysfunction. Biel and Banks don’t have an undeniable chemistry, but they play off of each other reasonably well and are suited for their respective roles. While they are marketed as co-leads, I would argue that Chloe is the de facto protagonist, and that’s the show’s biggest problem. There’s nothing I love more than an unlikable female protagonist, but Chloe’s personality is so bland and cliché—the dictionary definition of the “uptight girlboss”—that it’s difficult to become invested in her. When we do finally get a little more depth in the last couple of episodes, what we feel is mainly pity.
Banks gets a bit more dimension to play with, making her marginally more sympathetic, but her character is largely reduced to stereotypes as well. Still, her relationship with Ken (Paul Sparks), an author from her alcoholics anonymous group, is one of the more emotionally effective parts of the series. The two of them have an easy connection that gives the show some much-needed humanity and levity while acting as a natural way for us to get to know Nicky more intimately.
Nancy and Catherine emerge as the two most captivating characters, not because they play against tropes but because Dickens and Toussaint are clearly having a blast playing into them, widely embracing a campier energy that makes the show a whole lot more fun than it is when they’re not onscreen. Remember how the Agatha All Along pilot parodied the rough-around-the-edge female detective? That’s basically what Dickens is doing for the entirety of this season, but she sells the hell out of it and has some witty one-liners that made me crack a smirk. Toussaint steals every scene she’s in with her confident, commanding presence, chewing the scenery with delicious ease.
There are intriguing ideas set up in The Better Sister, but unfortunately, the show wastes too much time on boring subplots to truly explore them with the nuance they deserve. While the series picks up in its last couple of episodes, it takes far too long to get there and is never as profound as it wants to be, nor as fun as it could be. With the exception of Dickens and Toussaint, the performances are all decent but largely forgettable, which is, coincidentally, exactly what the show ends up being, too.
– Courtesy: Collider.com
Rating system: *Not on your life * ½ If you really must waste your time ** Hardly worth the bother ** ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only *** Good enough for a look see *** ½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection