Friday, 13 August 2021

Critique: Why Women Kill (Series One)

 

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

One house over different decades houses three families.

The programme follows the motivations that three women have to commit murder. I wouldn’t say it builds sympathy for their causes but it builds understanding. Reasons for the crime that would usually be seen as petty in crime dramas now seem reasonable.

The crimes aren’t connected by the same people or the same time but simply by the same location. For location to be a factor with the absence of people/time was original.

Dancing the tango was a theme throughout the show. It was a clear reference to the musical Chicago, another story that makes the audience understand the reasons behind murder. This created a link between the two stories so that if the audience knew Chicago, they’d already be prepared to accept why these women kill.

 

I laughed so much. If I had to pick out my favourite moments, I would basically have to write the script word-for-word.

One of the most stand-out moments was the part of the advert which made me want to watch the show in the first place: wife says she knew someone who died choking on a nut; husband asks the new ingredient in dinner; wife says nuts.

The mistress accidentally finding out her new friend is the wife of her boyfriend was pure gold, too. Then at the very end, it’s hinted that the second wife (now elderly) has sex with her husband. Yeah, get it, gurl!

 

Three things gave me pause. (Four, if you count the first wife’s bizarre falling out with her neighbour. That was neither realistic nor believable.)

When the third couple are buying the house from the second wife, they’re discussing Tommy and second wife says, “He has my face tattooed on his ass.” The tattoo is on her thigh. Now, she’s hilarious and there’s no way for the third couple to verify the tattoo’s location. So I hope this is her being funny, not a mistake with the script.

Near the end, the drug addict says, “I didn’t know Jews hunt.” Um, what? Is this another stereotype Americans have, like that episode in Modern Family where they joke about Asians being bad drivers?

When third husband asks, “Are you fucking her?” I was a bit like oh shit he’s possessive and jealous I know why he’s going die. But then it’s an open marriage. It was good to have a poly relationship explored in the show but it concludes with the spouses deciding to be monogamous. It was almost like polygamy was blamed for what happened, not bat-shit crazy Jade.

 

The first wife’s husband is cheating on her so she befriends the mistress. The second wife’s husband is gay so she has an affair with her friend’s son. The third wife brings Jade into the marriage to create a thruple.

The thought of the sweet and innocent first wife being a murderer is preposterous but she turns out to be the most ferocious. No she doesn’t kill her husband but she orchestrated it.

The thought of the second wife killing her husband was realistic, even if it was petty. The only one without a reason to kill their husband is the only one who actually did kill him. But the fact that it’s euthanasia and not out of spite (like how the storyline builds it up to be) redeems her.

The third wife is a strong, independent woman who doesn’t take any shit. I never thought that she could murder but I’d no reason to think she couldn’t murder, either. But then in a complete twist, it’s not the wife but Jade who attempts murder. The fact that it was the only case of attempted murder in the show was a complete surprise.

Whilst Jade being the antagonist was a twist, it was fully believable. The husband’s movie script included a good girl and Jade became furious, saying how good girls aren’t two-dimension, simplistic characters. This set off warning bells. It made me tense about Jade long before she made the characters tense.

 

This show was engaging and entertaining. The script was constructed really well and the actors were believable. Even though the title gives away the conclusion from the get-go, there were still surprises and elements of suspense. It was enjoyable through and through, easily something I’d watch again.

 

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