5 Things Fans Loved About HBOs The Undoing (& 5 They Didnt)

5 Things Fans Loved About HBO’s The Undoing (& 5 They Didn’t)

HBO’s The Undoing was a thrilling legal drama surrounding a mysterious murder. Yet, though well-received, we can’t ignore a few of the show’s issues.

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The Undoing quickly became one of HBO’s most-talked-about miniseries this year, thanks to the A-list cast, compelling story, and quick, six-episode run. Every episode kept fans guessing as to who the killer was, who was hiding something, and what really happened that fateful night when Elena was murdered in cold blood. The answers were given by the final episode, of course, wrapping the story up in a nice little bow. Or did it?

While there are lots of things that were great about the show, some things didn’t go over well with viewers, and we’re here to recount the elements which fans enjoyed, as well as the ones that didn’t quite work.

10 Loved: The Intense Drama

Every episode offered nail-biting tension that kept viewers at the edges of their seats, anxious to find out how it would all end. There was rarely a dull moment through the entire series. Even when it was just quiet dialogue between Grace and her father or Jonathan in a seemingly depressed state, desperately trying to figure out how he could get himself out of the mess he was in, it was quality TV through every moment.

9 Didn’t Love: The Less-Than-Surprising Ending

With hints and misdirections being dropped every which way, even leading to a ton of totally-out-there theories being discussed on sites like Reddit, it all came full circle to reveal that Jonathan did indeed kill Elena, after all.

The bigger story, of course, is that he was an obvious psychopath, yet Grace, his wife of many years and a trained psychologist, had no idea. Why was she not able to see the signs and obvious red flags? That was arguably the biggest moment, not the reveal that Jonathan was guilty.

8 Loved: The Whodunit

Even though the ending revealed that the killer was the person everyone thought it was all along, every episode contained plenty of misdirection to make viewers think that it could possibly be someone else.

Did Grace find out about the affair and kill Elena in a fit of anger then block out the memory? Did her father do it in an effort to frame Jonathan and save his daughter from her clearly awful husband? Is it possible their teenage son Henry did it to protect his father? While viewers had their hunches, chances are the guesses changed from one week to the next.

7 Didn’t Love: Unresolved Issues

So many minor stories were left unresolved, and questions remain unanswered. What happened to Detective Joe Mendoza, and why was he so suspicious of Grace? What about Jonathan and Elena’s baby? Would Fernando continue to be a father to her?

Then there’s the question of what happened with Grace and Henry after the events that conspired in the end? It would have been nice to see a “three months later” or even “one year later” flash forward to get an idea of how things had progressed with the mother and son. Was Grace still working as a therapist, and was she trusted by patients who now knew she couldn’t even recognize that her own husband was a psychopath?

6 Loved: The Incredible Acting

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant alone perfect as an on-screen duo, and, indeed, their chemistry was electric, including the passion both when they were supposed to be in love and when Grace had such conflicting feelings for her husband.

Add to that a supporting cast that included Edgar Ramirez, Donald Sutherland, Lily Rabe, and the young rising star Noah Jupe, and it was a guarantee that the team would be able to bring the compelling story, based on the Jean Hanff Korelitz novel You Should Have Known, to life on the screen.

5 Didn’t Love: Not Enough Story For Supporting Characters

Many supporting characters didn’t have the opportunity to develop their own stories further, like Miguel and Fernando Alves, Detective Joe Mendoza, and Sylvia Steineitz. It was implied that Elena had mental health issues, for example, and Fernando might have as well, but nothing was ever made concrete. Was there a reason Detective Mendoza kept pointing his finger at Grace? Is there a backstory there that didn’t get the chance to be told?

Sylvia, meanwhile, seemed so practical and matter-of-fact that there had to more to her personal story worth exploring. Indeed, she was one of the favorite characters on the show, yet very little was known about her life beyond the fact that she was a successful lawyer, mother, and Grace’s best friend.

4 Loved: That Final Courtroom Scene

It was a brilliant move that allowed Grace to ensure the right man was sent to jail for a brutal murder while also making it look as though she still stood by her husband and never faltered.

She created a situation where she would reveal information on the stand for the prosecution that would end up being damaging to Jonathan, but look as though it revealed by accident, and she was caught off guard. Clearly, it was all planned. She came out unscathed while Johnathan was exposed for who he really was. It was the most satisfying scene of the entire series.

3 Didn’t Love: The Cut-Throat Lawyer’s Tactics

It’s no secret that lawyers sometimes employ very questionable tactics to defend their clients. That is, after all, their jobs. But, seeing how far Haley Fitzgerald would go to twist facts and try to set her client free when she knew he was likely guilty was difficult to swallow. Yes, she was fiercely intelligent and by definition a talented lawyer, but, morally, she crossed lines.

The most difficult scene was when she put Miguel on the stand, forcing the young boy to talk about his deceased mother in a courtroom full of people. No matter how soft a tone is used or how gentle the words, it was a terrible thing to do to a young boy, especially one who had just lost his mother, and particularly when the intent was to try and point the finger at his innocent father for a murder he didn’t commit just to be able to cast doubt for her client.

2 Loved: The Pacing

The pacing of the series was just right, beautifully fit into six, hour-long episodes with a cliff-hanger at the end of each one to create watercooler talk for the week as viewers waited for the next episode to arrive. Nothing felt rushed, and the main story was covered from every angle, including the perspectives of both Grace and Jonathan, as well as Grace’s father Franklin and their son Henry.

1 Didn’t Love: Jonathan’s Mother

It made little sense that Jonathan’s mother would be so certain that her son was a psychopath and yet not make an effort to try and get him committed or, at the very least, to warn his girlfriend and eventual wife, then mother to his son, about his past and that he could be dangerous.

Perhaps she tried not to accept the idea or did the same thing that Grace likely did, which was to push the truth down until she didn’t believe it at all. Nonetheless, when someone else, especially a young child is involved, viewers didn’t like that his mother didn’t do more to address her son’s clear mental disorder and prevent him from harming others, knowing full well that he had no capacity for remorse.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/hbo-the-undoing-things-fans-loved-hated/

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