Karen Pirie
If you are looking for an author who is a BIG NAME in crime fiction you couldn't do better than Val McDermid. What's more, unlike other similar authors whose work has been adapted to the small screen she has either phenomenal good luck or is extremely involved in the process or maybe she's just incredibly picky because of the two series and one standalone that have been adapted they are all stellar. Wire in the Blood with Robson Green is a classic up there with Inspector Morse. As for Place of Execution? Stunning. It's one of those mysteries that stays with you forever. Every once in awhile I'll think on it and be amazed all over again. That miniseries also did a lot for changing the trajectory of Greg Wise's career to the deliciously dark. So I had expectations for Karen Pirie. But I also was totally blindsided by it because I got the wrong end of the stick. You see when they said that the show starred a "blonde from Outlander" I thought for some reason it was Nell Hudson who played Laoghaire, the bane of Jamie and Claire, instead it was Lauren Lyle who plays Marsali, Jamie and Claire's beloved daughter-in-law. Not that I'm complaining, because Lauren proved how perfect she was for this role, I'm just also really a fan of Nell Hudson because she was amazing on Victoria, though I'm still mad they killed her off. And in fairness I really didn't know how Lauren Lyle would have the time what with also filming Outlander, but thankfully that didn't seem to be a problem. What this adaptation showed more than anything is how to perfectly update you source material for the present day. In the original novel, The Distant Echo, the cold case that Karen Pirie is investigating happened in 1978 and is being investigated in 2003. Therefore to have that twenty-five year gap now this is heavy on the nineties nostalgia, but more than that it incorporates the citizen detective and true crime podcast culture that has just boomed in recent years. As for Karen herself, she's funny, she bounces around like a Whac-A-Mole. She has a sense of humor and lame style, she knows a good joke, knows she's good at her job, and knows it's a bad time to be a Karen. There's a sense of humor too which anyone who knows Val McDermid will know she possess, I remember she was doing a book signing in the US, sadly nowhere near me, but near my favorite bookstore, Murder by the Book, so I got a copy of her newest book for my mom's birthday, and I asked if she'd inscribe it "To Marian who's glad she doesn't live in Bradfield," Bradfield being where her Wire in the Blood books are set. She dutifully signed that and added "As am I." Which just cracked me up and made the present that much more special. So while there was a part of me who felt that the mtstery was a little pedestrian, it was riviting and fun and I am just so glad there's going to be more because I need more Karen Pirie in my life.
Interview with the Vampire gave me false hope that Mayfair Witches would be equally good, despite different creators, writers, and cast, though oddly sometimes repurposed sets. I should have known better. This is the new Anne Rice "immortal universe" that AMC is fully embracing and we're getting the full range of her writing, and not all of that was good. There is literally a third show in development as I write this, possibly more by the time this publishes. The thing is within this "immortal universe" this is the trailer trash end. This is AMC by way of V.C. Andrews. I mean Harry Hamlin was actually in a V.C. Andrews adaptation only six months previously to Mayfair Witches airing. The problem is they don't realize they're V.C. Andrews, they think they are better than that. Lifetime's V.C. Andrews adaptations are a joy to watch because they know exactly what they are, unlike this show. Mayfair Witches' opening credits alone hit you over the head with a mallet with there "subtle" White Lotus Southern Gothic vibe. Just because your star was on the first season of White Lotus that does not give you permission to ape the style. Especially because it's not carried through the rest of the show. It's an aberrant opening credit sequence to trick the viewer. It's just infuriating. I would gnash my teeth just watching them. And given I don't live in a bubble and I talk to other people I am still shocked this got a second season. The number one problem noted time and again in my discussions with fellow viewers is the pacing. This show is glacial. It took them eight episodes to do what could have been done in a single TV movie. And still they omit things. Mayfair Witches is eight episodes of WTF and why am I watching this. And no matter how obsessed the internet is with Alexandra Daddario I will never get it. I have seen no evidence that she can actually act and her character is totally unlikable, which is actually a problem for all the characters in this series minus the marvelous Jen Richards as Jojo. I'd watch a show about Jojo. So if that's the forth "immortal universe" show then I'm down with that. I mean, how did they ruin Jack Huston!?! Gaw! But the WORST problem of all is that I think they think the viewers are stupid. How have I come to this conclusion? The subtitles. In the flashbacks to Scotland, which yes, I confirmed it's Scotland, the accents due tend to wander and slip and if you occasionally thought they were Irish I forgive you. So instead of fixing this problem by redubbing with actors who could do the accents much like the Andy MacDowell Greystoke controversy, they had the brilliant idea of subtitles. Now I was watching this show at the same time as Karen Pirie, which has true Scots accents, and this subtitling infuriated me. I really couldn't decide if they thought their viewers couldn't comprehend or they knew their actors were horrible. And maybe that's the problem at the bottom of this all, do they realize what a bad job they are doing or are they aware and trying to right a sinking ship? Either way I won't be turning into season two. Unless they are evil geniuses and figure out someway to tie this into the divine Interview with the Vampire... But even then there are enough websites that write summaries of shows that I don't think I'll be forced to endure anymore of whatever this is.
