This article contains a lot of spoilers, so please read with caution.
In many recent interviews, Kate Winslet has always mentioned that "East Side Nightmare" is not a thriller suspense series in the traditional sense. She was right. "East Side Nightmare" begins with a murder in an unknown town in Pennsylvania and the involvement of Middle-aged Detective Mel, played by Winslet, in the investigation of the murder. Once inside the world presented by the series, viewers can immediately see that this short seven-episode American drama wants to do more. Thanks to the screenwriting skills and the performances of the actors, from the first episode onwards, it seems that all its ambitions are likely to succeed.
It's not so much a detective suspense episode as a character feature. It tells the story of a middle-aged woman who recently lost her son, and after divorcing her husband, endured the trials of life in a custody battle with her grandson Drew's mother (the son's ex-girlfriend).
As a mother, grandmother, daughter and the town's best-known detective, Mel endured far more than the average town's residents. Mel lives with her teenage daughter Shavan and her mother, Helen. Mel's role as a professional woman and multiple family roles simultaneously enriches the character in all dimensions and ultimately impresses the audience.
In addition to the family burden, Mel also has her professional burden. As soon as the story opens, the audience can see that Mel has been accused of "incompetence in handling cases" in the past year, and she is very distressed. The daughter of a former classmate and sports teammate Katie disappeared a year ago, and Mel's investigation into the case has made no progress, and local and media discontent with the East Side Police Department is growing.
Seber, a colleague who was originally hired to help her solve the case, was shot in the head directly in the first case, the rescue of the two missing girls. For Mel, who has been investigating for a year, the process of solving the case has only replaced the previous huge mental pressure with another sense of guilt, but her whole tense state has not been much improved.
"East Side Nightmare" has a very large part of the same emotional core as "Valley of Happiness". They profoundly reflect that in real life, especially middle-aged women in the workplace, they must walk with the accumulated worries, and the whole society often does not provide them with much breathing space.
It could also be said that the play is a comprehensive display of the diversity of grief. Mel, the protagonist, is constantly in this sadness: in her conversations with the counselor, the pains are constantly excavated and more concretely presented. Why she became a policeman, her connection with her father eventually ended because of the latter's suicide, followed by her son's choice to end his life because of drugs and mental illness. In the process, every tired line and heavier step on her face made those sorrows loom.
But grief doesn't just hang over Mel, it applies to Dawn, the mother of the missing girl, dawn, who knows little about the fate of her daughter Katie, suffers from cancer, and her friend Mel doesn't seem to help.
Mel, on the other hand, witnessed her son's entire journey from birth to death, and eventually she had to personally take her son from the attic to commit suicide. It's no exaggeration to say that almost every episode of the show has such a sad story happening, either someone disappears or someone dies, and more importantly, the East Side is a town where everyone knows everyone, and until the church service before the end of episode seven, we can clearly see that the entire community is always tightly wrapped in this sadness.
Like HBO's "Big Little Lies" and "Sharp Weapon" in the past few years, and Netflix's "Song of the Desperate" released last year. "East Side Nightmare" once again shows the world a part of america that is not usually seen — the unappreciated, disgraceful side of the world, where the health and well-being of small townspeople are eroded by poverty, addiction drugs, and other thorny problems that are often beyond the control of any one individual. Chief producer and full-season screenwriter Brad Inglesby is a Pennsylvanian native, and every beat of East Side Nightmares includes his love for his hometown. From many details of his life, it can also be seen that he is writing the whole story from the heart.
Of course, in addition to the psychological changes and difficulties of the characters that are constantly superimposed, "East Side Nightmare" still gives a very wonderful suspense case. After the consternation of the fifth episode, the finale of the last episode called "The Sacrament" finally gives the answer, even if it is somewhat cruel.
I suspect that most of us will breathe a sigh of relief after Erin's murder was solved, Dylan's true motives uncovered, and the Sheehans celebrated the lifting of the rare crisis after Drew's custody hearing. At the dinner table where everyone is relaxed, Helen, the old mother who has always played a humorous role, also repents of her past, sketches out the regrets of her life in just a few words, and reaches a certain reconciliation with Mel, because the latter's heart knot over the years is also related to the early death of her father and her mother's toughness.
Only by this time, the progress bar of the last episode is still half left. The story is not as simple as we see, just like the characters in the play, and life does not give them much respite.
Soon, further clues about the case came into Mel's sight. Even though she had done her best in every dimension, she herself was clearly not satisfied with the previous results. If you want to analyze the final twist in detail, some of them are indeed very blunt in logic, but they are still emotionally real and believable. If a screenwriter had to choose between a slightly flawed plot design and an ineffective expression of emotion, it was clear that most people would choose the former. Eventually, all the mysteries are solved and reluctantly woven together to form a worse and more tragic story, and Mel, who is also multiple identities, has to watch as it all happens at the intersection of her life and work.
Although we may never see what happens next, you will feel that Lori's life will get better, even Ryan, because the two of them will not have to carry such heavy burdens to continue life from now on. Even if it takes time, it's worth it.
Although Lori yells at her longtime friend Mel and curses her name, you can see how Ryan changes after her arrest. Ryan of course felt frightened, especially when he ran into his house and yelled at Lori, "She knows! She knew! That scene can be said to be creepy, but as a viewer, you can also feel that he desperately hopes that it will all end.
Before Ryan was captured, Lori was in a state of confusion, taking care of the young D.J., who showed a state of coldness and alienation. Later, she goes to visit Ryan in prison with D.J. and Moira, who are noticeably much more relaxed and still exude affection for their loved ones. It's a powerful example of truth that sets people free, even if it means that you actually lose your physical freedom temporarily.
Of course, in the end, this ending may also be controversial, that is, whether there is still some gray area between justice and private feelings. This argument is of course reasonable, after all, human nature is like this, can not achieve the supremacy of complete rationality, but always fear that they will be swallowed up by personal emotions. It's just that back in the play, what Mel does as a character ultimately reflects the character of her, persistent and gritty enough, and it is precisely because of this that she obviously cannot indulge herself and let justice be annihilated, even if the price is to make her friends turn their backs.
Just like the heroines of the two dramas mentioned earlier, whether it is Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, or this year's Kate Winslet, it cannot be simply said that they just broke through themselves, and in a more profound sense, they let the public see the complexity and realism contained in these actresses.
In particular, Mel, played by Winslet, is complex, changeable, loving, and sometimes very likable. More importantly, even Winslet, who has been famous for a long time, has no so-called idol baggage in the face of such a role - obviously out of shape, almost no makeup and modification of the face, and countless close-up shots have magnified the wrinkles on the face. But it's precisely these parts that make the whole character so alive, as if she had really lived in this town for decades, and no one would ever remember that she was the survivor of the Titanic 23 years ago.
It's also all about her personal understanding of the character and her current personal state. In the latest interview with The New York Times, Winslet argues that part of the reason people identify with her role in the show is that she portrays the role as a real-life middle-aged woman, rather than the Hollywood version of a middle-aged woman. She also fought for her final presentation on the poster several times as the marketing team tried to retouch her photos too much. "They said 'Kate, really, can't do this' and I said 'Guys, I know how many wrinkles I have on the edges of my eyes, please put them all back'."
Winslet's performance runs through the whole process, with an extremely strong personal charm to support a story that is not full enough, so subtle, low-key and layered, it is a complete honor to see such a performance on the screen as an audience.