Pieces of Her. I don’t know how even to review this show. I watched this like a month ago with my Mrs one weekend. We saw the trailer and saw that Omari Hardwick (Ghost from Power) was in it, so we thought we would see if it would be any good.
Pieces of Her is a thriller based on Karin Slaughter’s novel. When it comes to TV shows or films that are adapted from books, it can be hard to follow and keep up with the feelings and emotions that radiate from each page of a book. However, on-screen, this was not what I thought it would be, what I thought it could be, or what I hoped it to be. It was something not worth remembering.
The series begins with Laura (portrayed by Toni Collette) having lunch with her daughter, Andy (portrayed by Bella Heathcote), on her 30th Birthday. A crazed gunman opened fire in the restaurant during the meal, causing panic. As everyone cowers on the floor, Laura goes into a protective mother mode when the gunman points his gun at Andy; he believes she is a police officer by the way she is dressed. He tells Andy to “do her job”, insinuating he wants to commit suicide by police. Laura gets stabbed in the hand and sues skills worthy of an assassin to kill the gunman.
With it being in the modern-day, one of the other customers in the restaurant films the entire thing on their phone rather than attempt to escape, which is probably a realistic note that would happen today in society. Upon filming the footage, everything immediately goes viral, to Laura’s dismay, planting Laura’s and her daughter’s face all over the media. Both Laura and Andy’s lives are now in danger for reasons that will be revealed slowly over the coming episodes in the series.
As we move along into the series, we’re introduced to more characters, such as Gordon Oliver (portrayed by Omari Hardwick), who is the ex-husband of Laura and stepfather to Andy, who he seemingly treats as his own daughter. Andy was forced to go to another city by her mother, where she finds herself in situations that anyone would find petrifying. As she encounters new people, paranoia causes her to question everything and everyone around her. Is there anyone she can trust?
After seeing the opening episode, I must admit I was intrigued and interested in what was to come. For a show to have a captivating opening, I was bound to be invested in how it would turn out. However, I was disappointed as the series went on, episode after episode. The need to watch the show dwindled, and I quickly lost interest.
To be quite frank, I struggled to keep up with the show. I fell asleep multiple times and kept rewinding certain parts because they made no sense. Everything within the show seemed hard to follow, with the writing, the directing, and the setting. Some of it didn’t make any sense. I understand the need to keep things a mystery and let things play out, but one of the main focal points that should occur when a mystery is involved is to keep whoever is watching engaged; keep them wanting more. I can hand on my heart say that I was not engaged and did not want anymore.
Even the acting didn’t seem anything memorable to me. Everything just seemed off. I’ve watched a handful of Toni Collete’s performances previously, and every other role I’ve seen her in excels this role by miles. I have been able to believe in the character she portrays. But for some reason, I couldn’t buy into the character of Laura and her story.
To summarise, I would say to only watch this if you have read the book and know and understand the characters on a deeper level. As someone who has watched many adaptations of books to screen, this is one that I wish I hadn’t seen. The opening was the best part of the entire series, the middle felt like filler episodes, and the ending was lacklustre. I felt annoyed that I had wasted my time watching this show.
As much as I didn’t like the show, please don’t let my opinion stop you from watching it. Everyone has different tastes and will most likely think differently from me. Perhaps I couldn’t grasp the concept of it? Oh well. The rating I am giving is only because of the opening sequence; otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to rate it.
Rating: 1.5/5