I want to talk to you about a show called The Split, but I want to talk to you about it mainly, not because it's a great show, it definitely is, or because you should watch it, you most definitely should, but it gives me a chance to talk about one of the most extraordinary and talented actors working in the industry, Nicola Walker. Never heard of her? Shame on you. You'll definitely recognize her face. She's worked a lot. But she doesn't always get a chance to shine out because she is not always given the lead role. I first discovered her way back in the ground breaking and brilliant series Cracker, where she is in an episode where she plays the wife of a serial killer who has know idea, no conception that her husband could be capable of doing what he does. The moment that she finds out, that was one of the first series to have sense to just stay on the actor even when there is no dialogue, you watch as the realization overcomes her and the horror overcomes her, and she does this so well, so powerfully that I instantly had to know who this actor was. And she has become one of a handful of actors that if she is in something I am going to watch it. When she does get to shine out like in the wonderful and must watch series River, (Seriously, it's an absolute must watch!) you do not forget her. This woman isn't good. She isn't great. She's Judi Dench great. She's Cate Blanchett great. And I do not use those names lightly. And in The Split she's the lead and she's allowed to shine. And she does. This is the kind of actor who can say more with a flicker of the eye or slight turn of the head than most actors can say with an entire speech. And to make things even better she is surrounded by by an absolutely stunning cast. It is testimony to how great she is that she shines out among such brilliant actors. There is not one person in the cast who is not so believable in their role that you never even give thought to their acting. The Split is about a firm and family of divorce lawyers, the trials of their professional and personal lives. In the hands of lesser actors, and lesser writers this could have been very soap opera-ish or taken a very cynical view of the world but instead it becomes about these people trying to come out of what are the most terrible experiences in people's lives with some humanity intact. We see the stereotype sharks of divorce law but this family and this firm strive for decency and humanity when human instincts may be at their worst. Sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they don't. And their own lives are messy too. Though The Split will often bring you to body wracking tears it never ever allows itself to become a soap opera. It can't. The acting is too good. The writing is too good. Oh, and did I mention Nicola Walker? I may have forgotten to mention Nicola Walker. Nicola Walker is in it. And she is reason to watch anything.
Review of The Split
