Unlike so many folks, I wasn't familiar with this story (having never read Laura Dave's novel). So the premise is based on an Enron-like business fraud perpetrated at a startup, and what a man's new wife (and first-time stepmother to his 16-year-old daughter) discovers about her husband after he totally vanishes right before the FBI and SEC raid the startup's HQ and arrest everybody. Jennifer Garner plays the wife/stepmother who struggles with not knowing/understanding her beloved partner as well/thoroughly as she had thought. Young Aussie actress Angourie Rice has the role of daughter, Bailey, who is not a fan of her stepparent in the initial episodes, but must grudgingly admit that they share this odd bond (i.e., loving someone who's apparently way more mysterious than both had been led to believe). And multi-talented Aisha Tyler plays the BFF of Garner's character (a far cry from the animated character she has voiced for many years now in "Archer"). So this first of seven episodes, while not a masterpiece, does show promise. Initially I'll rate the series 7/10, but stay tuned for more.
2 Reviews
Im confused
moviesfilmsreviewsinc19 May 2023
The Last Thing He Told Me has a stellar cast, with Garner and Rice spending a lot of time on the screen. Laura Dave's novel, which the show is based on, is more about the underlying emotions and betrayal in the relationship than the mystery proposed in episode 1. Apple TV+ tried to balance the two in Liaison, another mystery show released a while back, but it did not work. The Last Thing seems different in substance but similar tonally. Hannah Hall (Jennifer Garner) is searching for her teenage daughter, Bailey (Angourie Rice), in a hotel. Four days ago, Owen Michaels (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was still with Hannah and planning an anniversary party. Hannah is anxious about a feature article being written about her in the papers the next day, and Owen wants to drive to Sonoma and have the party, but Hannah wants Bailey, her stepdaughter, to come with her. Hannah makes great efforts to please Bailey, but Bailey is not reciprocating her efforts. Avett, from Owen's work, has been calling him incessantly. Hannah goes into town to pick up bread and drop off the pieces she sculpted in her workshop. She meets Ash, her buyer, and sees her feature article for the first time. Owen sends a message through a girl to Hannah, which mysteriously reads "Protect her". Hannah drops off a message to Owen and calls The Shop, where Owen works, but things seem really bad down there. Hannah finds Owen's car missing from the parking lot and heads over to the school where Bailey has gone for her concert practice. While waiting for Bailey, Hannah receives crucial news that Software Startup The Shop was raided by the FBI and CEO Avett Thompson has been arrested in relation to it. Bobby, Bailey's boyfriend, asks her for a weekend in a secluded cabin in the woods. Bailey finds a note similar to Hannah's in her locker and a bag full of money with it. Bailey is now being targeted by public figures about the fraud, alleging that Owen was in on it. The most important details in this text are that Max, Jules' girlfriend, works in the SEC and tried to tip off Jules. The Shop's new software does not work and the sales of it on the books were fabricated by Avett. Jules called Owen about it but he ran off. Hannah recalls faint memories of her time with Owen and watches a bald man canvassing the place. The next morning, a US Marshall shows up at the dock and asks Bailey questions about Owen. He thinks Owen is too smart to get caught and if he makes contact, Hannah will be in touch. The Marshall warns Hannah that Owen is not who she has known for the last two years, as the episode comes to a close.
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