HBO The Undoing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am clearly the exception and liked it. The whole point was that we saw it from Grace’s perspective and she was willfully blinding herself to what he really was until the murder. It was all about the undoing of her seemingly perfect life. Too many shows go for twisted endings and they make no sense. This one toyed with you but delivered a realistic end.

I liked it too. And I actually thought Hugh Grant did a decent job of looking pretty darn evil - especially in court after Grace set him up for conviction.

The whole idea was that Grace could see everyone’s blind spots but her own - like in the counseling scenes with the third marriage lady and the abusive husband squeezing his husband’s arm.

Agree. And I think Hugh did a good enough job at convincing watchers that it wasn’t him. The turning point was clearly when he tried to pin it on the son. That just proved what an awful person and parent he truly was.

I agree that Hugh Grant's performance was excellent. As Jonathan, he was charming and utterly convincing when discussing the crime, and ultimately
was terrifying when his true colors were revealed.

[Anonymous]

Jonathan’s lies and reactions were so convincing! When he first sees Elena at the auction he doesn’t give a hint of recognition. When he says the murder weapon will exonerate him without knowing his son put it through the dishwasher. When he cries in bed with Grace after he kills Elena. I kept thinking it couldn’t have been him!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really liked it and liked the ending. Yes, I knew Grace was going to throw him under the bus -she tells her father that she’ll handle it - but didn’t know how or what she told Sylvia to tell the prosecutor.

My lingering question is this: was it all fake? Did Jonathan ever love Grace? Is he capable of love? He sees his son as his legacy but what about his marriage?

She told Sylvia every detail of the phone call with his mother. That he was a sociopath who experienced no remorse, sorrow or guilt. That he was incapable of empathy. Sylvia was a friend of the proseuctor...she openly waved to her during the opening day of the trial. This was why Grace wanted to meet with her early the morning of the final day of trial and said 'i need you to do something for me'. Grace was not slated to go on the stand. She asked to be put there---which surprised both the Defense attorney (who was very leery of putting her on as she questioned if Grace believed Jonathon--that she still wasn't buying it...she was ambivalent at best). AT that point, I knew what Grace was going to do...throw him under the bus. Doing it this way gave her an out with Henry too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I disliked Hugh Grant in the role, because it seemed way too dopey “I’m just a guy, standing in front of a jury, asking them to not convict me” ala Notting Hill and Four Weddings — and he’s about 25 years to old for that to be charming, but I can see now how that fits in with his character — although, I’m still not convinced he was the best choice.

Yeah, Hugh Grant should not have been cast. He's a magnificent actor but he can't play a man in his 40s. He looks like he's in his 60s. When Grace was testifying about how they graduated college in 2002 and then got married and have been married 14 years, I was like wtf, why did they cast people this old? They should have made the timeline a lot more believable because Grant in particular is just not able to credibly portray a man that much younger.

He was not convincing as a crazy, narcissist. The scene in the car with Henry was awful acting ...nothing like Jack Nicholson could do. Now that man can play crazy! Hugh was way too much of a bumbling English idiot to pull off a highly smart and cunning narcissistic personality. He didn’t even do the charm part well either. They needed somebody more like Nicole’s husband in Big Little Lie’s. Yummy Alexander Skarsgard.

You don't have to be smart, cunning, or charming to be a narcissist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I disliked Hugh Grant in the role, because it seemed way too dopey “I’m just a guy, standing in front of a jury, asking them to not convict me” ala Notting Hill and Four Weddings — and he’s about 25 years to old for that to be charming, but I can see now how that fits in with his character — although, I’m still not convinced he was the best choice.

Yeah, Hugh Grant should not have been cast. He's a magnificent actor but he can't play a man in his 40s. He looks like he's in his 60s. When Grace was testifying about how they graduated college in 2002 and then got married and have been married 14 years, I was like wtf, why did they cast people this old? They should have made the timeline a lot more believable because Grant in particular is just not able to credibly portray a man that much younger.

He was not convincing as a crazy, narcissist. The scene in the car with Henry was awful acting ...nothing like Jack Nicholson could do. Now that man can play crazy! Hugh was way too much of a bumbling English idiot to pull off a highly smart and cunning narcissistic personality. He didn’t even do the charm part well either. They needed somebody more like Nicole’s husband in Big Little Lie’s. Yummy Alexander Skarsgard.

You don't have to be smart, cunning, or charming to be a narcissist.

You do to be a sociopath ala Ted Bundy. Jonathon was a sociopath.

[Anonymous]

I think we can conclude: don’t cheat on your spouse. You don’t know what psychopath you may encounter in a lover or their spouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I disliked Hugh Grant in the role, because it seemed way too dopey “I’m just a guy, standing in front of a jury, asking them to not convict me” ala Notting Hill and Four Weddings — and he’s about 25 years to old for that to be charming, but I can see now how that fits in with his character — although, I’m still not convinced he was the best choice.

Yeah, Hugh Grant should not have been cast. He's a magnificent actor but he can't play a man in his 40s. He looks like he's in his 60s. When Grace was testifying about how they graduated college in 2002 and then got married and have been married 14 years, I was like wtf, why did they cast people this old? They should have made the timeline a lot more believable because Grant in particular is just not able to credibly portray a man that much younger.

He was not convincing as a crazy, narcissist. The scene in the car with Henry was awful acting ...nothing like Jack Nicholson could do. Now that man can play crazy! Hugh was way too much of a bumbling English idiot to pull off a highly smart and cunning narcissistic personality. He didn’t even do the charm part well either. They needed somebody more like Nicole’s husband in Big Little Lie’s. Yummy Alexander Skarsgard.

I think they cast Hugh Grant because they needed someone we could believe was innocent, and given his demeanor most of us WANTED to believe in him, giving the director the ability to guide us to root for him to be innocent. I would never believe Alexander Skarsgard was innocent, or Jack Nicholson for that matter.

You don't have to be smart, cunning, or charming to be a narcissist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I disliked Hugh Grant in the role, because it seemed way too dopey “I’m just a guy, standing in front of a jury, asking them to not convict me” ala Notting Hill and Four Weddings — and he’s about 25 years to old for that to be charming, but I can see now how that fits in with his character — although, I’m still not convinced he was the best choice.

Yeah, Hugh Grant should not have been cast. He's a magnificent actor but he can't play a man in his 40s. He looks like he's in his 60s. When Grace was testifying about how they graduated college in 2002 and then got married and have been married 14 years, I was like wtf, why did they cast people this old? They should have made the timeline a lot more believable because Grant in particular is just not able to credibly portray a man that much younger.

He was not convincing as a crazy, narcissist. The scene in the car with Henry was awful acting ...nothing like Jack Nicholson could do. Now that man can play crazy! Hugh was way too much of a bumbling English idiot to pull off a highly smart and cunning narcissistic personality. He didn’t even do the charm part well either. They needed somebody more like Nicole’s husband in Big Little Lie’s. Yummy Alexander Skarsgard.

I think they cast Hugh Grant because they needed someone we could believe was innocent, and given his demeanor most of us WANTED to believe in him, giving the director the ability to guide us to root for him to be innocent. I would never believe Alexander Skarsgard was innocent, or Jack Nicholson for that matter.

You don't have to be smart, cunning, or charming to be a narcissist.

I think they cast Hugh Grant because they needed someone we could believe was innocent, and given his demeanor most of us WANTED to believe in him, giving the director the ability to guide us to root for him to be innocent. I would never believe Alexander Skarsgard was innocent, or Jack Nicholson for that matter.

You don't have to be smart, cunning, or charming to be a narcissist.

[Anonymous]

I thought a lot of the final episode was ridiculous and totally unbelievable.

Hugh Grant. What were you thinking, other than "pay check!"

[Anonymous]

Like some others on here I actually thought that Hugh Grant was pretty good in the role. Yes he is obviously too old. But I honestly had no idea whether or not he did it until the very end. He does play that bumbling English thing where he kind of looks around like “who me?” and it does make you wonder. It did seem a bit unrealistic to me that someone who is so unbelievably caring in his professional life could be such a psycho – especially when it looked like he was trying to put it on the son.

I didn’t hate Nicole Kidman in this role either. I thought she pulled it off pretty well. Also too old but she obviously looks younger because of all the surgery. The lawyers acting was outstanding as was Henry’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like some others on here I actually thought that Hugh Grant was pretty good in the role. Yes he is obviously too old. But I honestly had no idea whether or not he did it until the very end. He does play that bumbling English thing where he kind of looks around like “who me?” and it does make you wonder. It did seem a bit unrealistic to me that someone who is so unbelievably caring in his professional life could be such a psycho – especially when it looked like he was trying to put it on the son.

I didn’t hate Nicole Kidman in this role either. I thought she pulled it off pretty well. Also too old but she obviously looks younger because of all the surgery. The lawyers acting was outstanding as was Henry’s.

Sociopaths are excellent at compartmentalizing so they can be a caring, loving parent and spouse at home, and a sadistic murderer in their community.

[Anonymous]

Why didn’t the prosecutor bring up the facts surrounding his firing from the hospital? Seems like that would have helped her case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like some others on here I actually thought that Hugh Grant was pretty good in the role. Yes he is obviously too old. But I honestly had no idea whether or not he did it until the very end. He does play that bumbling English thing where he kind of looks around like “who me?” and it does make you wonder. It did seem a bit unrealistic to me that someone who is so unbelievably caring in his professional life could be such a psycho – especially when it looked like he was trying to put it on the son.

I didn’t hate Nicole Kidman in this role either. I thought she pulled it off pretty well. Also too old but she obviously looks younger because of all the surgery. The lawyers acting was outstanding as was Henry’s.

Sociopaths are excellent at compartmentalizing so they can be a caring, loving parent and spouse at home, and a sadistic murderer in their community.

A good narcissist fools and charms many a female therapist. This was the point with Grace. The smarter the victim, the more fun the game to a Narc. It is like having the ground pulled out from under you and you are in a literal alternate and confused universe when you eventually do find the truth. The gaslighting has usually been going on for a very long time. I cannot.believe. the female therapists out there that fall for a narc's charm and BS. If a man displays these tendencies under no circumstances should he have a female therapist.

[Anonymous]

It was interesting how the murder wasn't planned. Like he'd been sleeping with her for awhile, she came after him after the rejection.... and it almost seemed like he did it by accident. Weird twist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was interesting how the murder wasn't planned. Like he'd been sleeping with her for awhile, she came after him after the rejection.... and it almost seemed like he did it by accident. Weird twist.

accident?

no darling, it's called "in a fit of rage"