Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the book too long ago to even remember what it was about! And I basically FLEW through it because I loved it so much. And then I read What Alice Forgot right after, so I'm getting the stories mixed up in my head.

Guess I'll just enjoy the show for what it is...

I just read What Alice Forgot! That's the one where Alice wakes up having lost 10 years of her memories and proceeds to learn about her 39-year-old life from the perspective of her 29 year old self.

Yes I remember the gist of both of them, but the details (kids, names, friends, etc) are forgotten or mixed up. I LOVED both books though, that I remember!

Anonymous wrote:I read the book too long ago to even remember what it was about! And I basically FLEW through it because I loved it so much. And then I read What Alice Forgot right after, so I'm getting the stories mixed up in my head.

Guess I'll just enjoy the show for what it is...

I just read What Alice Forgot! That's the one where Alice wakes up having lost 10 years of her memories and proceeds to learn about her 39-year-old life from the perspective of her 29 year old self.

I read the book too long ago to even remember what it was about! And I basically FLEW through it because I loved it so much. And then I read What Alice Forgot right after, so I'm getting the stories mixed up in my head.

Guess I'll just enjoy the show for what it is...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.

I think they were kind of sizing each other up. Celeste is supposed to be a bit shy & isn't the outgoing social butterfly Maddie is so she's somewhat uncomfortable having Jane, who she doesn't know, there & Jane can sense that.

I thiught it was more that Jane had just made a comment that Celeste really identified with, so Celeste was kind of looking at Jane as a kindred spirit.

I think it was a bit of a combination of the two things. The fact that Celeste obviously "gets" what Jane is saying & relates to it makes them feel a connection but also a bit uncomfortable & exposed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what did everyone think of the first episode? Having read the book, I enjoyed the first episode overall, although my husband was bored. I did think it was a bit slow. And the flashforward to the police interviews were too much and distracting, in a way it wasn't in the book. Still, I'm excited to see it played out.

I do wish they had kept it in Australia and I think it would've made more sense that everyone was so intense about "1st grade" - in America, people get mushy like that about kindergarten, not first grade.

It's interesting that the washington post gave it such a good review because the NYT review was not good at all.

I read the book and agree, first episode was slow and should have stayed in Australia or switched the kids to kindergarten.

Weren't the kids in kindergarten in the book? I know they were 5.

Yeah, in the book the kids were 5/in kindergarten, which made more sense in a lot of ways. It makes more sense for there to be an orientation for all the incoming kindergarteners than for all the first graders &, as the PP mentioned, parents are more likely to get "mushy" over their kids going to kindergarten than first grade so both Madeline being so emotional about her "babies" growing up & Renata (& presumably some of the other parents, particularly the fathers) taking off of work in order to be there for both drop-off & pick-up seem more realistic if their kids are starting K instead of first grade. Also, the teacher explains that Amabella can't just say who hurt her because the kids don't know each other's names yet which, again, would make more sense if they were starting kindergarten instead of first grade.

I'm guessing the script writers made the kids first graders instead of kindergarteners as a means of explaining how the parents (except Jane, who is new) already knew each other & how there was already underlying tension between Madeline & Renata. In the book Madeline has a son named Fred who is a couple of years older than Chloe & it is mentioned early on that she & Renata already know each other because Fred & Renata's older child are also in the same class. Fred's character seems to have been written out of the tv version, though, so they probably aged Chloe & Amabella's class a year to make up for that.

As an aside, Abigail also seems to have been aged slightly. In the book, she is 14 but given that she has friends who drive & that Madeline wants to get her an SAT tutor, she is probably supposed to be more like 16 in the tv version. I wonder what (if any) purpose aging her character will serve?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.

I think they were kind of sizing each other up. Celeste is supposed to be a bit shy & isn't the outgoing social butterfly Maddie is so she's somewhat uncomfortable having Jane, who she doesn't know, there & Jane can sense that.

I thiught it was more that Jane had just made a comment that Celeste really identified with, so Celeste was kind of looking at Jane as a kindred spirit.

+1
Jane said something about how "right" everyone there looked, and how "wrong" it made her feel. She's saying she's an outsider, always looking in, and it seemed Celeste could relate to that somehow.

I haven't read the book (no spoilers please!), but I'm wondering what Jane's backstory is and why the flashbacks to the blue dress.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that so many of the non-leading roles are filled with non-beautiful actors. Was Adam Scott's beard particularly atrocious to make him ugly?
Last night's episode was all set up and the promise of good TV to come. I do hate regular weekly episodes though.

Me too! I've gotten spoiled with Netflix and Amazon binges. I'm ready to watch the whole thing!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.

I think they were kind of sizing each other up. Celeste is supposed to be a bit shy & isn't the outgoing social butterfly Maddie is so she's somewhat uncomfortable having Jane, who she doesn't know, there & Jane can sense that.

I thiught it was more that Jane had just made a comment that Celeste really identified with, so Celeste was kind of looking at Jane as a kindred spirit.

This was how I read that scene as.well.

And +1 on Adam Scott's beard. Gross! He is so attractive without it!

I didn't read the book and am REALLY liking the series so far. I have no idea who either the victim or the perpetrator is. Lots of good possibilities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.

I think they were kind of sizing each other up. Celeste is supposed to be a bit shy & isn't the outgoing social butterfly Maddie is so she's somewhat uncomfortable having Jane, who she doesn't know, there & Jane can sense that.

I thiught it was more that Jane had just made a comment that Celeste really identified with, so Celeste was kind of looking at Jane as a kindred spirit.

Interesting that so many of the non-leading roles are filled with non-beautiful actors. Was Adam Scott's beard particularly atrocious to make him ugly?
Last night's episode was all set up and the promise of good TV to come. I do hate regular weekly episodes though.

I thought it was very good and true to the book except the Reese Witherspoon character also had a son and kids were starting Kindergarten.

I really enjoyed this and thought it was filmed beautifully and stylishly. I had a sense of foreboding throughout, and not because we know someone is murdered. I just felt the unease in all of the family situations was palpable and dark. Strangely, even though Madeline was the "busy-body" role, I felt more empathy for her than the other characters. I felt I could relate to her a lot more - not the queen bee aspects, but the way she called people out on their BS. Like the girl driving and texting, or the atrocious way the teacher made the little girl point - in front of everyone - to the boy who had hurt her neck.

Speaking of that scene, it's been awhile since I've seen such an unrealistic portrayal of school. I mean, seriously?? All the parents and kids just happened to be milling about and the teacher actually has the little girl POINT OUT the kid in front of everyone??? Um, right - that would never happen. I was appalled that Madeline seemed to be the only one outraged by that behavior. Even Jane didn't seem too bothered by it, whereas I would have torn a new one in the teacher for humiliating my child like that. I'm getting furious again, just thinking about it!

I'm not sure what's going on with Celeste and her creepy husband, but it doesn't look good. And Renata - ugh. So full of herself.

The houses were to die for, especially the views of the sea and Madeline's kitchen. Her youngest daughter is so bratty though.

Wished it would be good but it just wasn't

Anonymous wrote:What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.

I think they were kind of sizing each other up. Celeste is supposed to be a bit shy & isn't the outgoing social butterfly Maddie is so she's somewhat uncomfortable having Jane, who she doesn't know, there & Jane can sense that.

What was with the looks between Jane and Celeste at the coffee shop? Didn't understand that.