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A ballsy, genius medical examiner who solves crimes played by Nicole Kidman. Yes, sign us up. Scarpetta has landed on Prime and with its all-star cast and truly beloved source material, it's safe to say, we're very interested.
Based on Patricia Cornwell’s sprawling 29-book crime series about forensic medical examiner Kay Scarpetta — a character if ever there was one, complete with perpetual ciggy dangling from her mouth and plenty high tech to play with as she solves murders. Kidman takes on the titular role, while Jamie Lee Curtis plays Kay's sister Dorothy. A dynamic duo we need to see if ever there was one.
Now before fans of the original books get too excited, I must warn you: the reviews aren't exactly thrilled with how the show handles its source material. Most reviewers take issue with the many, many changes — as well as the addition of some Black Mirror-esque AI plotlines seemingly for the sake of relevance. Then there's the fact that the show is split into two disparate timelines — again, seemingly for no real reason. (That meme of Maya Rudolf singing “to what end” is currently looping in my head). Reviewers have also critiqued some rather disjointed tonal shifts as the show apparently lurches between dark, sinister crime energy and out and out whackiness.
In the show version of Scarpetta, Kidman is Virginia’s chief medical officer, who, as the show opens, is summoned to a crime scene to examine the body of a woman, who has been left tied up with rope, naked and without her hands. A gory start if ever there was one. We then flit back to ‘90s where young Scarpette, played by Rosy McEwen, is working on a similar case. This new addition of the jumping between timelines introduces some interesting questions for Scarpetta about her career so far. Has she always gotten it right? Especially back in the day when technology wasn’t what it is now?
Speaking of technology, there is, apparently, a whole new subplot that features Ariana De Bose's Lucy having a relationship with an AI chatbot built to imitate her dead wife. Timely, yes. Relevant? Reviewers aren't so sure.
On that note, what are the reviewers and, of course, the fans saying about the new show?
Well, The Guardian called it a “trashy drama” that feels “weird” and disjointed, criticising the shoehorned in plotlines about AI that are nowhere to be found in the books. Despite the performances, which are, apparently phenomenal, the thing ultimately falls apart. As reviewer Hannah J. Davies puts it, “they alone cannot save Scarpetta.”
“Scarpetta is undoubtedly the apex of Prestige Trash,” she concludes. "Time was, a show with this many big names would have had to have been half decent – now it’s fine to merely add on more and more silliness, stretching what could have been a tight four-parter into eight increasingly weird episodes."
The Hollywood Reporter also praised the performances, but noted that Kidman is actually pretty strange casting. Kidman, “an unquestionably versatile actress” seems wholly out of place as the “brassy Italian-American character whom I pictured as more of an Edie Falco type," writes Daniel Fienberg.
As for the Independent, Annabel Nugent rather bluntly opens her review asking, “What on earth is going on?” before describing the show a “whiplash”-inducing, mismatched tonal hodgepodge, filled with bizarre tonal leaps and unearned changes from the source material. The only high point for her is, once again, the cast. “They all commit to the bit, and admirably so, even when the script has them behaving in ways that no human being has ever behaved," she writes.
Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the Saltburn director’s latest film is already dividing audiences.
On social media, there are some more positive takes.
"Scarpetta on @primevideouk is a brilliant adaptation of Cornwell's novels. It avoids all the crime whodunnit tropes to concentrate on the psychology of death and how a family tragedy impacts people for decades after," writes Amelia Nancy Harvey.
“The Scarpetta book series is one of my favs & I wasn’t sure how Nicole Kidman would be as Scarpetta but she totally nails her vibe. The Lucy storyline seems good & so is the crime. Hope the rest of the season is as good. Nice touch having Patricia Cornwell cameo,” a fan writes.
A third take: “Their dynamic is so well written their scenes are frying me bro.”
Justice for real middle-aged bodies.
Am I sceptical? Yes. Will I still be tuning in. Also, yes.
