I Watch TV: Sweetpea

 

Sweetpea

Rhiannon lives with her dad, a builder, caring for him and their dog through his final illness. Always meek and shy, she’s an admin assistant at the local newspaper. She was bullied at school by older girls, in her sister’s year, led by Julia Blenkingsopp, to the extent that she pulled her hair our.

She wants to kill people, her boss who calls her Sweetpea, the men on the bus who impinge on her seat, the man pushing past her at the hospital. And of course Julia Blenkingsopp. Of course she never will. That’s not who she is.

Then her father dies, her sister insists she sell the house. When she goes out to walk the dog she sees the poster for the estate agents, with their star worker, Julia Blenkingsopp. Then the dog escapes and is run over. She confronts Julia who dismisses it. In despair she’s down at the canal when a drunk starts to pee, not seeing her, splashing her. She has her father’s knife.

This is a dark comedy with much to like, but perhaps not enough. Rhiannon shifts between making cold-blooded plans, frantically trying to conceal her efforts, seizing opportunities and impulsively taking advantage of opportunities. Her capacity for violence increases her self-confidence, pushing herself forward at work, seducing men, plotting murders to put herself forward. The way the town comes together in a vague sense of community that doesn’t quite gel as the murders are discovered and Julia goes missing is especially good. Half way through we have an overlooked female police officer on the case who has exactly the same frustrations as Rhiannon, a bright mirror if you will. She’s Rhiannon’s nemesis, yet the show can’t quite decide how far Rhiannon’s audacity is to be admired, and how much we should disapprove.

It's dark comedy and crime and drama, and sometimes uses too many comedy tricks when it should be trying to be drama. The dramatic irony is wry and embarrassing rather than tense and terrifying. But the good news is it’s been renewed so they get a chance to have another go, see if I like it better.

Watch This: Darkly funny tale of abuse, revenge, long held grudges and awakening to possibilities
Don’t Watch This: Tries to be funny about some very unpleasant things, delves into incoherent chaos a lot