You won't be able to stop watching the new Amazon show.
'Tell Me Your Secrets' Combines Everything You Love About 'The Undoing' and 'Big Little Lies'
If you're searching for that next Big Little Lies-esque binge-watch, Amazon has it. The streaming platform's new series Tell Me Your Secrets combines everything you loved about Big Little Lies and The Undoing and adds more suspense, more intrigue, and more characters who aren't as they seem.
That last descriptor is perhaps the best part about Tell Me Your Secrets. In the first episode, we're introduced to several key players—namely, Karen (Lily Rabe), who went to jail for her alleged involvement in her serial killer boyfriend's crimes and is now in the Witness Protection program with a new name: Emma. We also meet Mary (Amy Brenneman), who believes her daughter was kidnapped by said serial killer; however, Mary still thinks her daughter is out there, and she's determined to find Emma and get some answers.
"She's been in prison, and she has to take her first steps into the world as this completely new person," Rabe tells EW. "I don't want to give too much away, but it was so wonderful playing both women. Karen is someone who had such a wide open heart. Then, because of what she's been through, [she becomes] someone who's afraid of absolutely everyone and feels as though she will never feel another moment of safety again in her life."
Of course, things aren't that black and white. As the episodes unfold, you're left wondering what role Emma played in her boyfriend's horrific crimes. She's rebuilding her own memories of what happened and isn't the most reliable narrator. Was she aware he was a serial killer? Did she help? Or was she completely oblivious to the whole thing? Mary isn't totally innocent, either: She does some very questionable things to try and track Emma down.
The most suspect character, though, is Emma's case manager, Pete (Enrique Murciano). At first, he seems like he has Emma's best interests at heart. But shady facts about his past soon come to light that make you think he may be just as monstrous as Emma's ex-boyfriend. As Oprah Winfrey would say, what is the truth? (It's a show called Tell Me Your Secrets. Did you really think that answer would be easy?)
Rabe and Brenneman are phenomenal in their roles, playing them with the kind of nuance and detail that keeps their intentions confusing. In a good way! Emma isn't just the maybe-complicit girlfriend of a serial killer, and Mary isn't just an altruistic, grieving mother. We all have good sides and bad sides to us, and their depictions showcase that—just like the complicated, flawed women in Big Little Lies and The Undoing.
AdvertisementThat being said, there are some characters who don't deserve these kinds of arcs, and John Tyler (Hamish Linklater) is one of them. John, a convicted rapist, tries to find work at Mary's victim support nonprofit organization and is turned down for obvious reasons. But then Mary enlists his help to track Emma down, and at times is painted in an empathetic light that, at the very least, is troubling.
There's also the subject of Rose (Chiara Aurelia), the white teen who, along with a Black friend, severely bully a Black girl named Jess (Emyri Crutchfield). At first, Emma defends Jess and befriends her, but when Jess disappears, she befriends—of all people—Rose, and Rose's past treatment of Jess isn't mentioned. Emma and Rose's “friendship” is one of the most head-scratching bonds on the show, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. On one hand, it adds to Emma's polarizing characterization; is this a person we can really trust? But on the other, it's baffling Emma would even give Rose the time of a day after how she treated Jess, whose disappearance is a driving force in the story.
All of this is to say Tell Me Your Secrets, if it catches the internet's attention, will certainly be a talker. The soapy, high-stakes mystery will keep you hooked from episode to episode, and the ambiguous morals of the characters only augment the puzzle. Who's good? Who's bad? The answer, obviously, is somewhere in the middle—but reaching that conclusion is thrilling. It's a solid watch and exactly the kind of nail-biting content you need to get through another weekend of These Trying Times.
The show starts streaming on Amazon February 19.
Christopher Rosa is the entertainment editor at Glamour. Follow him on Instagram @chris.rosa92.
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Christopher Rosa
