Peacock's Newest Release Is Amanda Seyfried's Crime Show That Deserves More Attention
A sincere series that, despite the detective intrigue, devotes more time to touching family drama.
The plot of Long Bright River is based on the novel of the same name by Liz Moore, who also wrote the screenplay for the project. Amanda Seyfried plays an honest law enforcement officer, a single mother and a fan of classical music.
Even when the narrative seems too monotonous, the actress saves the situation: it's easy to care and root for her Mickey.
What Is Long Bright River About?
Mickey is a police officer who patrols a poor area of Philadelphia every day. She knows many of the locals by name. Soon, the bodies of young women start turning up in Kensington.
While most believe the cause to be an overdose, Mickey pays attention to small details and realizes that a serial killer is roaming the streets.
At the same time, the woman's younger sister disappears: Kacey is a drug addict who also lives in Kensington. Mickey teams up with his former partner Truman to find the killer and the sister.
Long Bright River Is More of a Family Drama Than a Crime Series
Peacock's new series is positioned as a detective story, but it is the investigation part that slows down the most. The story only picks up speed in the second half. At the same time, Long Bright River lacks a spectacular pilot that would make viewers want to tune in to the next episode.
The show does not hook with intrigue, but with a story about sisterhood. We have a classic family drama about how the paths of loved ones diverge, but kinship has no expiration date: Mickey worried about Kacey all her life and tried to be there for her.
Family secrets are gradually revealed, the puzzle is put together, and the viewer understands the reasons for all the troubles: why the girls stopped communicating, how Kacey ended up on the street, when everything went wrong.
Long Bright River Is a Sincere Show About the Importance of Making the Right Choice
Long Bright River repeatedly returns to the topic of choice. In the first episode, Mickey explains to her young son the importance of making the right choices. In the dialogues between the police officers, the question arises: Did the people of Kensington choose this life?
This question runs like a thread through the entire plot, and the screenwriters peer into the broken destinies of the townspeople without judgment.
It is difficult to call Long Bright River a standard of the detective genre, but it seems that you can get into the show for other reasons: the series, using the example of Mickey, teaches us not to draw hasty conclusions, to avoid categorization and not to forget to remain human.