The Beast in Me

The truly outstanding aspect of this show was its cinematography. Hands down a beautifully shot series. It is intrinsic to the psychological game it plays, as the viewer's perspectives move, expand and retract with the position of the characters and their own perspectives reflected in the camera lens and it almost makes of cold blooded murder something cozy. Other than that, it unfortunately falls by its own weight. There's nothing crazy, much less innovative about the story's development, it's a cliché murder mystery that depicts the consequence of taunting with humanity's darkest desires. Some characters go underutilized, while others supply nothing. I have to specially commend the female characters that, aside from Danes, we see so little of despite being instrumental to the characterization (like Shelley), or to the storyline (like Nina). I wish we could've seen far more interaction between them than I cared to see for all the men. Aggie and Shell's relationship, what remained of it... whew, their emotional scenes were devastating. The rest of social/class commentaries feel almost satirical with how on the nose they are, and make a caricature out of the male characters, though it is an added layer of complexity for their female counterparts. All in all, would recommend if you're just in the mood for a simple murder mystery with an arrogant lesbian author as protagonist. I guess.

(CASTELLANO) Hay miniseries que juegan a ser “thriller correcto” y ya. Esta no. Esta va a morder, y lo hace desde el minuto uno con una energía rara, incómoda, como si te estuvieran mirando desde una ventana que no sabías que existía. Me la he tragado con gusto porque no se conforma con intrigar: te mete en una espiral de sospecha, obsesión y paranoia que cuesta soltar. El gran gancho es el duelo. Claire Danes está en ese punto en el que parece que se rompe, pero a la vez controla la escena con la mandíbula apretada. Y Matthew Rhys… madre mía. Aquí está desquiciado, sí, pero lo peor (lo mejor) es que no lo interpreta como un payaso. Lo hace peligroso de verdad: alguien que puede ser encantador dos segundos y, al tercero, darte mal cuerpo. Esa mezcla de carisma y amenaza es gasolina pura para una historia así. Lo que más me ha gustado es lo retorcida que es sin necesidad de ir todo el rato a lo fácil. Hay giros, claro, y algunos episodios te dejan con esa sensación de “vale, uno más y paro” (mentira). A ratos se nota que estira un poco ciertas vueltas, como si quisiera tensar el muelle más de la cuenta… pero en general me ha compensado, porque el ambiente está muy bien sostenido. También ayuda mucho la atmósfera: casas bonitas que parecen seguras pero no lo son, silencios que duran lo justo para que te dé tiempo a pensar lo peor, y una puesta en escena que te va encerrando con los personajes. Es una serie de miradas, de detalles, de gestos mínimos que te dicen “aquí pasa algo” incluso cuando nadie habla. No es una miniserie perfecta ni pretende serlo. Si buscas algo que reinvente el género, no. Pero si lo que quieres es un thriller psicológico muy adictivo, de los que te dejan un poco tenso y con la cabeza dándole vueltas, aquí hay material de sobra. Y sí: Rhys está muy, muy, muy zumbado… y eso es exactamente lo que la hace tan disfrutable. (ENGLISH) There are miniseries that play at being a “solid thriller” and that’s it. This isn’t one of them. This one bites, and it does so from minute one with a strange, uneasy energy—like someone’s watching you from a window you didn’t know was there. I devoured it gladly because it doesn’t settle for intrigue: it drags you into a spiral of suspicion, obsession, and paranoia that’s hard to shake. The big hook is the duel. Claire Danes is at that point where she looks like she might break, yet she still controls every scene with her jaw clenched. And Matthew Rhys… my God. Here he’s unhinged, yes, but the worst (best) part is that he never plays it like a clown. He makes it genuinely dangerous: someone who can be charming for two seconds and, on the third, give you the creeps. That mix of charisma and threat is pure fuel for a story like this. What I liked most is how twisted it gets without constantly going for the cheap shot. There are twists, of course, and a few episodes leave you with that “okay, one more and I’ll stop” feeling (lie). At times you can tell it stretches certain turns a bit, like it wants to tighten the spring a little too much… but overall it worked for me, because the mood stays rock-solid. The atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting too: pretty houses that don’t feel safe, silences that last just long enough for you to imagine the worst, and staging that slowly locks you in with the characters. It’s a show of looks, details, tiny gestures that scream “something’s wrong here” even when nobody speaks. It’s not a perfect miniseries, and it’s not trying to be. If you want something that reinvents the genre, this isn’t it. But if you want a highly bingeable psychological thriller, the kind that leaves you a bit tense and thinking about it afterward, there’s plenty here. And yes: Rhys is very, very, very messed up… and that’s exactly why it’s so much fun to watch.