The Stranger Review: Secrets Hold The Key To This Gripping Miniseries
The power of secrecy becomes an undeniably rousing start for The Stranger, the Netflix miniseries based on Harlan Coben’s novel. It strikes at the very heart of how someone is perceived, and how far someone is willing to go to keep their secrets concealed.
This is at the root of the show, that everyone has secrets, and everyone has something to hide. Richard Armitage stars as Adam Price, a lawyer with a perfect life and a perfect family, and it’s all shattered when a mysterious stranger provides him with damaging information. The story balloons from there, becoming a mystery thriller about the chase to uncover who this stranger is, and how it all connects.
Over its eight episodes, The Stranger juggles a number of stories and leads, but it’s with its main character Adam, and its co-lead DS Johanna Griffin (played by Siobhan Finneran of Downton Abbey fame), where its best moments come. Their arcs are far more fleshed out and believable, and luckily, they are the majority of the focus on the show.
Some of the side characters and their stories prove lacking as they go on, mostly from their writing not quite gelling with the larger, looming issues. Perhaps it’s all red herrings to throw off the scent of what the show is truly trying to say, but from an eight-episode perspective, it does bring down the overall show in the process.
Thankfully, the main narrative push is downright gripping. The dual story, of both Adam trying to get to the bottom of his life-altering secret, and of Johanna starting to piece together a potential assault and a murder, all work brilliantly to tell the larger tale of a town plagued with cover-ups, and with that, the British mystery fits in well with its fellow recent counterparts like Broadchurch, The Fall, and The Bay.
Richard Armitage makes a fantastic lead here, his brooding and slow descent as time weighs down on him giving Armitage plenty to work with as his character reaches his wit’s end. Siobhan Finneran, as well, plays Johanna with a careful kindness, where she’s reading everyone while a personal, devastating weight is on her shoulders to get it all right.
The Stranger does end up buckling under the weight of its own secrets, a small irony. There are times where the withholding of evidence does hurt key scenes or moments, or characters conveniently don’t tell people they normally trust something that could fit the puzzle pieces together and blow the whole story wide open.
These sorts of things are prevalent in any mystery series, and while some shows do manage to move past this, The Stranger ends up lagging a little because of it. There are times where it feels like the show may be stalling, but it comes and goes, as there’s always another reveal that pulls you right back in and makes these issues start to fade.
And yet, The Stranger sticks its landing. While the journey can most times be more important than the destination, mystery thrillers do need to resolve in a somewhat satisfying way; The Stranger does, and makes up for some of the aforementioned troubles. Those troubles are early enough that once pushed through, the latter half of the season more than makes up for it.
The terrific cast and sharp filmmaking go a long way, as well. Most of the show takes place with affluent families with comments on income inequality and luxury apartments tearing apart old, fond neighborhoods. These asides, while distracting from the main story, do end up making an impact and show that wealth and happiness aren’t entirely one and the same, while photographing the different locales rather well.
The Stranger is a solid thriller, interested in weaving its characters through tortured crossroads where they are tested time and again to do the right thing while keeping up appearances. It’s mostly successful with some caveats, but does well with its performers and main narrative to unearth the truth and to become a reliable British mystery drama.
What did you think of The Stranger? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Stranger releases on January 30th on Netflix.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.