The Better Sister Season 1 Review: A Complicated Sisterly Bond

It is always quite interesting to start a crime drama with the main character finding the dead body and then going back to tell us what happened. The Better Sister does that several times to make sure we understand everything that happened to get to Adam’s death.

The back and forth between the past and the present balances the storyline perfectly, allowing us to get a better understanding of who each character is. Even though they are all mostly unlikeable or unrelatable characters, it is still important to learn who they are to guarantee the story makes sense.

The show is full of secrets and lies that keep viewers on their toes, always second-guessing who the killer is. None of the characters are good, making it easier to blame them at one point or another throughout Season 1.

A Messed Up Sisterly Bond

The relationship between Chloe and Nicky is the most important one in the series. While there are several characters that bring the story to life, the sisters are the ones who started it, keep it going, and bring it to its closure.

Without their messed-up and weirdly loving relationship, there would be no story. And in the end, without it, there wouldn’t have been a murder and a cover-up.

From the beginning, it is clear that the sisters are two very different women. Nevertheless, the chemistry between Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks is perfect, making us believe every fight and every tender moment between the sisters. The love and the hate are palpable through the screen in every scene they share.

The differences are marked by their clothes, hair, behavior, and expressions, but at their core, they have similarities that push them to reunite. The truth is that none of them has it together, and they have different reasons for that.

Nicky carries her past with her, which has led to her alcoholism. And while Chloe is still somewhat haunted by their past, she carries the weight of her relationship with Adam and what they did to Nicky more heavily.

This idea of the past coming back to haunt them is represented in both of them seeing ghosts. Nicky sees her father everywhere she goes, while Chloe can’t stop seeing Adam and having conversations with them. It is through the conversations they have with the ghosts and the flashbacks that we learn more about them and what happened in their lives.

Nicky seeing through people’s bullshit and Chloe wanting to be liked is what pushes them to turn on each other. However, this is what helps them cover the perfect murder.

Without Chloe’s ability to stay calm and collected and Nicky’s ability to pretend nothing is happening, they wouldn’t have been able to create the plan to cover for Adam’s murder and blame the man who looked better suited for the murder.

The bathroom scene, where they hold hands under the stall, is what heals their relationship and allows them to move forward together. It is a full-circle moment that brings them back to when they used to hold hands while their father drove recklessly.

That silent moment of understanding and love is what allows them to find their way back to one another and realize that what matters is the love they have for each other and their son.

Two Different Detectives and a Perfect Court Story

While it is undeniable that Chloe and Nicky are the main characters on The Better Sister, Guidry and Bowen are the counterparts who keep the sisters on their toes and the investigation going.

Just as the sisters are indistinctibly different, the detectives are as well. Guidry is detached from the case and doesn’t let her personal thoughts blur her judgment. While she carries her actions from the past (which inevitably destroy the case), she is still able to stay level-headed and carry the investigation on her shoulders as Bowen goes off on his own gut feeling.

Bowen is more sensible to the situation, believing from the start that Ethan is innocent. There really isn’t a single innocent character on this show since they’ve all done their part, but Bowen believes there is more to the story. This “weakness” in Bowen’s character plays in favor of the sisters’ plan, delivering Nicky’s safety and Bill’s demise.

The prosecutor sees the differences in the detectives and reprimands them for it. His character is what starts the court scenes, opening the floor for some of the best scenes on the show.

Biel’s performance as Michelle Sanders is questioning her is the best acting she does on all eight episodes of the series. However, she wouldn’t have been able to deliver such a brilliant performance without the support of everyone else in the courtroom. Their body language, facial expressions, and Banks’s anxiety shining through Nicky’s body are what help Biel stay strong during such an important moment.

Evident Clues

With how the show is written, no one should be surprised by the plot twist at the end. There are clear clues throughout the episodes that indicate the killer has been in our faces all along and that Adam isn’t as good as he pretended to be.

The biggest tell that something isn’t as we’ve been told is when Nicky gets into the ocean and has flashbacks to the day in the pool. She remembers floating and nearly drowning, but when she sees Ethan, he is safely in his floatie. This is confirmed when Ethan receives the police report, which states that he had no water in his lungs.

None of them sees killing Adam as a correct act, but this detail justifies it. The flashbacks of the domestic abuse help build this, so by the time we find out Nicky killed him, we sympathize with her even if we still don’t like the characters.

Adam is undoubtedly the worst character, so his death bothers us the least. The same can be said about Jake’s death in the end.

Of course, one can sympathize with him after Chloe places the blame on him in court, but we still don’t mourn him because he wasn’t a good man. However, his death makes us wonder if the show leaves the door open for The Better Sister Season 2.

Stray Thoughts:

• Lorraine Toussaint delivers one of the best performances on the show.
• The show’s soundtrack is perfect, keeping us tense and on our toes about what could happen next.
• The medium scene at the bar, where Nicky talks to the bartender and he talks to her father’s ghost, is completely unnecessary.
• It’s disappointing that Chloe’s secondary phone is forgotten until it’s convenient for her to bring it up during the trial.

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The Better Sister is available to stream on Prime Video.

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