The Staircase

Good performance by Firth. The "constantly back and forth narrative" was pointless and even irritating. A lot of scenes had no meaning whatsoever. It should have been 4 episodes, there's way too many pointless minutes.

I feel like this show was good until someone in post-production decided to turn it into a time-travel show. Same issue with other shows being put out these days that end up as background watching. I think one of the cardinal rules for film/TV is to not have flashbacks unless you are exposing an essential piece of information. It would have been more entertaining if the information was presented in chronological order. Maybe since this is what seems to work with docuseries they think it will work with other story telling.

The acting is good. The writing is good. Technically it is good. I just feel that it falls apart in the edit. Mind you, the edited scenes by themselves are well-edited. But who wants to see a dramatic scene thrown in at a random point of the timeline where it doesn't belong?... and this whole show ends up feeling like that. So overall, it's just kind of confusing where you're at at any given point, so you tune out.

Have been following this story since the original trial. My impression so far is the set decorations, especially the house, is spot on. The cast, the always phenomenal Toni Collette and exceptional Colin Firth are excellent. Supporting cast portrays their roles true to their characters. In my mind's eye I'm watching the show unfold as if I'm seeing the actual victims. The writer's had a lot to work with starting with the trial transcripts and the French documentary The Staircase, so the show feels very real.

This seems to be made in a way where the story just seems to drag on and on...

This could easily have been consolidated into a 4 or 5 episode series instead of the 8 episodes - the producers have stretched the story to the point where the viewer starts losing interest.

Also the way the timeline keeps switching between historical and present without giving the viewer much indication that we are going back in time can be confusing at times.

This could have been written so much better to reflect the true story this series is supposed to be based on. One could also argue that the creators also took a little too much artistic licence in telling the story.

Either way, it's not a complete waste of time, but the creation of this series was poorly executed in my opinion.

I didn't care for Michael Peterson at all during the actual documentary and didn't care for him in the HBO version but I think Colin Firth's portrayal of him is uncanny! I don't see how any woman could have been attracted to him. I do feel sorry for the people in his life, being so exposed the way they are, particularly given that they weren't given much of a choice to be in the original documentary. It's fairly evident to me that all MP really cared about was/is himself and perhaps he wasn't aware of how the media attention/social media would impact those he allegedly cares about. To me, there was way too much blood for a fall and I tend to think of him as a guilty man.