Apples Never Fall

This 7-part series is based on a book by an author that my wife reads and enjoys, although she had not read this particular book. While this series has a number of awkward spots in total it is interesting and entertaining story-telling. The title is a shortening of the old saying "Apples never fall far from the tree." The last episode ties lots of things up and is written to show how it is important for families, parents and their adult children, to keep dialog going and not take each other for granted.

Annette Bening is Joy Delaney and Sam Neill is her long-time husband Stan Delaney. Each was a tennis star in earlier days and in retirement established a successful tennis academy. As this series opens they are fairly freshly retired, having sold the academy.

There is an additional character, Savannah, a stranger that shows up at their door claiming to be a victim of boyfriend abuse and Joy, being a kind person, takes her in. She quickly becomes an ex officio member of the family, to the consternation of the others. It turns out she has a key role in resolving everything.

Joy and Stan have four adult children, each quite different, each with a different idea of what success in life might look like. There is an argument, the children blame Joy, won't take or return her calls under the guise of being too busy. Then Joy disappears. They find her phone in the laundry basket.

This all happens in the first episode, setting up what transpires in the rest of the episodes. The whole show is presented by alternating between a "then" and "now" manner, each time it goes from one to the other script at the bottom of the frame states which it is. So we get some information, but not all, and the rest is revealed gradually. In truth it could have been a 2-hour movie but I get why it is a 7-part series, more opportunity for insertion of 1-minute commercials during each episode. Revenue is important.

Joy is at first just presumed simply missing, as the days go by family and police get hints that she may in fact be no longer alive. So, much of the show is family dynamics as they search for their mother and the reasons she disappeared.

My wife and I watched it streaming on Peacock over three evening, 2, 2, then 3 episodes. It is satisfyingly entertaining.

The several negative reviews and "1" ratings are totally bogus, it is as if they didn't actually see the series.

Absolutely unwatchable. Another Australian story converted, yet again, to an American setting with truly obnoxious characters, trite dialogue and weak plotting. The book wasn't literature but at least provided a decent read. Sam Neil needs to give it up if this is the best he can do. What an insult - Lianne Moriarty should be hung, drawn and quartered for allowing this bastardisation of her Australian story. Why not set it where it belongs and allow excellent Aussie actors to demonstrate their acting chops? She certainly doesn't need the money ffs. Shame on you Ms Moriarity for this faithless act. But if you must make it American try at least to make it good.

If you are willing to adjust your expectations of this limited series, you may not be let down by this generally well-acted drama.

In reality, there really is no "mystery" other than not knowing *anything* substantial about the central event for 7 of the 8 episodes. Plenty of suspicions and dubious conclusions by law enforcement are lobbed (sorry) between characters relentlessly episode after episode, with key "evidence" uncovered along the way being almost hilariously circumstantial (and obviously meant to mislead).

The *vast* majority of the episodes center around the family dynamics of the. Delaneys, with plenty of flashbacks that fill in present day interactions to explain why some family members react and behave the way they do.

In the end, the final episode was a complete letdown, with the last 5 seconds of the penultimate episode being the biggest twist/shocker of the series. I did not read the book, but it felt like the last episode was stretching the last couple pages of the book into a full hour of content.

If you temper your expectations oso that you don't expect a big payoff to the series, and instead watch it as a family melodrama wrapped around a "meh" mystery, your opinion might be higher.

This series started well and pulled me in for the first half. Sadly it is another example of a series that ends poorly leaving the viewer wondering what the heck did I just watch. The family dynamics are truly sad with each person being totally self absorbed and the Father, Sam Neill, being truly dislikeable. In the middle of that lot you have the interloper who no one questions. This, in my view, makes the series totally unbelievable. After a complicated six episodes of family dynamics, which, in parts, was full of suspense, the whole lot fell flat with several things left unanswered. This left me wondering what I had just watched.

Two award-winning veteran actors, Annette Bening and Sam Neill drag this predictable plot along, supported by their soap opera children. Robert Taylor, Sheriff Walt Longmire that was, has a small supporting role late in the show.

It's watchable enough, when Annette disappears and the family self-destructs. There are a couple of interesting twists in the backstory as the scenes switch from "then" to "now", but that part of the plot is unbelievable in the end. Everyone swearing to do better and the renewed happy family final scene is laughable. Mom was always taken for granted and left cleaning up after her ungrateful spoiled brats of a family. Mom and Dad's toxic relationship DNA has reproduced to some degree in the children. It's a cautionary tale and one probably familiar to lots of wives and mothers. Not awful, just could have been a lot better.