What Remains

The Brits have made and are making so many good (mini-)series that, for the sake of novelty, one should find a distinctive feature from time to time. In the one in question, the events happen in a tenement house mostly, and their origins bring us back to the time years ago. The occupants of the house are different and seem happy, but soon it appears that nothing is so good as it seems...

The tensions are maintained, the flashbacks are clarifying (not annoying and enhancing length as sometimes), and the cast measures up to their characters - without someone who is evidently "better", i.e. more interesting than others. Well, David Threlfall as DI Len Harper spent most time on screen and depicted his odd character very well, but as it is my first conscious perusal with his talent, he was just "good among the goodies". But I have certainly fixed him in my memory.

The ending / final solutions could have been less trivial, with a twist or something, but, luckily there were no supernatural forces included. And last but not least - the title! With a sophisticated and versatile meaning.

'What Remains' takes the classic Agatha Christie formula and updates it to the modern age: take a dead body, a house full of individuals all on the nasty end of normal, and a determined, dogged retired detective, and save the unveiling of the criminal to the final moments. In fact, whereas Christie's characters were generally thin, the characterisation is more convincing in this, although never truly surprising. The direction and acting are also highly competent, although the conclusion descends into (almost inevitable) silliness. Until that point, it's quite gripping, but also quite shallow: whatever remains, not that much lies beneath the surface.

Somehow missed this first time around but have recently watched on catch-up. Truly excellent acting and gripping story. An absolute delight to watch. This shows what the BBC could do when it had a well funded drama budget. Please watch as I guarantee very few can watch this and not be impressed and frightened. Psycho definitely comes to mind.

I was hooked all the way through. Binge watched the whole series. Very clever plot and well acted I've never watched a whodunnit with so many twists and turns.

This show was actually really good! I've spent so much time scrolling through Britbox looking for something to pull me in, and this one did the trick. I watched all but the thrilling conclusion in one day (it was cold out!) So many twists and turns. So creepy. Direction and photography excellently crafted. Set design really sets a mood and wardrobe was good. Acting always top notch in Brit shows. One of the prettiest girls in the world in starring role. Moments of suspense last just the right amount of time. Touches on many subjects of forms of abuse, dying alone, teenagers experimenting with being terrible people, loneliness, desperation.

The only problem I had was the treatment of obesity. Do adults really act like such children mocking fat people to their face? Maybe it's because I'm American and half the people here are fat, but we don't usually puff out our cheeks and call someone "Fatty" and say things like "She's a big girl, you could hardly have missed her." Bit of an outsized (har har) focus on the victim's weight.

All in all this show ranks high on my list of favorite brit mysteries, and I've watched a LOT.