I finally got around to watching The Undoing. For what was ostensibly a psychological drama, you would think at least Grace, a clinical psychologist, would recognize her husband's illness properly but she too didn't seem to know the distinction between a sociopath and a psychopath. These are the all too common personality disorders associated with villains in these types of movies and serials. I suppose she may have been suffering from "confirmation bias," as was pointed out to her by the prosecuting attorney in the final episode, but more likely she wasn't a very good psychologist, as she completely misread her husband and you wonder how many patients as well. We were only given a glimpse of a gay couple she was providing marriage counseling for.
The story line was threadbare to say the least, which is surprising given David Kelly and Susanne Bier had six hours to tell their story. What little information we were able to gather from the main characters was parceled out in teaspoons with a little plot twist at the end of each episode to make you curious what would happen next. We found out almost nothing about Elena, who was the victim of this murder mystery, other than what we were told by Jonathon and Grace.
Jonathon's guilt was never in doubt. The only question was whether he would accept culpability or find a way to deflect this guilt onto others. This is where the suspense lied. At first, you think he would try to pin the blame on poor Elena's husband, but apparently Fernando had an airtight alibi, so Jonathon slowly began twisting the guilt onto his wife, who was the only person caught on city security cameras that ill-fated night. You have to wonder how the same cameras didn't capture Jonathon that evening. There was even a point when it appeared the dastardly father was willing to use his son as a scapegoat. All of this made you wonder why Grace spent any time trying to acquit her husband of this foul deed, especially after finding out he had been lying to her for quite sometime before the murder took place.
One of the attributes of a psychopath is that they can be quite charming. They know how to manipulate emotions to their advantage as they are unable to feel any real emotions themselves. It was referred to as narcissistic disorder syndrome in the HBO series. These social deviants become skilled con men, able to ascend professional and social ladders quickly as they have no empathy for those they dupe or step over on the way up. If they get married and have a family it is for social purposes only. They typically don't have any real interest in family affairs, which Jonathon demonstrated early on. He went to school functions purely for appearances. Of course, many of us feel the same way, so we really couldn't hold that against him. Still, there was something odd about Jonathon from the get-go. A little Ted Bundy lurking in him just waiting for the right moment to lash out. Yes, Ted Bundy had a family too.
I suppose Grace could have been oblivious to Jonathon's manipulative nature, having fallen under his roguish charm. More likely, she was just too busy with her own work and social activities to pay much attention to him. As long as he satisfied her sexually, was a good father to Henry and excelled as a pediatric oncologist, she was fine with him.
She didn't seem to know much about him beforehand. They met at Harvard and after a three-year romance got married, much to her father's chagrin. Dear old Dad, perfectly played by Donald Sutherland, made it abundantly he never liked Jonathon. However, this would make them much younger than they appeared in the movie. Hugh Grant looks all of 60 and Nicole Kidman a well-preserved 50. They should be entertaining grandkids at this stage in their lives, but instead they have only been married 15 years and have a 12-year-old son. Lily Rabe would have been better suited in the role of Grace, but instead she serves as her close confidante Sylvia.
We eventually learn that Jonathon lost a sister in his childhood due to his negligence. A sin his parents were willing to forgive if only he had shown remorse. He showed none. In fact, he had consigned the event to a distant memory, apparently telling Grace it was a family pet he had killed by accident. Grace only found out when Henry brought the subject up at lunch, upsetting his father with Grace eventually calming him down.
You would think that at this point, Jonathon would try to twist the story to make Grace appear responsible for the murder. This is where the series was headed even before young Henry found the hammer. But, Jonathon still wants to hold onto his family. Only problem is that Grace is not so sure she does. This leaves poor Henry to try to keep his dysfunctional family together but obviously the burden is too great for him to bear. So, Jonathon decides to take matters into his own and takes his son on a Thelma & Louise joy ride that the director mercifully decided not to carry out to its bitter end, as that would have killed not only Jonathon and Henry but the production as well.
As it turns out, Jonathon wasn't a very good psychopath. I guess he hadn't had enough practice as Ted Bundy had. Probably should have started out with family pets. He botched the homicide and was unable to find a way to deflect the blame despite there only being compelling circumstantial evidence against him, as pointed out by his sharp-tongued lawyer. He just seemed completely clueless throughout the series, making one mistake after another. What little charm he possessed was used up in the opening episode.
For all this psychological anguish, this limited series didn't really go anywhere. If it wasn't for Nicole Kidman's compelling performance this show would have collapsed under its own brooding weight. Critics gave the series mixed reviews. Some tried to make sense of the mess, while others bemoaned all the opportunities that were lost with such a skilled set of actors. Personally, I found Hugh Grant painful to watch as he struggled mightily to make anything out of his character. Jonathon was neither one nor the other. Just some jerk who didn't know how to bring an unseemly affair to an end without crushing his muse's face in with a sculptor's hammer. It was just bad writing from a guy who spins out television series a dime a dozen. David Kelly was just given a bigger budget that afforded him better actors and film crew to give the show the air of a serious social drama. That seems to be all you need these days to attract attention.
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