Tell Me Your Secrets

Amy Brenneman Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater all started on the stage before graduating to "character actors" on film and television. They know how to steal a scene.

In this series, Brenneman plays a grieving mother who will (quite literally) do anything to find out what happened to Theresa, her missing daughter. Rabe is the woman who was there when her serial killer boyfriend snatched Theresa, and cannot forgive herself for not stopping him. Linklater is a serial predator who hopes to stop looking for prey. Meanwhile, someone is killing young girls, and a local foster home is full of potential victims.

The show is helmed by Harriet Warner of "Call the Midwife," but its Louisiana setting, subject matter, and pacing seem more rooted in the gloomy "True Detective." Fear and depression follow each of the three lead characters through the steamy swamps and grimy buildings.

They all have something to hide, and the series gives us the slow, plodding revelation of their secrets. Sadly, the pacing is uneven, with more happening in the first episode than in the next three.

The production values are generally good, but the sound is at time uneven. Music drowns out voices, and the dark sets made it hard for me to watch in a well lit room.

There are multiple plots, which mean it is best seen as a binge stream over a few days.

I enjoyed most of it, and thought the acting was phenomenal. The plot? Unbelievable, but THIS IS TV.

If ever there was a title that represented truth in advertising, this is that title. All the characters in this limited series have their secrets, and in some cases, their their own hearts and minds keep secrets from themselves. The series features very good writing and excellent acting, especially from the principals: Lily Rabe, Amy Brenneman, and Hamish Linklater. Plenty of twists and turns for fans of murder mystery thrillers. So why did I rate this only 7 out of 10? Because the last couple of episodes start to spiral down a bizarre rabbit hole of secrets and conspiracies that are not plausible. "Heroes" become "villains" and vice versa. Certain secrets that we finally thought that we had learned and understood, turn out to not be true. That's all well and good if my disbelief and trust in "Occam's Razor" can be suspended, but everybody has their own limits in that regard, and mine were exceeded. Plus, I have a pet peeve about the last scene/shot of a drama being used to set up a "sequel" (or a second season, in this case), and not to provide any closure to the original story/season. Hence, a potential 9/10 shrinks by two.

10/10

Entirely gripping and engaging from Episode 1 through the end of Episode 8. Episodes 9 and 10, however, lacked some plausibility and required a greater measure of suspension-of-belief than the previous episodes. Still, as a whole (or for the first eight episodes), it was immensely absorbing and enveloped me so completely, that I could not stop myself from binging it through to the end. Here, I have to add - although I almost hate doing so because I fear it might come across as gender-defining this series, that it is especially terrifying in parts, if you have ever experienced a stalker or abuser; harassment; manipulation or exploitation in any form. I do not want to include more as I do not wish to give away important plot pieces, but you can almost taste the emotions being "experienced" by some of the characters, and in films and television shows, isn't this precisely what we look for?

So, as others have already suggested, do yourself a favor and totally ignore the negative reviews on this little gem. A majority of those so-called "reviews" are thoroughly nonsensical. One, below, reads: 'I barely finished episode 1 and don't know how this show has a rating of 7.5'. I guess we should give that Einstein credit for not judging the entire season on part of one episode. Oh, wait. They did. Yet another so-called review on RT (which in itself is a joke), reads, in part: "... the problem is the script treats this like a potboiler when it deserves more seriousness ...". Sorry, but I can almost guarantee that purported 'top-critic' has been phoning-in critiques for a while now without ever bothering to watch the source material. This series, is chock-full-of both, nail-biting, pot-boiler suspense and undeniable, keep-you-awake "seriousness", which they would have known had they watched it. If anything, one could say the analogy of a tea kettle boiling and whistling on a stove is how best this series can be described. Take from that what you will.

Lastly, to their enormous credit, the cast members are all highly believable in their respective roles with stand-out performances by many, but especially so, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, Enrique Murciano and Emyri Crutchfield.

THIS is must-watch TV.

Anyone who is confused simply needs to watch and pay attention. The story does jump in time but easy to follow. Watch it...judge for yourself...but don't let the totally unjustified bad reviews turn you away.

Good show. Addictive rhythm. Good screenplay.

Acting is outstanding with a few exceptions and a couple of very weak scenes.

Script is fine. But everything is so twisted that need to work back to back with good editing

Bad editing. Too many open issues. Not every single question must be answered but at least the final edition needs to provide some closure or light to some of them.

Reasons... Backgrounds Come on! You can do better.