The Girl Before

Everything seems so good: the idea, the storytelling, the acting, the atmosphere and the mystery... but... completely lets you down by the cliched and predictable ending. An ending so bad and poorly executed that underestimates the viewer's intelligence.

Not to mention the life experiences of the main characters that are completely irrelevant to the main story.

It's a pity as all the prospects for an intriguing and intelligent tv-show were there, by the reach of the hand.

Caught on BBC iplayer over Christmas.

Everything after entering the house was (mostly) plausible, but it was based on the condition that those agreeing to the tenancy had to completely give up any privacy they once had. For me, this would have been a deal killer after reading the first of the 200 conditions. Otherwise, this was a well scripted, shot and acted drama.

A quirky and different drama, and I'm pleased I persisted beyond the rather slow and tricky first episode.

A story of pure fantasy, but if you accept that, the other problems are just about tolerable. What I found hardest to accept was the character of Jane, who lurches from being quite smart to extremely naive. This gets worse as the drama unfolds.

But I liked the idea of how the house and the architect's personality are enmeshed. Makes it very different from a standard thriller.

I had it figured out, until I was totally wrong. The twist exists. The ending makes some sense which I always like. I had to go back, was told the last ep had an after credit scene that matters. The characters will annoy you, and the premise is just silly.

It is not a haunted house kind of story, the AI isn't a character, so don't run away just because of that.

The visuals are great, there is tension, its not wholly predictable. Not everything is fully answered, but it has a clean ending.

At four episodes, if you're a limited series kinda person- do it. You'll laugh bc it's stupid how stupid these people are, but boy are they pretty.

I enjoyed this whodunnit even allowing for the police overlooking what would appear to be obvious evidence in Emma's case but i suppose it could happen.

The rest was pacy and well acted.

Just one thing. If i owned a smart house I'd like it to be a bit smarter than this model. A good security review wouldn't go astray.