Tell Me Your Secrets

I spent all day watching this series. I really enjoyed it. There were so many storylines, you think you're waiting to find out what happens during one story line and then it crosses with another. Definitely kept me on my toes. As far as I'm concerned, Hamish stole every scene he was in. More please.

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.

This series is better than many of the reviews here. The last two episodes were all over the place and rushed but the build up was good and the initial premise was fine. There were some wonky twists towards the end that went overboard but it's a limited series so I guess they didn't feel constrained to reign anything in for seasons that are never gonna happen.

I watched the first episode and was hooked. I wanted to know a bit more about it and came across some really surprising reviews. I mean the vitriolic language and bizarre level of loathing - what is going on?! Now I'm really curious because there is no way this series compelled so much passionate anger. I'm now 4 episodes in, it's definitely creepy, suspenseful, well acted, beautifully shot, super weird, and I am confused about what is really happening- but so far I love it. It's "not for everyone" but no genre is. Give it a try if creepy and suspenseful are your bag. You'll probably like it, maybe even love it.