Saint X

An upper middle class family goes on vacation to a Caribbean island resort - Mom (Betsy Brandt), Dad (Michael Park), 19 year old Alison (West Duchovny), a confident, opinionated, and flirty Ivy League student, and anxious, shy 7 year old Claire (Kenlee Anaya Townsend). On the last night of the trip Alison disappears and is later found dead. Two resort workers and childhood friends Edwin (Jayden Elijah) and Clive (Josh Bonzie) are suspected to have killed her but never charged. 20 years later Claire, now going by Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is living in New York and has finally gotten her life together after suffering a mental breakdown two years prior, when a chance encounter sends her on a treacherous quest for answers about her sister's death.

The story is told in two intertwining timelines. We watch Alison and family on their vacation, day by day, and as they draw closer to that fateful last night, present day Emily/Claire is unraveling as she gets closer and closer to the answers. Additional flashbacks to the aftermath of the tragedy and to Edwin and Clive's childhood provide some explanations and backstory with potential clues. The placement of the flashbacks seems random, but I actually liked it that way. They felt organic. The filmmakers' intent was never obvious. Clues came in subtly and unexpectedly, and it was impossible to tell what was a clue and what wasn't. And the final resolution turned out to be something completely unexpected. There was a bit of a hole in the last piece in the chain of events leading to Alison's death, but the rest of the chain was so great, so surprising, it didn't really bother me. Even the epilogue was full of unexpected turns.

I have to say, I usually can't help noticing holes in just about everything I watch. I didn't notice any here, aside from that one part.

Added bonus. It's more than just a thriller. It's a story about the toll it takes to pretend to be someone you're not.

The bad reviews out there are par for the course. But some of them don't even make sense. Like comparing it to White Lotus. (Because they're at tropical resorts, these 2 shows in totally different genres are worth comparison, lol.) Or people complaining about flashbacks every 3 minutes. (There are some flashbacks, but not many. Those people must be confused by the story progressing along different timelines.)

Most of the negative reviews are likely either boomers who think all tropical nations (and people) are the same, or Gen-Z who can't follow a storyline that's more complex than a Tik Tok lip-sync video.

Turn it on, it's fun.

First of all, to those who find the flashbacks confusing or even claim they ruin the show - this is pure ignorance. The flashbacks were obvious by they were filmed (so not confusing at all), and they were relevant to the story. To those who think the show was slow - you're just impatient.

Anyone with a average IQ + common sense can follow this plot and understand how the flashbacks are necessary to the series.

The acting wasn't Oscar worthy, but it wasn't bad - it was on par with a Hulu series. PTSD was well portrayed (bravo!). And in the final episode we learn exactly what happened to Alison. No, there was no eye witness in the series to what happened to her, but her sister came to a reasonable conclusion after compiling the facts of that night she knew to be true.

The ending was, I think, unexpected, a relief (by how it differed compared to the expectation that was set throughout the entire series), and sad. I'd be happy to watch a season 2... I'd love to understand why Claire moved to the west coast to a family that has yet to heal from the trauma they all experienced, and why she left s boyfriend who loved her. So, please give us a season two and continue to develop these characters!

Overall decent, although it did lack in excitement. The worst thing about the series is the way it flashed back all the way to when Clive was a young child in elementary school. I just couldn't get into that part of the show. The flashbacks to when Claire was younger and her memory of the resort and when her sister was killed, is interesting but too much time was spent on the Clive flashbacks. Hope season 2 leaves that out.

Also, the music played in the background to try to make certain scenes seem more mysterious, was used way too much. The simplest conversation would be happening, and that slow music would be played to up the excitement, but it only made the scenes stand out as boring.

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but after that I was good. It's really pretty good and well written and produced. Episode 8 is where it all comes together. I don't know how many episodes are planned but as I sit here watching episode 8, it seems as this may be the final episode or at least it could be as everything is revealed. I think the bad reviews are a result of either impatience or a lack of understanding of this type of story telling. I heard some people complain about production values, but the production values are as good as anything else out there. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but as for me, I'm glad I gave this show a chance. It really was very good.