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Apple TV+’s seven-part adaptation of Laura Dave’s 2021 page-turner improves as it progresses, tossing out solid twists and then hitting us with a satisfying wrap-up.
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The series stumbles around for a few episodes while it establishes the Hitchcockian ambience (circa “Vertigo” and “The Birds”) and puts in place the clues to Owen’s past that will pay off in later revelations. (The seven episodes run from just 37 to 45 minutes, and the pace is generally brisk.) But it quickly gels into a better-than-average whodunit and a superior family drama, one whose denouement hits you with surprising force.
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“The Last Thing He Told Me” is handsomely shot by an all-female team of directors, and each episode builds to one of the novel’s more gobsmacking cliffhangers. Add in Garner’s intuitive performance, and the show makes for a perfectly entertaining experience — albeit one that settles for replicating the novel rather than expanding it.
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In the end, there’s nothing offensively wrong with this show: It’s got some solid performances, picturesque sets, and zips briskly through episodes that max out at around 40 minutes each (the dream in the era of Peak TV!) But it’s also probably not what you thought you were going to get either. And while that’s not bad, per se, it’s still pretty disappointing.