Questioning her sanity
TOO CLOSE STV, 9pm
SURELY all good crime thrillers start with someone driving at night through the pelting rain.
This particular driver seems stressed out and her eyes flick to the two children asleep in the back as she approaches a bridge – just as the barrier comes down in front of her.
She slams on the brakes. She pauses. Then she puts her foot down, crashing straight through the gate and into the water below.
It’s a shocking start, and this turn of events sets up a twisting, psychological three-parter set to keep viewers guessing.
Emily Watson plays Emma Robertson, a dedicated forensic psychiatrist who is assigned to work on the shocking case of Connie Mortensen – the woman dubbed the “yummy mummy monster”, accused of a despicable crime.
Emma’s assessment of her sanity will determine whether Connie, played by Denise Gough, gets life in jail, life in a psychiatric hospital or the chance of rehab and release.
As Emma’s husband Si (Risteard Cooper) points out: “Attempted murder could be 30 years, but temporary insanity? She could soon be buzzing around a Waitrose near you.”
Meanwhile, Connie is in a secure unit, claiming she has no memory of what happened, but is she lying?
As Emma starts to question her, Connie constantly turns the interview on its head, needling Emma about her own life, as the sessions turn into a complex cat and mouse game with confusing sexual undercurrents.
Meanwhile, flashbacks slowly reveal more about what actually happened, making for an intriguing, brilliantly cast drama.
Continues tomorrow and Wednesday.