How do you like — or hate — Peacock’s ‘Apples’?
Well! i have heard from enough Globe readers about Peacock’s “Apples Never Fall” to justify revisiting the Peacock miniseries based on the liane Moriarty novel. i was ok with the show, which i enjoyed for its acting and for its willingness to be a little trashy. Despite a name-y cast, including Annette Bening, Alison Brie, Sam Neill, and Jake lacy, it’s a twisty missing-person story that doesn’t pretend to be a prestige release. it doesn’t go deep on the characters and their moral orientations, so much as it gives us a dishy look at a family laden with secrets and lies.
But my email correspondents felt that it was awful, a waste of time, and lacking in surprise. i like hearing that, largely because it’s always good for a critic to be reminded that his own opinions are subjective. it’s an obvious truth, but it never hurts to remember it. Just the variety of the reviews of “Apples Never Fall,” which range from the top (a 100 from RogerEbert.com) to close to the bottom (a 30 from Time) on the Metacritic review aggregation site, is more evidence that shows sit different ways with different individuals.
Most of the enjoyment i got watching “Apples Never Fall” had to do with the dramas and conversations among the four adult children, played by Brie, lacy, Essie Randals, and Conor Merrigan Turner. it’s through their stories that we gradually get to know their mother and the circumstances that might have led to her disappearance. The four actors evoke a strong sense of family, and Bening is excellent as the object of their concern and conjecture.
This is the kind of show that benefits from bingeing, the style of viewing that isn’t about savoring all the details so much as racing ahead. it’s best experienced all at once, with medium expectations, when you’re not looking for the next best-ever.