'Trust Me' did have potential to be good. The concept was intriguing enough and Jodie Whitaker and Sharon Small have done good work elsewhere. Unfortunately, while there are good things that stop it from being complete dreck, am going to have to join those expressing disappointment in this four-part series. Intriguing concept if done correctly but very underwhelming execution of it.
As said, 'Trust Me' is not without its good things. It is atmospheric visually, though not in a flashy or cinematic way instead more of a muted look that suited the tone well, and is shot slickly enough. Impressive scenes are too few, but they are there. Particularly note-worthy was the life and death situation with the patient suffering from a tooth abscess resulting in a main character's conduct being questioned, that was a harrowing watch. The medical stuff occasionally intrigues and is more interesting and better done than the personal life subplots.
What comes off best is the acting. The best performances come from Emun Elliot and Sharon Small, Elliot gives a lot of intensity and a sympathetic edge and Small nails it in a performance that's authoritative and sometimes affecting as the only interesting character. Blake Harrison is decent but doesn't have enough to work with. The girl who plays the daughter is cute and appealing.
Jodie Whitaker's performance was one of those difficult to make of ones. It's certainly competent and she tries hard and is very committed clearly, it's just fairly uninspired and would have benefited better with less flat dialogue and a much more sympathetic character that didn't make so many frustrating decisions and so many errors that in real life would have caused suspicion.
Sadly, 'Trust Me' is very problematic. Much of the storytelling is pedestrian in pace and stretches credibility to beyond breaking point (don't need to work in the medical profession to feel this way, it's common sense). Calling a lot of the events surrounding the deception implausible is an understatement. The final episode is rushed and the ending is contrived ridiculousness and pure fantasy. The romantic subplot is crassly written, predictable and drawn out where neither characters are ones you care for because their decision making makes one want to bang their heads together.
Disappointing too is the script, which completely lacks any kind of depth and nuance and is instead both crass and dreary as well as underwritten, clearly written by somebody with relatively little medical knowledge and an inability to develop characters and realistic situations. It's far too straightforward and safe too, the early exposition scenes are dreadfully clunky and the interview scene is a joke.
Characters are flat, with the marginal exception of Brigitte (which is largely to do with Small being as good as she is), and are also unsympathetic, constantly defying plausibility with their actions. How Andy reacts to the deception immediately lowers one's opinion of him, and the outcome of Brigitte's story was not believable for a second.
Overall, has its moments but disappointing. 5/10 Bethany Cox
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