Series Review. The Girlfriend

On Prime I saw the series "The Girlfriend" and thought highly of it. Directed by Robin Wright, who also starred in the series had many plot changing twists to it.

Taking place in London, England, a soon to be young doctor, Daniel (Laurie Davidson) meets a young attractive real estate executive named Cherry (Olivia Cooke). Cherry has a past; a past in her personal relationships with men, her family and general run-ins with people.

At first it seems like a general psycho person who will eventually be exposed, or die trying to kill someone. But this series is much more than just that, in fact, it does not end in the usual way at all. While the ending is good, it in no way is as good as the series itself. As the plot unfolds, the show gets more and more interesting.

Daniel is the son of Laura Sanders (Robin Wright) and Howard Sanders (Waleed Zuaiter), a wealthy businessman. Laura herself owns an art gallery with her husband; after losing a daughter at a young age (Rose), Laura turns all of her attention to Daniel who seems to be well grounded.

From the very beginning Laura has her suspicions about Cherry. Jewelry has gone missing, the family cat has disappeared and they seem to not like one another from the start. At this point we think that it is acceptance in the new relationship. Both Cherry and Laura argue when they are alone until it boils over to arguing in front of everybody.

What really makes this a great watch is that the balance of power keeps shifting. First Cherry is making all the right moves in the power play, and then Laura takes control. It keeps flip flopping all the way until the end as to who will win Daniel over.

The relationship between Howard and Laura too is an interesting one. The love is never there in Laura's mind. We ask why throughout the series only to find out near the end why Laura let Howard carry on a relationship with another woman which Howard really didn't want to for many years.

Cherry has many psychological problems. She is a young woman who is a ruthless saleswoman. She is devoid of any feelings towards her coworkers. She wants to be seen as a successful, respected woman. She is from a working class family but plays herself off as anything but that. She wears fake designer outfits before she meets Daniel and is quick to spend his money lavishly on herself once she is ensconced in his world.

As time goes on, Laura is quick to point out to her two closest friends that she doesn't trust Cherry. At first her friends are her best allies, but that changes over the course of the series. Is it Cherry, or is it her obsession with keeping a strong bind with her only child? Clearly Cherry is a bad person, but to a passive eye it is Laura who is starting to get questioned.

Daniel is caught in the middle of this battle, often he doesn't even know it. The woman have some heavy confrontations with one another; some physical, most are mental, however. Where Cherry plays victim and even the innocent, Laura is a strong, firm woman who is no nonsense when it comes to her son. She even sacrifices her art gallery's success over her son's well being and security.

"The Girlfriend: is worth watching. The series has many twists and turns and it has great psychological warfare going on throughout the show. The acting for the most part is good, but the story is great!

Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Amazon, Robin Wright, "The Girlfriend", London, England, Hollywood, Oscars.