‘Dear Edward’ sequence evaluate: A honest exploration of grief that champions the worth of group

A nonetheless from ‘Dear Edward’

Aircraft tragedies in Hollywoodland normally function precursors to an elaborate thriller/thriller plot that may go so far as to characteristic time warps ( Manifest, 2018) and even chart the making of a cult ( Yellowjackets, 2021). In his new Apple TV+ present, Pricey Edward, Jason Katims makes use of this fertile floor to tackle a less complicated subject of grief. Whereas even Katims can’t resist the pull of peppering in parts of ambiguity for the characters to resolve, the present stays loyal to its core theme of grief being the hardest hurdle to cross.

Tailored from a novel by Ann Napolitano (who additionally serves as the manager producer), the present offers with the aftermath of a flight crash through which solely a 12-year-old boy survives: Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien). Weaving an internet of unhappiness across the kins of those that perished, Katims makes an attempt a heartfelt portrayal of the messiness that comes with grief. On the heart of this internet is a gaggle remedy help group (paid for by the airline for the relations). The group options a complete host of characters, together with Taylor Schilling as Edward’s aunt Lacey, whom Katims goals to hyperlink with one another because the story strikes ahead.

Because the lone survivor of the crash, Edward, and the solid that surrounds him, heft the storyline. Edward is concurrently heralded into fame because the ‘Miracle Boy’ who survived, and with the lack of his dad and mom and brother is submerged into the depths of grief. Colin O’Brien is subtly good on this efficiency of grief as determined confusion. He mulls over whether or not he ought to have exchanged the flight seat together with his brother, and infrequently finds himself drawn to their falafel stand in New York. O’Brien can also be significantly adept at expressing a helplessness at being pressured to suit into the brand new regular of dwelling together with his aunt Lacey, whom he has met just a few instances earlier than. As Lacey, Taylor Schilling will get her personal flavour of grief, as she juggles her feelings between mourning the loss of life of her elder sister and being a caregiver for Edward.

An attention-grabbing selection made for each characters comes within the type of the frequent floor they find yourself sharing. Whereas Katims desires to succeed in the consolation that lies past mourning, he very often sticks Lacey and Edward within the muddy pond of anger. As a substitute of being a pillar of help to one another, the 2 surviving folks to have recognized Edward’s mom the most effective typically find yourself clashing with one another. At one level Edward tells Lacey that he struggles to take a look at her as a result of she reminds him of his mom, whereas for Lacey the chance to boost Edward comes at a time when she is beat down by her difficulties at conceiving a baby.

Equally, Katims performs round with offering every character their very own distinctive cocktail of grief whereas additionally taking liberties at paralleling their conditions. Useless males inform no tales, and so Katims sends nearly all characters down a blind chase to uncover what their (now useless) family members had been hiding from them. The present, on this approach, can vaguely be divided into two halves, with the primary half surrounding the varied untold truths, as the second unfolds in a self-reflective method. As previous tales are wrapped up, new griefs take over the mantle.

Connie Britton in a nonetheless from ‘Dear Edward’
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Apple TV+

Nonetheless, Katims’ ambitions stay the identical all through. He seeks to entangle these characters by the grief group, and additionally it is the place this present good points a compelling velocity. When Kojo (Idris Debrand) from Ghana comes over to deal with his niece who has been orphaned, he finds a serving to hand in Adriana (Anna Uzele), a Congressional candidate aspiring to retain her grandmother’s seat. Whereas coming to phrases with the sudden motherhood thrust upon her, within the type of Edward, Lacey finally ends up helping Linda (Amy Forsyth) a pregnant younger lady whose boyfriend additionally died within the crash.

Such connections ebb and movement all through the run of the ten episodes; nonetheless some find yourself holding extra weight than the others. Whereas the tales of Kojo and Adriana, Lacey and Linda preserve a continuing thrum of drama, different pairs are given sudden sparing time in episodes, wrapped up unexpectedly and seem to exist away from the bigger story. Due to this fact they typically find yourself feeling like an unasked-for break within the movement. Individually these tales are highly effective, however spliced collectively they don’t fairly attain their potential.

Connie Britton as DeeDee, nonetheless, emerges as a robust glue to carry the sequence collectively. Whereas the character was by no means initially in Ann Napolitano’s e book, Katims made the character for Britton, with whom he had beforehand labored on Friday Evening Lights (2006). Taking part in a New York socialite, Britton does an exquisite job as DeeDee who involves time period along with her husband’s loss of life, and the potential lack of her wealth.

Katims undertakes an formidable statement of grief, and the journey that’s to be taken to ultimately transfer past it sincerely. Pricey Edward parses by the messy contours of grieving by quite a few heartfelt tales, however for a present that offers the sensation of switching between a number of quick tales, perhaps it might have been extra impactful as an anthology with a standard tragedy.

Pricey Edward is at the moment streaming on AppleTV+ with new episodes releasing each Friday.