S01.E01: Did you know Seahorses are fish?

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

Tessie Durst goes missing, sending shockwaves through Baltimore.

Cleo and Maddie make life-changing choices.

Maddie finds what she feared.

Air Date: July 19, 2024

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

This is a character-driven premiere and Natalie Portman’s TV debut.

Aesthetically, this show utilizes dreamlike visuals. Watching a 40yo Maddie driving alongside a teen Maddie feels like a lucid dream.

Quote

“They say, until the lion tells its story, the hunter will always be the hero. Alive, I was Cleo Johnson. But in death, I became the lady in the lake.”

Maddie and Cleo live under the rules of one man - Maddie’s misogynistic husband (Milton) and Cleo’s prolific crime boss (Shell Gordon).

Tessie Durst’s dad - Allan and Maddie were high school sweethearts. Triggered by Tessie’s disappearance, Maddie packs her bag and leaves Milton and her disrespectful son. Her pent-up frustration at being reduced to a housewife has reached its boiling point.

Quote

“You wanted Tessie’s death to bring you that freedom, didn’t you? But it only showed you the door. It took mine to open it.”

Facing racism in the community and sexism at work, Cleo struggles to make ends meet with her 2 sons. Cleo works several jobs - a bookkeeper for Shell Gordon’s illegal gambling operation, a bartender at his club, a live mannequin at a departmental store and volunteering for the first Black female senator, Myrtle Summer. Which one of these will lead to her demise?

Quote

“You said you knew who took my life from me, Maddie Morgenstern. You said no one cared till you came along. Truth is… you came in at the end of my story. And turned it into your beginning.”

 

Some random observations/thoughts:

• Judith (Sid Weinstein’s daughter) is too eager to be getting close to Maddie. She even volunteers to be her roommate.
• When Maddie finds Tessie’s body by the lake, she wants to “hold her”. It’s weird. But Judith stops her from interfering with the crime scene.
• One of Shell Gordon’s employees, Reggie (with a black eye) has crossed path with Tessie at a fish store earlier. They’re looking at the same pale fish. After she goes missing, Reggie is seen flushing that pale fish down the toilet. A red herring?
• Reggie also looks a lot like the man who threw Cleo’s body into the lake’s fountain in the opening scene.
• In the flashback, we see teen Maddie was sobbing and a man was scrubbing blood from a yellow couch she’s sitting on.

 

[SoMuchTV]

6 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

This is a character-driven premiere and Natalie Portman’s TV debut.

Aesthetically, this show utilizes dreamlike visuals. Watching a 40yo Maddie driving alongside a teen Maddie feels like a lucid dream.

Maddie and Cleo live under the rules of one man - Maddie’s misogynistic husband (Milton) and Cleo’s prolific crime boss (Shell Gordon).

Tessie Durst’s dad - Allan and Maddie were high school sweethearts. Triggered by Tessie’s disappearance, Maddie packs her bag and leaves Milton and her disrespectful son. Her pent-up frustration at being reduced to a housewife has reached its boiling point.

Facing racism in the community and sexism at work, Cleo struggles to make ends meet with her 2 sons. Cleo works several jobs - a bookkeeper for Shell Gordon’s illegal gambling operation, a bartender at his club, a live mannequin at a departmental store and volunteering for the first Black female senator, Myrtle Summer. Which one of these will lead to her demise?

 

Some random observations/thoughts:

• Judith (Sid Weinstein’s daughter) is too eager to be getting close to Maddie. She even volunteers to be her roommate.
• When Maddie finds Tessie’s body by the lake, she wants to “hold her”. It’s weird. But Judith stops her from interfering with the crime scene.
• One of Shell Gordon’s employees, Reggie (with a black eye) has crossed path with Tessie at a fish store earlier. They’re looking at the same pale fish. After she goes missing, Reggie is seen flushing that pale fish down the toilet. A red herring?
• Reggie also looks a lot like the man who threw Cleo’s body into the lake’s fountain in the opening scene.
• In the flashback, we see teen Maddie was sobbing and a man was scrubbing blood from a yellow couch she’s sitting on.

Thank you for that synopsis.  I read the book a while back (but don't remember much) and I've been looking forward to this series, but I'm having a little trouble with the cutting back and forth between different scenes, and keeping track of who's who (and who's significant vs who's just there).  Still plan to stay with it!

[txhorns79]

13 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

When Maddie finds Tessie’s body by the lake, she wants to “hold her”. It’s weird. But Judith stops her from interfering with the crime scene.

I kind of understood her reaction.  It was more primal than rational.  She saw the little girl's body, alone and frozen looking and Maddie's instinct was to hold and protect her.