2 out of 5

Created by: Nick Antosca, Michelle Dean

I wasn’t going to watch this – real-life dramatizations are rarely worth the time, to me – but the involvement of Nic Antosca, recently of Channel Zero, had me curious as to what the show’s tone would be, and sure enough, there did seem to be a similar slow, building sense of creep that aligned with Channel Zero… and, alas, not to mention the completely ridiculous story fueling things, which is how these dramatizations always sucker you in.

…And, as usual, leave me dry, because real life doesn’t, without manipulation, offer the same plotted complexities of fiction, and unless you apply a deft hand to encourage the audience’s brain beyond simply marveling at weird events – a la the gripping first season of American Crime Story, which not only pushed us to identify with the people involved, but also unraveled the narrative in a way which allowed for self-reflection – then you end up with traffic-accident story-telling: look at the tragedy!  And it all really happened!

In the first season of The Act (intended to be an anthology), Patricia Arquette and Joey King portray Dee Dee Blanchard and daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard, mother and daughter.  Daughter in a wheelchair, with a feeding tube, and various afflictions, and mother who tells her daughter to use the wheelchair although she can walk, had the feeding tube installed unnecessarily, and has generally made up the various afflictions.  She’s told her daughter she’s younger than she actually is; she takes steps to prevent Gypsy from forming and last friendships or relations with anyone who isn’t mommy.

It’s wild, jaw-dropping, sensationalist stuff, and has a – unavoidable pun – killer ‘ending,’ with Gypsy eventually taking her revenge on her mother.  This already happened in the real world, so that shouldn’t be a spoiler, but The Act also makes sure to tease it to us with a flash-forward / flash-back structure: visiting the crime scene of Dee Dee’s murder in the present, flashing back (somewhat via the neighbor’s memories – Lacey and mother Mel, portrayed by AnnaSophia Robb and Chloe Sevigny) to the lead-up years in Dee Dee’s / Gypsy’s home in Springfield, Missouri.  But that’s about where it starts and finishes: as sensationalism.  The show makes attempts at analyzation in its final episodes, but it feels incredibly baseline: the kind of analyzation that a newspaper might do to make things palatable for mass consumption. Prior to this, the character work is not, as scripted, nuanced.  We’re taking real conversations (presumably) and reenacting them, but the presentation just lingers all over that creeping dread vibe, leaving zero room to feel anything other than what’s very obviously intended.

To be fair, TV generally is intended for mass consumption, but again, that’s why projects of this nature don’t normally interest me: I’m gawking, and for no reason other than to be able to nod along and say, “oh, she did this because she was abused,” or etcetera, and go on about my day.

King and Arquette are undeniably committed in their roles, and I do appreciate that the writers / production design didn’t try to camp this up, or go for a cartoonish creepiness, as there’re plenty of over-the-top elements baked into the reality already.  But eight episodes is pushing it for a story that – at the level it’s presented here – can be read about on wikipedia in 15 minutes and offer the same type of impact.