TV-MA | 7 episodes | Mystery | 2024
Stan and Joy Delaney have four grown children, so they each can have their own favorite, plus a spare. Yet, for various reasons, none of the four bothered to answer their mother’s calls on the day of her sudden disappearance. That will be a lot of guilt for them to carry as they frantically search for her. It will only get worse when the ensuing investigation brings their own sins to light in writer-showrunner Melanie Marnich’s seven-part “Apples Never Fall,” adapted from Liane Moriarty’s novel.
Joy Delaney (Annette Bening) was always the glue that held the Delaney family together. She was also the quiet stabilizing force behind the elite tennis academy she used to run with her husband Stan Delaney (Sam Neill), until their recent retirement. He is the mercurial one, who nurses his resentments, especially against their eldest son Troy (Jake Lacy). The former professional tennis player had been coaching Harry Haddad (Giles Matthey), a young phenom who would eventually become a grand-slam winner. However, Haddad’s father fired Coach Delaney after an incident involving Troy.
Ever since, Logan Delaney (Conor Merrigan Turner) has always strived to be Stan and Joy’s loyal, compliant younger son. Brooke Delaney (Essie Randles) largely tried to just work hard and avoid notice. Yet, she resents how Amy Delaney (Alison Brie), the New Age-y hippie older sister always must be the center of attention.
Murder Drama
All the long-simmering Delaney family tensions will be exacerbated by the uncomfortable scrutiny focused on them by the police and a hostile media. Despite the lack of a body, detectives Elena Camacho (Jeanine Serralles) and Ethan Remy (Dylan Thuraisingham) quickly assume they are investigating a murder rather than a missing person case. The inquiry narrows down to two suspects: Stan, the angry husband and the Delaneys’ mysterious houseguest only known as “Savannah” (Georgia Flood).
One fateful night, Savannah took refuge with Joy and Stan, claiming she was fleeing an abusive boyfriend. It would be months before she left. Somehow, she wormed her way into the older couple’s home and their lives, particularly ingratiating herself with Joy. All four siblings were uncomfortable with her presence, but Joy always dismissed their concerns.
Although there is no “unreliable narrator,” “Apples Never Fall” still follows in the “Gone Girl” tradition, in which a tight-knit family unit becomes the setting for a rather lurid mystery. It very definitely questions how well anyone can really know the people closest to them, particularly parents and spouses.
Characters Develop
Even though Joy is unaccounted for during most of the seven episodes, Ms. Bening still probably has the most significant screen time due to the many illuminating flashbacks. She has several poignant scenes that emphasize the missing woman’s motherly warmth, but it is hard to fathom some of her questionable decisions, beyond their convenience in moving the plot along.
In contrast, Mr. Neill is a brooding force to reckon with as Stan. He scowls through the first four or five episodes, but reveals unexpected human vulnerability as the full truth comes out. In fact, the surprising subtlety of Mr. Neill’s performance makes “Apples Never Fall” a notable late-career highlight.
Among the grown children, Mr. Lacy and Ms. Brie are standouts as Troy, the uptight venture capitalist and Amy, his polar-opposite sister. They probably create the fullest, most complicated personas, even compared to the Delaney parents. Mr. Merrigan Turner and Ms. Randles are earnest and compellingly anguished as the two younger siblings, but their characters lack equivalent complexity. Unfortunately, the two dogged detectives are essentially stick-figure stock characters, despite their considerable airtime.
Regardless, Ms. Marnich and series directors Chris Sweeney and Dawn Shadforth do a nice job managing each successive revelation. Rather logically, they usually drop a big one right before each episode concludes. Despite some iffy judgment and murky motivation on the part of major characters, the execution of “Apples Never Fall” will grab many viewers and pull them through to the finish.
Like “Gone Girl,” this is basically a domestic thriller, but it never feels like a social issue drama or a public service announcement. It is not about abuse. Instead, it revels in the bitter rivalries and duplicity poisoning the Delaneys. Frankly, it is a good deal of fun, in a melodramatic, soap opera-y kind of way.
Recommended for fans of women’s thrillers exemplified by novelists like Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins
