When college instructor Evie Greenwood (Eleanor Tomlinson) and her companion Pete Thomas (Alfred Enoch) take the prospect to maneuver to suburbia, they anticipate that this new neighborhood will change their lives for good. With a child on the best way, the couple is seeking to lastly grow to be the household they’ve all the time dreamed of being. However like loads of best-selling thrillers and critically acclaimed miniseries; the couple has no thought what awaits them inside their new picturesque neighborhood.
As the 2 start to unpack their shifting truck, they’re greeted by Becka Whitwell (Jessica de Gouw) and her husband Danny (Sam Heughan), who instantly begins serving to them unpack the truck. It feels uncoincidental, nearly as if the 2 spied Evie and Pete by their window like prey, pouncing on them as quickly as they set their ft on the concrete. From right here, the {couples} start to meld. Though some events are much less completely satisfied about it than others, this preliminary assembly looks like a cataclysmic occasion previous a friendship that’s designed to finish in catastrophe.
Not like Pete, who’s perturbed by Becka and Danny’s presence, Evie is as a substitute drawn to the 2. They characterize all the pieces she needs, and he or she usually finds herself gazing out at their home from her window. It rapidly turns into clear although that Evie doesn’t simply merely need the life the couple has made for themselves, however she as a substitute has grow to be infatuated with Danny. Whereas this might put a wrench in her and Pete’s new friendship with their neighbors, after spending time collectively, the couple reveals that they’re, in reality, fortunately non-monogamous.
That is when “The Couple Subsequent Door” will get attention-grabbing. With this reveal, it seems just like the sequence is working to grow to be a standout in its style, which as a substitute of exploring the psyches and needs of its characters, usually abandons them for nonsensical plots. On the middle of that is Evie, a girl who grew up in a severely spiritual family, whose fascination (and obsession) along with her neighbours’ relationship forces her innermost and unstable needs to grow to be uncovered. Then again, Pete’s reservations about probably opening up their relationship result in stress between the couple that threatens to boil over every time they’ve a dialog.
Regardless of this central relationship unraveling in an admirable vogue, the sequence does what most of its variety do and rapidly turns into the worst model of itself. The 4 foremost gamers have a chemistry that’s palpable and addictive to observe, as is the drama that unfolds between them, which typically makes manner for some partaking introspection into fashionable relationship dynamics. It’s a disgrace then that regardless of having a forged with this a lot chemistry, “The Couple Subsequent Door” abandons this to deal with a shoddy low-stakes political conspiracy that each Pete and Danny get wrapped up in, and a neighbourhood stalker that prowls round Becka’s office and residential.
Whereas this could be positive if this have been the second season of an ongoing sequence, none of those aspect plots really feel really related to what the success of this present really hinges on: the connection between the 2 {couples}. When the 4 aren’t interacting with one another, you possibly can’t assist however surprise what the purpose of this sequence is. Even when the present have been longer, sadly, its aspect characters aren’t attention-grabbing sufficient to warrant any display time, despite the fact that our foremost characters work together with them sufficient that they ought to draw our consideration. As a substitute, the core 4 actors really feel like the one folks not sleeping by these scenes.
It’s surprising simply how rapidly the sequence unravels, with its six episodes turning into duller with every passing side-plot. Ultimately, the sequence feels prefer it has nothing left to say about faith, sexuality and attraction, which originally of the sequence, have been all outstanding themes swirling by the connection between these two {couples}. By sacrificing Evie and Pete’s fraught relationship simply because the present begins to hit a peak, the writers as a substitute dig themselves right into a gap full of boring thrills and reap even duller penalties.
What comes of this can be a sequence that finally abandons any sense of intrigue it as soon as had, and skins its characters alive till they grow to be husks of the intriguing folks they as soon as gave the impression to be. It doesn’t assist that with its ultimate episode, the present makes an attempt to rid you of the notion that your time has been wasted by spiraling uncontrolled and into absurdity. The ultimate hour of the sequence feels in contrast to every earlier episode, and ends with an intense showdown, making for a very baffling tonal shift. Whereas “The Couple Subsequent Door” tries to strike up some emotion with its finale, I might really feel was aid that it was lastly over.
All episodes have been screened for evaluate.
