The Stranger: What the Must Watch reviewers think
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows alongside 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on The Stranger - Netflix's eight part drama based on Harlan Coben’s 2015 novel.
It's available now on Netflix.
Have you watched it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...
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(Photo: Netflix)
Hayley says: "I wanted some focus”
"It’s very twisty-turny, kind of trashy and melodramatic but controversially I don’t think it’s anything special. There are lots of storylines but they aren’t all as interesting as each other.
"I wanted some focus on just one of them, like why would a man’s wife fake a pregnancy then fake a miscarriage and just disappear? I thought that alone was a lot more interesting than drunk teenagers in the woods having a party.
"There are so many threads and it’s spiraling everywhere that you start to get a little panicky, like with Lost or something, that the writers aren’t going to tie it all together and you‘ll be left at the end going 'ugh’. It's not a Must watch from me.’’
(Photo: Netflix)
Scott says: “So unpredictable and so utterly binge-able”
"There are so many different storylines and every time you think you can guess where it’s going to go, the writers just cackle and go in a completely 180 degree direction.
"For example in the first episode it’s all very serious about a fake pregnancy and a guy who’s trying to find the truth and at the same time there is a conversation about who stole and murdered an Alpaca named after One Direction!
"This whole show is definitely trying to be a BBC midweek drama, the whole vibe is like normal typical family and their life has changed forever, but what I like about it is that the plot is so weird and so unpredictable and so utterly binge-able...
"The quirkiness is what makes it special.’’
(Photo: Netflix)
The Stranger is available now on Netflix.
Must Watch is available as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds, or through your podcast app.
In this week's episode the team also review Baghdad Central, and Justin Bieber: Seasons, plus they speak to Skin from Skunk Anansie about The Masked Singer.
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Email us: mustwatch@bbc.co.uk
