Happy Valley

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Volume 14. On the one hand, I like the verve with which screenwriter Sally Wainwright took on this indictment of the violence that men inflict on women. On the other hand, I was also irritated by the almost exploitative use of women’s physical and psychological pain (the series’ creators depict violence against men in a significantly less graphic manner). Almost like in a biblical parable or almost any film by Lars von Trier (though without his ironic wink), fate throws one punch after another at Catherine. Though she is more or less untainted (unlike others, she is able to apologise for her inappropriate behaviour), she is a lightning rod for other people’s sins. Men lead the actual investigation of the crimes, while she is merely lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time on a few occasions (the screenplay doles out fortunate coincidences as generously as the most hackneyed cop shows). The subordinate role of women is presented as an unalterable fact. The protagonist can either submit to the corrupt system or give up. She is not given the ability to actively deal with things as shown in The Fall, another dark British crime series with feminist subtext. The heightened interest in the suffering of weakened and broken women is also reflected in the gradual genre transformation from procedural crime thriller into a stinging, partly maternal, partly “kitchen-sink” melodrama with hysterical characters. That’s not a bad thing, since Wainwright is better at writing scenes that are powerful and emotional due to the acting performances than scenes that are in some way suspenseful or surprising (because of the omniscient narration, there is very little suspense at all). Because of this, however, the last two episodes (which do not reveal much new information and, mainly, harp on older and more recent traumas and intensify the main character’s sadness and depression) and the series finale are somewhat unsatisfying in the context of the preceding events. In fact, the switching of genres seems like an attempt to extend the time by two hours rather than a response to the needs of the narrative. Despite the increased interest in the characters’ inner world, the protagonists are notably unchanging and predictable. We have the certainty that they will not step out of their respective pigeonholes. Whatever Tommy does will be inherently perverse and malicious; whatever Catherine does will be right. The attempt to create an atmosphere of a world from which almost all positive values and loving interpersonal relationships have disappeared also suffers from a similar bias. The writer goes too far; everything is simply dark and can only get darker. Unlike in Fargo, which is similar in terms of subject matter, humour is not allowed in Happy Valley. The intense effort to achieve bleakness ultimately has the opposite effect – it becomes laughable. Compared to other British and Scandinavian crime series, however, at least there aren’t any ridiculous plot twists, so the screenplay mostly remains believable. Together with the excellent Sarah Lancashire, this is one of the few positive aspects of a series that is too flat to stand on its characters and with too dull a plot to be satisfying as a crime thriller. 65% (04.12.2014) (weniger) (mehr)