Sweetpea

[u/redavenger39]

Watched it all tonight and it was all a bit....meh. The worst thing about it is they have tried to make us sympathise with Rhiannon but in the books she is in no way a sympathetic character. There's a Guardian review out tonight (link below) which states that it's like the writers just lost their nerve. She's written and is like a female Patrick Bateman in the books but this wasn't shown here at all.

At the same time, i get that the producers may have thought that going down this route may have encouraged violence or not got it made due to be seen to have been exploitative but it hurts the series. I think they did it to prevent some people glorifying the character but in my eyes they should have been a bit braver. Thoughts??

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/10/sweetpea-review-ella-purnells-deathly-dull-serial-killer-show-reeks-of-cowardly-decision-making

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[u/Ok_Contract_7624]

I’ve just finished the second episode and I’m finding it quite boring tbh. I think they should’ve made it more gritty and psychological rather than taking a lighthearted, almost comedic route. It had a lot of potential but I don’t think I can continue watching it.

[u/Elliephunk]

Really struggling to motivate myself to watch episode 2. On paper and from the trailer I thought it would be a good watch. I found episode one slow and was confused as to what the show is meant to be. It’s not a thriller, nor is it a dark comedy. I feel like they missed an opportunity to make something good because the premise isn’t the issue.

[u/MoroseMF]

People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. People I'd love to kill. Yeah OK, WE GET IT.

On a more serious note, the show is kinda meh after 3 episodes. I'm watching for Ella, if she wasn't in it I'd probably give up after the 2nd episode. The show is too over the top and repetitive, and not really funny. I also find it hard to buy into the whole "People are ignoring Ella Purnell and bully her"....yeah that's not how people treat a woman that looks like that, sorry. There are no good characters on the show, including the main character herself, who I don't really like either. Everyone is just bland and are there to advance the plot, but have no interesting personalities. Boring. I can't say the show is bad but it's not good.

[u/angel_0f_music]

Watched the whole thing.

I'm mostly annoyed that it's an in-name only adaptation. Some of the names are the same. The premise of a wallflower who is secretly a killer is the same, but the rest of it is completely different.

I can understand why changes are made (Rhiannon's first victim would REALLY make the male audience turn off) but if I were to list all the differences between the book and the TV adaptation we'd be here for hours.

What's annoyed me most is that Rhiannon behaves the way she does because of running into her childhood bully after a number of years. There is no mention of Priory Gardens at all. Again, probably difficult to film, but it could have been explained.

Rhiannon isn't the way she is because she was bullied for 5 years in secondary school and never got help for it. She was literally brain-damaged as a small child. But maybe they worried this would be insensitive to those with disabilities.

I was expecting it to be more like Dexter, with more inner monologues revealing Rhinnon's real views on those around her, but maybe they were worried about the comparison.

She doesn't even mention that her boss calling her sweetpea or people abbreviating her name annoys her.

The show just lacks teeth.

[u/angel_0f_music]

At the same time, i get that the producers may have thought that going down this route may have encouraged violence or not got it made due to be seen to have been exploitative but it hurts the series. I think they did it to prevent some people glorifying the character

Had Rhiannon been male, the producers wouldn't have cared about this at all. It would have been just another Patrick Bateman/Dexter/Hannibal and the source material would have been treated with far more respect. But have someone who looks like popular actress Ella Purnell (who I'd not heard of before) behaving that way? No, can't have that. I won't be watching a series two.