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Sarah here, teaching English around the world. Living life and seeing things.
For anyone who has ever fallen into a true-crime binge, you might be familiar with the documentary miniseries The Staircase (directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade). The bizarre story is full of twists, turns, and sometimes unbelievable revelations. While people are still divided on the case itself, it’s an interesting story that will keep you hooked from the get-go. So it’s no wonder HBO Max picked up the story for an 8-part miniseries. The Staircase stars Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophi Turner, Parker Posey, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Happy Families
We start the series with a quick introduction to each of the players and the circumstances of the case. Episode 1, “911” (written and directed by Antonio Campos) gets right into the action. Although it’s a little startling at first to see Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, he fits the portrayal perfectly. He captures the mannerisms and movements of the real Michael Peterson to an almost frightening accuracy.
The narrative of the case, as well as the timeline, is played with in a very clever way. We see the ‘current’ timeline -the investigation-, cut with flashbacks and flash-forwards. We get little insights into each of the people involved, how they are together, and a sense of the situation.
These changes create a sense of confusion and uncertainty that fits in nicely with what is happening in the show. We get to see the happy family, and how they come together and support each other. We hear the real 911 call and a recreation of the scene, and nothing is left to the imagination here. And then we get the aftermath, the family’s reaction and the start of the investigation. We see how each family member is coming to terms with what has happened, as well as the DA starting to build their case. All of these things combined are planting the seeds of suspicion against everyone involved.
Something here that we weren’t able to get in the documentary was Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette). This is someone who we hear a lot about in the docuseries but we’re unable to feel her real presence. To have a representation of her on-screen adds an extra dimension. We like her, her interaction with her family, and her personality. While we may never know how accurate her portrayal is, Toni Collette is brilliant. She really brings this image of a loving, caring, happy woman to the screen.
Cameras Rolling
Episode 2, “Chiroptera” (written and directed by Antonio Campos) doesn’t slow down. As more details about the life of Michael Peterson (Colin Firth) are brought to light and the public, he becomes more and more suspicious. But as he becomes more suspicious, the DA Jim Hardin (Cullen Moss) and the ADA Freda Black (Parker Posey) also become more questionable.
In the docuseries we weren’t privy to the investigation. Here, we’re given a look behind the scenes of their investigation and how they twist and turn things around. Again, we may never be certain as to how accurate this is, but certain aspects of it just don’t seem to fit together.
In this episode, the family dynamics also become more prominent. The Peterson unit that once stood strong is now divided. Sophie Turner as Margaret Ratliff and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Todd Peterson are shining stars here. They hold the unit together in different ways as Michael Peterson is becoming more consumed by the events taking place. Their steadfast dedication to their family, in particular their father, makes them seem both endearing and naive at the same time.
There are 2 major events that we see in this episode. One of which is the introduction of the camera crew who followed Peterson throughout his case. This adds a strange, meta aspect to the series, but also adds to the confusion. Certain moments match so well with the docuseries that it’s a little startling. This only serves to add to the uncertainty that the show has created so far.
All Rise
The third instalment of the series premiere is at times a little slower than the previous episodes, but this doesn’t detract from how interesting the show is. Episode 3 “The Great Dissembler” (written and directed by Antonio Campos) explores a lot of the investigation and the build-up to the trial.
Although at times it feels very heavy in the discussions of what happened, there are some revelations in this episode that add to the tensions and drama. If you’ve seen the docuseries, you’ll be expecting these things to come to light. Mostly, this revolves around Michael Peterson’s sexuality and how it is used by the prosecution.
This episode also introduces us to the events that took place in Germany. While we already know that Michael Peterson isn’t the most truthful man in the world, all of these things we keep finding out do change how we see him
One thing that I particularly like about these early episodes is that there are parts of the story that we had no insight into previously. We need to keep in mind that this may not be completely factual, and there are certain aspects that we will never know about. But they help to flesh out the story some more.
We are constantly being taken back and forth with how we feel about each of the people involved. Michael Peterson is faced with yet another secret, and we trust him less. Then we get a look into the DA and how he is running his investigation, which shifts the suspicion to them. This constant shift in what you feel pulls you in; you want to figure it out and settle on what to believe.
We also get to see a little more in terms of Michael and Kathleen’s relationships. We see how they function together, and what they were like. While there is no confirmation of what Kathleen knew, there are small hints and suggestions as to how open their relationship was.
Both Sides of Justice
This was a great introduction to what is a bizarre true story. We never really settle on what we think as there’s an ever-changing point of view. Campos plays with the narrative and the timeline beautifully so you never fully know what to believe. The story does lean slightly to one side so far, but we see aspects we haven’t seen before.
It’s important to remember that a lot of this may be an assumption of what happened, but the addition of certain people and information does help us flesh out the story. It’s worth checking out the docuseries at some point, but so far the HBO Max miniseries is an incredible show that keeps you hooked.
The Staircase episodes 1-3 will be available to stream on HBO Max from Thursday 5th May.
Sarah here, teaching English around the world. Living life and seeing things.
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