Female friendships are often complicated. The finest versions of them are soulmates, people who understand you completely, who you can tell anything and everything to, and who you know love you unconditionally. But while many women may consider a close friend to be that special, upper echelon kind of person for them, there are often unspoken jealousies and festering resentments that never see the light of day. Of course, hiding things from people you love is natural in any relationship; how scary it would be to have to be entirely yourself with someone whose love you crave! Yet when these secrets accumulate under the façade of a perfect friendship, you might be left loving someone who never existed at all.

Imperfect Women follows the aftermath of the murder of Nancy Hennessy (Kate Mara), where her friends discover just how much was happening underneath the surface of their own seemingly pristine relationships. This premise is ripe with opportunity, as there are so many ways to explore the complexity in female friendships. But while the show does attempt to comment on the strained bond these ladies shared, it works far better as a popcorn thriller, complete with cliffhangers every episode that make it impossible to stop watching. I was always invested in this series, but my engagement was more with the mystery and the depths of the betrayals than with the actual characters. The execution of the mystery is largely satisfying, but I can’t help but wonder what this show would be like had there been a stronger emphasis on these women’s dynamics with one another beyond the secrets they kept. What made them friends? How did they come to be so close? The foundation of their bond is not all that well-constructed to the viewer, which means that when we see cracks forming, that is almost all that we can see.

However, the show still makes a lot of great narrative choices. he structure of the show is quite fun, and though I will not spoil it here, I will say that I enjoyed how much it allowed these characters to shine individually. Our protagonist, Eleanor (Kerry Washington) is a charity director from a wealthy family, is fascinating because of the mix of guilt and envy she feels towards Nancy. When their friendship is called into question by others, she is openly defiant only to be just as uncertain about where they stood deep inside. While her character’s arc has less twists and turns than those of Nancy and Mary, she makes for an excellent lead largely because Washington works miracles here. The facial journey she goes through during the season conveys the denial that is so central to this character wonderfully. Eleanor as a character is not the most compelling main character on paper, but the performance bringing her to life makes her someone you cannot take your eyes off of.

The show peaks when we learn more about Nancy, our resident narrative haunter. Her insecurities are immensely interesting and the seemingly irrational choices she makes become far easier to understand with additional context as to what she is going through. Mara does a great job at portraying the contradictions present in this character, and the mystery is understandably at its most exciting when it focuses on this tragic victim. When the show revolves around the mystery of who she was as a person, it taps into the core intrigue of the premise, and it is all the better for it.

The character with the most potential to her is Mary (Elisabeth Moss), a soft-spoken housewife who is initially the most straightforward character of the trio. She is brought to life by a deceptive performance from Moss that really sneaks up on you. But while I liked the concept behind her and enjoyed seeing her unravel, her arc sadly lacks impact due to a fairly disappointing finale. Once the culprit to Nancy’s murder becomes obvious, it feels like the show loses steam significantly; the conclusion is underwhelming at parts and downright questionable at others. 

Ultimately, I enjoyed Imperfect Women quite a bit, but the writing of the core character dynamics holds it back from being a show I will personally look back on. The acting is all quite good, and I was certainly hooked when I was watching it, but it lacks staying power because of its lukewarm execution of truly compelling themes. I wish Imperfect Women pushed its concept further and given the core relationships more substance, because the potential is there for it to be a series on the level of Big Little Lies. But as it is, the show is still a pulpy, entertaining thriller that I would recommend to mothers everywhere. 

7/10