She has had affairs herself the scene in which Melissa summons Frances to her house to discuss the affair is a quiet masterclass in using power to unsettle.īut Frances is a passive, malleable drip of a girl - also very 21 in her own, different way, and played very well by Oliver, but at times so passive, such a spectator, she almost disappears off the screen - and Nick is a charisma vacuum.

Lane’s Bobbi is magnetic, charismatic and Kirke’s Melissa is perfect: spiky, acidic, superior, a blonde ice queen who is enjoying her devastating effect on these young women. The other crucial issue is, of course, that the most interesting people are often off screen. He is always correcting Frances, telling her how to behave, explaining adult behaviour to her. The mismatch in their ages is crucial to the imbalance of their power dynamic - this is also Frances’s first relationship with a man - but it is played curiously here: he seems more of a father figure rather than as an older man with all the power. Indeed, in this four-hander, Alwyn’s Nick is the weak link: he feels just a little too blank, a strong and silent type who doesn’t quite convince. The relationship causes problems for Bobbi and Frances, which is interesting, but does emphasise that Nick is often surplus to the requirements of the drama. Their foreplay is a lot of staring at each other and him asking what means of transport she arrived by. Theirs is a cool flame without that molten core, and without the urgency, you do find yourself wondering what the point of it all is. The casting elevated Normal People from adolescent melodrama to devastating modern love story it has the opposite effect here.Īlwyn and Oliver’s chemistry is simply too awkward to believe they’re actually into each other if this is the point, then I admit I missed it.

By comparison to Bobbi and Frances’s patter, Nick and Frances’s relationship can feel rather like ambient noise: plodding, ponderous frustrating stilted. Unfortunately, this pairing outshines the affair, which gets a lot of screentime. The Bobbi-Frances relationship is the molten core of the show / BBC/Element Pictures/Hulu/Enda Bowe New West End Company BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENT.

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