Caffeinated Clint
 Review : The thrill isn’t gone)
A flashy, small screen take on the hit 1987 film starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, Paramount+s new “Fatal Attraction” series chronicles the intriguing tale of married architect Dan Gallagher (Joshua Jackson of “Fringe” and “Dawson’s Creek”) who gets more than he bargained for when his transitory, squalid affair with Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan of “Party Down”) sees the clearly traumatized, unwell young woman hooked.
Being a series, the creators – by Alexandra Cunningham and Kevin J. Hynes – have a lot more time to flesh out the characters here so we get to learn what happens to Dan after he kills (not a spoiler, it opens the series) Alex, just how tough it is for Beth (Amanda Peet), his wife, to forgive him, and daughter Ellen, a bit of a throwaway character in the film, factors into the story a lot more too. The rabbit of the original does not make a reprise.
Set over the course of 8 hours, with focus on each episode switching between both lead characters, the series eventually starts to unravel and slot the right shapes into the correct holes so that the flash-forward that opens the series makes sense. There are questions left hanging though, suggesting a second season is part of the creator’s plans.
Where Adrian Lyne’s original slightly made a misstep was in not providing any sort of social commentary or message, and stuck to simply providing popcorn-style thrills, and Paramount’s small-screen version is made from the same cloth. It’s very entertaining, and is superb fun, but don’t expect it to shine a light on mental health like it should.
