Safe (TV series)
Safe is a British television drama mini-series[1] created by crime author Harlan Coben and written primarily by screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst. Set in England, the series is a production by Canal+, with C8 airing the show in France, and Netflix streaming the show internationally outside France.[2] The series began filming in Manchester, Liverpool, and Cheshire in July 2017. It consists of eight episodes that premiered in 190 countries on 10 May 2018.[3][4]
| Safe | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Drama Thriller |
| Created by | Harlan Coben |
| Written by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Ben Onono |
| Opening theme | "Glitter & Gold" by Barns Courtney |
| Country of origin | France United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English / French |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 41–47 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Red Production Company |
| Distributor | StudioCanal |
| Release | |
| Original network | C8 (France) Netflix (international) |
| Original release | 10 May 2018 |
Plot
Safe focuses on Englishman Tom Delaney (Hall), a pediatric surgeon and widowed father of two teenage daughters. He is struggling to connect with his daughters as they still grieve the loss of his wife from cancer one year prior. After his 16-year-old daughter Jenny goes missing, Tom uncovers a web of secrets as he frantically searches for her.
Cast and Characters
- Michael C. Hall as Tom Delaney, widower of wife Rachel, surgeon[3]
- Amy James-Kelly as Jenny Delaney, 16, Tom's elder daughter, girlfriend to Chris
- Isabelle Allen as Carrie Delaney, Tom's younger daughter
- Marc Warren as Pete Mayfield, Doctor and Tom's best friend[5]
- Hannah Arterton as Emma Castle, Detective Constable relocated from big city
- Amanda Abbington as Sophie Mason, Detective Sergeant partnered to Emma, Tom's girlfriend and neighbour[3]
- Emmett J. Scanlan as Josh Mason, Sophie's ex-husband living onsite in trailer[5]
- India Fowler as Ellen Mason, Sophie's daughter
- Louis Greatorex as Henry Mason, Sophie's teenage son
- Freddie Thorp as Chris Chahal, Zoé and Neil's son, and Jenny's 19-year-old boyfriend
- Audrey Fleurot as Zoé Chahal, mother of Chris, French teacher accused of impropriety[5]
- Joplin Sibtain as Neil Chahal, Zoé's husband
- Imogen Gurney as Tilly Chahal, Zoé and Neil's daughter
- Amy-Leigh Hickman as Sia Marshall, Jenny's drug-dealing classmate
- Nigel Lindsay as Jojo Marshall, Sia's father[5]
- Laila Rouass as Lauren Marshall, Sia's mother[5]
- Milo Twomey as Archie "Bobby" Roberts, owner of a bar called Heaven
- Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Ioan Fuller, teenager
- Karen Bryson as Helen Crowthorne, next-door neighbor to the Delaney family
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Daniel Nettheim | Danny Brocklehurst | 10 May 2018 | |
| Surgeon Tom Delaney (Michael C. Hall), a widower, has a strained relationship with his elder daughter, Jenny (Amy James-Kelly). A year after the death of her mother Rachel, Jenny sees Tom sneak off for romantic reasons with family friend Sophie Mason (Amanda Abbington), a police D.S., during a neighbourhood picnic. That night, Jenny goes missing after a house party. The next morning, Tom is racked with worry, especially when he learns that Jenny's older boyfriend Chris Chahal (Freddie Thorp) has also disappeared. Chris's mother, French teacher Zoé (Audrey Fleurot), is accused of having an affair with a student after an incriminating USB drive is found in her locker. Sophie butts heads with her new colleague, D.C. Emma Castle (Hannah Arterton), over the case against Zoé. Chris's friend Ioan, who had agreed to lie about Chris's whereabouts, tells Tom that Jenny and Chris attended a party at the house of their friend Sia Marshall (Amy-Leigh Hickman). Tom confronts Sia, but she denies knowing when Jenny left the party. Ioan shares a Facebook feed with Tom, on which Jenny is seen leaving the party with Tom's friend Pete (Marc Warren). Sia's father, Jojo (Nigel Lindsay), is shown checking the freezer in his garage, revealing the fact that Chris's dead body is inside it. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Daniel Nettheim | Danny Brocklehurst | 10 May 2018 | |
| In a flashback to the night of Jenny's disappearance, party hostess Sia makes a horrifying discovery of a dead body floating in the pool and kicks everyone out before they can discover it. Jojo goes to extreme lengths to protect his daughter by hiding Chris's body in the freezer instead of calling the police because Sia supplied drugs for the party. Tom fails to contact Pete about Pete having picked up Jenny from the party, so he enlists police assistance from Sophie. Pete is traced through the movements of his car license, and reveals that he is more inclined to be interested in Tom than in Jenny and that he had simply dropped Jenny off back home. Tom searches Jenny's room and discovers that she bought a fake ID online. Using neighbourhood security cameras, Pete and Tom track Jenny's movements after Pete had dropped her off, discovering she had gone to Chris's house, where they find evidence he was planning a train trip. Sophie visits the Marshalls' home, but they hide rather than answer the door; investigating the exterior, her suspicions are raised at poolside, prompting the Marshalls to decide to move the body. At the train station, Tom finds Chris's Vespa, and receives a call from his younger daughter reporting that she found photos posted by Chris online showing him with a happy Jenny. However, Tom finds that the dress that Jenny is wearing in the photo is still in her wardrobe. A flashback shows the Marshalls using Chris's thumb to unlock his phone and post the photo. Pete and Tom theorize that Jenny and Chris had gone to a bar called Heaven. The bar owner Bobby (Milo Twomey) claims to have never seen Jenny but he is later seen laying flowers at her mother's grave. While attempting to move Chris's body after lying to the police, Jojo and Sia are caught by a neighbor who she hits in the head with a wine bottle in panic. | |||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Julia Ford | Mick Ford | 10 May 2018 | |
| It is revealed Pete actually followed Jenny into the community after dropping her off that night. Sia and her family are keeping their neighbor Martin hostage but she releases him after threatening to accuse him of being a pedophile should he ever talk. An anonymous tip off leads Tom and Pete on a frantic chase across the city, and they learn the tip came from a bouncer at Heaven who had overheard Tom's discussion about Jenny with Bobby, and who tells them that Jenny had been at Heaven, alone, looking for Bobby the night before. Tom's younger daughter Carrie is reported missing from school, and he looks for her at his late wife's old office and an art museum where she took the kids during her illness, and where he finds her. Sophie discovers her son Henry (in need of a kidney transplant and under Tom's medical care) was hiding a blood-soaked shirt in his closet. Zoé, out on bail, makes a list of parents with whom she had had disagreements; the list includes the Marshalls, who are visited by Sophie and Emma, interrupting (but not discovering) the family's latest attempt to move Chris's body. Tom and Carrie trace Bobby, learning his name is Archie Roberts, and Tom later finds he was his late wife Rachel's high-school boyfriend at the school where Zoé teaches. Tom confronts the mysterious 'Bobby' about his lie not recognizing Jenny, who is the spitting image of Rachel during high school. Bobby admits realizing (from CCTV footage of Jenny's visit to the bar looking for him) that Jenny was Rachel's daughter, and gives Tom a note Jenny left saying she "knows about Jasmine" and would return the next night, but says she did not do so. Emma finds that the photos used to incriminate Zoé were old art photos from the Internet. Tom and Pete follow up on the "Jasmine" clue and learn it refers to a psychiatric institution. Sia and Jojo dispose of Chris's body in a lake, but it floats to the surface after they depart. | |||||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Julia Ford | Mick Ford | 10 May 2018 | |
| Sophie and Emma break the news of Chris's death to the Chahal family. When the police learn that the water that drowned Chris was chlorinated, they visit the Marshalls who call in a lawyer and are arrested. Sophie learns that her estranged husband Josh saw Jenny at the train station but obeyed Jenny's request not to tell anyone. Tom and Pete chase down one of the party-goers named Scott; Pete follows him to a drug-buy but is discovered, stabbed, and left for dead. Tom catches up with the gang and finds Pete and begins to give him First Aid. Jenny is revealed to be in hiding in the next-door neighbours' homes, where she learns of the discovery of Chris's body; the homeowner, Helen Crowthorne, does not disclose Jenny's whereabouts when Sophie and the others in the police detail canvass the neighbourhood. | |||||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Daniel O'Hara | Alex Ganley | 10 May 2018 | |
| Tom fights to save Pete's life after a brutal stabbing, prompting Emma to confess that Pete is the father she never knew. Scott tells Tom that Jenny was told a secret by Rachel on her deathbed, and that the secret is something Tom should not be told. Sophie warns Tom against interfering in the investigation, and in flashback, we learn Tom was with Sophie when Rachel died. Carrie tells Tom that Helen visited and spoke with Rachel on the night Rachel died. Jojo gives a false confession accepting full guilt for Chris's death; Sia and her mother are released. The neighbourhood holds a vigil for Chris, during which Tom confronts Henry about the bloody sweater he wore during Sia's party. Police unravel Jojo's confession. Seeing that Jenny is communicating by text with Carrie using his own home wi-fi, Tom goes into Helen's house and discovers a fire has been started within. | |||||
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Julia Ford | Karla Crome | 10 May 2018 | |
| As a deadly fire rages in the community, Tom races against time to find Jenny. More details about Chris' death emerge, while Neil (Joplin Sibtain) makes a confession to a betrayed Zoé. | |||||
| 7 | "Episode 7" | Daniel O'Hara | Danny Brocklehurst | 10 May 2018 | |
| Tom and Pete realise another of their neighbours has been keeping secrets. Sophie blocks Emma's attempts to ask her son Henry (Louis Greatorex) about the night of Chris' death. A secret long since buried comes back to haunt the community. | |||||
| 8 | "Episode 8" | Daniel O'Hara | Danny Brocklehurst | 10 May 2018 | |
| Tom and Sophie make a desperate attempt to rescue Jenny, but as the past is exposed, Tom comes to realise that he can't trust anyone. | |||||
Critical response
Safe has received positive reviews. It has a 77% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 reviews.[6] While British newspapers The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian found Hall's "odd" English accent to be a metaphor of overall peculiarities with the series, they both found many elements of the show to be entertaining. Ed Power wrote in The Daily Telegraph that Harlan Coben "makes every one of his characters feel plausibly sinister and throws in plenty of skilfully crafted cliff-hangers. Netflix's latest can be hackneyed and is written to formula, but the central mystery is assembled with a watchmaker's eye and the entire fandango whirrs by with ruthless efficiency."[7] The Guardian's Sam Wollaston wrote, "What looked at one point like it might be Netflix's Broadchurch – the disappearance of a teenager, a parent's anguish, the effect on a community, the police investigation – soon starts to look more like Desperate Housewives. I'm very much enjoying these people, without really caring about them."[8]
Maureen Ryan of Variety praised the series, writing, "It's a highly watchable, semi-pulpy serial loaded with reveals, clues and cliffhangers, and the core cast is generally quite good."[9] Ben Travers of IndieWire found the series entertaining and graded it a B, writing, "Safe leans into most of its increasingly preposterous moments, including Hall's accent. It's not that the show or its star’s elocution are bad, per se; they just don’t overwork themselves trying to convince you of their grand importance. Safe is a soap, and it's a fun diversion as such."[10]
Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter, who based his review on the first two episodes sent to critics, criticised Hall's accent and performance, the depiction of teens and other elements of the series as all off-tone. Fienberg wrote, "It could take watching the six additional episodes to know if there's a cliché-upending payoff or if Safe is just a muddle."[11]
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References
- Jeffery, Morgan (10 May 2018). "Michael C Hall on playing British in new Netflix thriller Safe and being part of two TV game-changers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- Clarke, Stewart (11 July 2017). "Netflix, Canal+ Order Harlan Coben Series With 'Dexter' Star Michael C. Hall". Variety. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- Tartaglione, Nancy (11 July 2017). "Michael C Hall To Play It 'Safe' In Netflix, Canal+ Drama From Harlan Coben". Deadline. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- Ryan, Maureen (11 April 2018). "TV Review: Harlan Coben's 'Safe' on Netflix". Variety. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- "Audrey Fleurot, Emmett J Scanlan & Marc Warren join Michael C. Hall and Amanda Abbington in Harlan Coben's 'SAFE' written by Danny Brocklehurst". Netflix Media Center.
- "Safe: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- Power, Ed (10 May 2018). "Safe, Netflix review: American take on British crime thriller is less Agatha Christie more Murder She Wrote". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- Wollaston, Sam (11 May 2018). "Safe review – Michael C Hall's odd, synthetic British accent is symptomatic of this Netflix drama". the Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- Ryan, Maureen (11 April 2018). "TV Review: Harlan Coben's 'Safe' on Netflix". Variety. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- Travers, Ben (11 May 2018). "'Safe' Review: Michael C. Hall's Netflix Murder-Mystery Is Like His British Accent — It'll Win You Over". IndieWire. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- Fienberg, Daniel (3 May 2018). "'Safe': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
External links
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