Under the Skin – Final Thoughts

Under the Skin will probably end up being one of my fave shows of this year. I’m still trying to process my thoughts about it, so I’m sort of struggling to find the right words to convey what I actually want to say, ha. This isn’t one of those “thrill a minute” shows that often resort to cheap gimmics to paste over the otherwise flimsy plot and gaping plot holes. Some of them can be quite watchable if all you want is easy to diggest entertainment, especially if the actors and director are are putting their best foot forward. If you want a well made crime show that isn’t too dark or harrowing, this may fit the bill. I really liked Into the Darkness too but one such show per season is quite enough, thank you. 🙂

I absolutely loved the writing. There was so much detail packed in each episode and all of it relevant in some way. There was a clear ebb and flow with the more suspensefull / calmer moments and the pressure built up slow and steady to always culminate in a point of importance. Especially towards the end. A lot of care was also put into “constructing” the perpetrators. They weren’t just roughly drawn caricatures but real people with their own back stories. In some cases you could understand their reasons for doing what they did and even feel a degree of pity for them. The story I felt is the saddest is where a (perhaps) willful misunderstanding and a false image created of a person one doesn’t really know, led to an unfortunate ending. Shout out to all the actors, they did a bang up job too. The chemistry between the leads was great and I loved how their partnership progressed from initial wariness to friendship and trust.

Whoever the cinematographer was, he/she did a darned good job at setting the scenes and the overall mood at each part of the story. And it was done in such a subtle way that you hardly noticed how you were guided along. I’m pretty sure that if I watch this again, I’ll find something new, some detail I didn’t notice the first time around. Or something I did see but didn’t conciously register at the time. Under the Skin is a show I DO want to watch again. It doesn’t matter that I know the end results, I’m just fascinated of how it all was put together. I want to progress at a slower pace to concentrate more on the details and e.g. facial expressions and body language. Despite of the subject matter, the show is a total feast to the eyes. So many shots of scenes that just linger in you mind. There are other ways to show the nature of these crimes than with lots of blood, gore and excessive violence. I always appreacite it when TPTB don’t underestimate the intellingence of the viewers but rather let us draw our own conclusions.

It was towards the end that I realised that there had been little hints and clues here and there about the mastermind behind the “main” case that got Detective Lei killed. At one point I had actually briefly wondered if this person was somehow going to be relevant, but I didn’t go further with my wonderings then. This “main” case too was successfully concluded, which was good as I tend to dislike open endings and things left dangling. But, and this is a rather big ‘but’, there is an epilogue. I’m not really sure how I feel about it. My initial reaction was kinda negative, as it was so not in line with the general feel of the rest of the show. On the other hand it does tie up to the last part of the opening credits, so I don’t believe it was just randomly tagged on. On further thought I decided it probably means they have plans for a 2nd season. Whether we’ll ever get one is another thing all together. For me the scene at end of this post is The End. What comes after, as intriguing as it is, is irrelevant… at least until there is a follow up.