i’m so late, just as i’m always late for good things, but i devoured all six episodes of alias grace on netflix in less than a day (a record for me!!!) two weeks ago, and IT WAS PHENOMENAL. (brief background: alias grace is based on the novel of the same title by margaret atwood, which is based on a true story about grace marks, a celebrated murderess in 19th century canada.) i love that we have a very flawed and very complex main character in the form of grace marks. for one, she’s an unreliable narrator who remains an enigma until the very last scene. (THAT final frame gave me chills.) we’ll never truly and completely know the answer as to whether grace is indeed guilty of murder or not, and i believe the mystery of it all is largely what makes the story beautiful. did she or did she not? i love that we’ll never get answers, and we’re free to decide which conclusion we’d take given all the theories, which are all plausible enough. i also love how the show addresses insanity as one of the theories points to the possibility of grace having dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder), which is also realistic enough with all the physical, emotional, and psychological trauma she faced as a child, and her insanity may have driven her to murder. however, personally, i’m more inclined to believe in the theory that grace did commit murder, with or without a mental illness, and she’s just a great storyteller who has dr. simon jordan (her psychiatrist to whom she’s narrating the whole story) in the palm of her hand, and an excellent liar who omits truths that are unfavorable to her and fabricates parts that are helpful to her case. after all, at one point she did say, “i may have changed some of the details of my stories to suit what i thought you wanted to hear.” it’s been days since i finished watching the miniseries, yet i find myself still thinking about it. i’m planning to read the novel too soon. my curiosity about the real grace marks has been piqued that i have begun reading about her, but there’s not much historic accounts can tell that i don’t already know from the show.
oh, and by the way, sarah gadon was insanely good as grace marks. she deserved an emmy for her performance. the rest of the actors were equally fantastic. overall, alias grace is amazing, which isn’t surprising since this one’s a collaborative work of women. my words don’t do this show justice.
alias grace and anne with an e are my top 2 favorite netflix shows, and coincidentally, both are originally from CBC. i, therefore, conclude canadian tv is sooooo good. i highly recommend both shows to anyone who’s a lover of the historical genre like myself or just to anyone who finds themselves in a netflix slump.