A man was partying at a strip club called Vixens and then ran into a nearby forest.
Then on to the suburban scene.
Megan Pierce (Cush Jumbo) lives a rural private life with her fiancé Dave Shaw (Daniel Francis) and daughters Jordan (Dylan Francis), Laura (Tallulah Byrne) and Kaylee (Bethany Antonia). After the 16 years together, Megan and the Dave are finally married. And their “Chicken Party” friends are amazed at how passionate they are. When he returned, he saw a slip of paper named “Cassie”, which made him speechless.
Meanwhile, the DS Michael Broome (James Nesbitt) and also his DC partner Erin Cartwright (Joe Joyner) complain about a missing man in pursuit of the disappearance of a young man named Carlton Flynn (Connor Caland). Talking to the man’s parents. Broome learns that he disappeared 17 years after Stuart Green (Rod Hunt), a married man, went missing. Cartwright believed that Broome was trying too hard to connect a case he could never solve.
You may also read “Cobra Kai Season 4” Review: Where Daniel and Johnny now have a common enemy and it’s not just Chris
A mysterious woman spots Megan during a tennis match for her middle daughter. And they agree to meet the next day. Meanwhile, Ray Levine (Richard Armitage). After the concert, a photojournalist who is now shooting bar mitzvahs and other events is stolen from his camera. But he had archived the photos in the cloud before he was robbed. And as he crossed them, he saw the photos he had taken in the woods the night before. Including something he had never seen before, the shadowy figure of a boy running ahead. Something.
Megan meets wife Lorraine (Sarah Parish):
Who he knew in his previous life as Cassie. As much as Megan decided to let go of her old life 17 years ago, Lorraine knows that people never completely walk away from her. He warns her that Stuart Green, whom Megan thinks is dead, has reappeared. Trying to find out if this is true, Megan visits her house and introduces herself. As being a potential buyer to talk to his wife. Then she visits Harry Sutton (Eddie Izard), a lawyer who represents the strip club where she works; He’s in a skinny, abandoned heroin store office, sheltered from thugs trying to rob Megan. However, Megan asked for their old skills to kick their ass and run away.
The story of the Stay Close, is based on Coben’s 2012 novel. It contains as much intrigue as we’ve seen from the Cobin adaptation, in large part because it’s a three-way mystery. Megan, Ray, and DS Broome are linked through Stuart Green, and Coben. Who adapted his novel for the series. Which provides enough clues in the first episode to piss audiences off without letting them down.
We know Megan works at Vixens, which Broome also visited when he was drinking while investigating Green’s disappearance. We also know that Ray and Megan had a romantic relationship before he left to start a new life. It’s a lot of information for the first episode. Where the author tries to withhold information to spark the intrigue. That will show us what lies ahead when these three sides of the story begin to interact with each other.
You may also read ‘Landscapers’ Review: Where Olivia Coleman and David Write Plays The Impossible Murder
It helps that the three main actors are top-notch actors.
Jumbo is one of those actors whose faces convey more than enough emotion to fill the stage. And Nesbitt has a gruelling cop role alongside T. Ray of Armitage is the least developed of the three, but we know Armitage did a fine job in the past. All of you and the kind supporting actresses help make this puzzle worth following.
As in all of Cobin’s other adaptations, some sassy looks may not be necessary. Such as the fact that Broome DC partner Cartwright is also his ex-wife. And we hope that Megan’s family is involved in this mystery – there are signs, as we’ll mention below. And not just there to wonder what their lives were like before Dave’s arrival.
Stay Close capitalizes on great performances and a story that provides enough clues in the first episode to keep viewers intrigued and, more importantly, not disillusioned by the text being intentionally dumb.