Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 11, 2024)
Tales of overprotective parents go back millennia. For a modern twist on this theme, we go to 2019’s Hulu limited series The Act.
This two-disc set includes all eight episodes, and I’ll discuss them in the order they ran. Plot synopses come from the package’s insert.
La Maison du Bon Reve: “Doting mother Dee Dee Blanchard (Patricia Arquette) and her daughter Gypsy Rose (Joey King) arrive in a new neighborhood, where Gypsy feels lonely due to medical issues. However, their new neighbors can be nosy, and they both have secrets to hide.”
Based on a true story, most of the episode takes place in 2008 but we also get scenes set in 2015. Those offer a preview of at least one character’s fate, as we learn Dee Dee winds up dead.
Spoiler? Maybe, but it seems to me anything that we learn half an hour into the first of eight episodes acts as fair game. Act makes it clear that whatever mystery it involves will stem from what leads to Dee Dee’s killing, not her death itself.
Based on “Maison”, I think it doesn’t take a lot of effort to figure out the prime suspect, but I remain open to surprises down the road. “Maison” offers a fairly efficient expository episode that introduces the characters/situations well enough to propel us forward, even if I do feel like I know at least some of what to expect.
Teeth: “Gypsy is given the ‘Child of the Year Award’ but a dental emergency that gets the attention of skeptical Dr. Lakshmi Chandra (Poorna Jagannathan) could expose Dee Dee's secrets.”
25 percent into the series, The Act has yet to throw out the term “Munchausen By Proxy”, but I imagine it’s a-coming. This syndrome occurs when a caregiver essentially claims non-existent illnesses in someone under their watch as a means to gain attention for themselves.
After two shows, can I say for certain Dee Dee falls into this category? No – I leave open the possibility that Gypsy really is as frail as she claims, or some other explanation for Dee Dee’s intensely MbP-style behaviors.
However, “Teeth” sure pushes Dee Dee further down that path, so I suspect this “revelation” will pop up in the future. In any case, while I still think Act comes down some predictable paths, but it continues to maintain enough intrigue to keep me invested.
Two Wolverines: “Dee Dee makes Gypsy play dress up for a costume convention, where they each attract charming men who could dangerously complicate their insular relationship. Gypsy starts to question her mother's lies.”
Because the first two episodes revolved pretty heavily around either the Blanchard home or various medical facilities, the move to the convention feels like a bit of a shock to the system. In addition to an unusual setting, the character base expands to include the aforementioned potential romantic interests, and that takes us down new paths.
Actually, Gypsy’s desire for some male attention doesn’t come as a surprise, as the first two shows hinted at her inner life. However, Dee Dee came across as so intensely focused on Gypsy that the sight of her even vaguely interested in anyone else stands out as a surprise.
These interpersonal shifts give “Wolverines” added kick. While I thought the first two shows pursued semi-predictable paths, this one branches out and that gives the series a boost.
Stay Inside: “With Gypsy getting older, Dee Dee is forced to new legal maneuvers to keep control of her. Gypsy goes to greater lengths to experience a sexual awakening.”
When Gypsy received a pet hamster, dread came over me. I can’t stand animal abuse and given the nature of this series, I expected to see a dead furball before long.
I won’t reveal whether or not “Stay” follows the Fatal Attraction route, though that concept kept me anxious. As for the rest of “Stay”, it develops matters pretty well, especially when Gypsy’s blossoming independence evolves and the tables start to turn on Dee Dee.
Plan B: “Gypsy and Nick (Calum Worthy) scheme to meet in person and hope to win Dee Dee's approval, but when their plan goes disastrously wrong they'll be pushed to make an extreme choice in order to be together.”
Nick adds an intriguing character, mainly because he seems to personify the inept Internet nerd who claims to be something much more exotic. His involvement in Gypsy’s continuing evolution adds kick to the proceedings and pushes ahead the narrative.
A Whole New World: “While Gypsy and Nick are on the run, flashbacks to a much younger Dee Dee reveal how trauma with her own mother (Margo Martindale) set her up for conflict with Gypsy.”
The introduction of Dee Dee’s mom comes via flashbacks to Gypsy’s birth and early years. Given Martindale’s usual cinematic MO, I expected Momma Dee Dee to offer an overbearing and pushy personality.
To some degree, she does, as Momma provides a somewhat unpleasant character. However, Momma gets more nuance than many Martindale roles and becomes the voice of reason as a mentally unhinged Dee Dee develops her smothering tendencies.
These flashbacks don’t seem especially revealing, as I’m not sure we really need to see how Dee Dee turned into the Queen of Munchausen by Proxy, but the scenes nonetheless offer some intriguing moments. In addition, the parts with adult Gypsy and Nick create good movement, especially since we can start to see Gypsy come to understand her romance might not be the Disney love affair she imagined.
Bonnie & Clyde: “Gypsy is excited to start over with Nick in Wisconsin, but their new life doesn't match the happily-ever-after she imagined, and her anxiety worsens as past transgressions begin to catch up with them.”
Given what a buffoon Nick is, the decline of this situation comes as no surprise. I half expected the series to play his doltish side for laughs, and we do get some dark humor, but “Clyde” mostly plays things straight.
That helps ground the tale better in reality. While we wait to see how Gypsy’s story eventually concludes, “Clyde” pushes along matters well.
Free: “Gypsy fights for her life by defending her actions, while Mel (Chloë Sevigny) and Lacey (AnnaSophia Robb) realize that behind closed doors things were not always as they seemed.”
With the series now ahead of where it opened, we finally get the use of the term “Munchausen by Proxy” I predicted way back when. Yay for me?
“Free” lets us see Gypsy’s fate, and it also depicts the actual murder involved in the narrative, a feat we didn’t see in “real time”. Actually, we still don’t literally watch the crime, as instead it focuses on Gypsy’s reactions while Nick does the deed.
As a wrap-up of the series, “Free” largely emphasizes Gypsy’s mental state and gives us a better view of her as a victim through the whole thing. While the episode doesn’t really attempt to excuse her role, it does depict what a number Dee Dee did on her mentally over the decades and how severely that impacted her judgment.
This gives “Free” real heft and allows it to conclude The Act well. I don’t think the series ever quite achieves greatness, but it tells a fascinating and odd story in a mostly effective manner.
