Pilot Review: Widow

Widow (Amazon)
Premiered March 1

Just by the title of this show, I think I had a good idea what it would be about, and I wasn’t wrong. “Red Widow” started a few years back and followed a somewhat similar narrative, but other series with more distant titles like “Riviera” have covered the same material. I knew that the husband would die under mysterious circumstances, it would later be revealed that he led a much more secretive life than anyone knew, and, likely, he wasn’t actually dead. Pretty much all of that was confirmed in this opening hour, which was actually rather dull apart from the flashback scenes to Georgia first learning about the plane crash and then connecting further dots to confirm that her husband was indeed dead. Every scene taking place in the jungle and as she wandered around trying to find him based on video footage with someone wearing a baseball cap that looked like the one he had was considerably less inviting and engaging. This is Kate Beckinsale’s first TV role, and while I liked her in “Serendipity,” I don’t think she’s particularly strong. Jacky Ido, recently seen on “The Catch,” is her friend and fellow mourner Emmanuel, and Charles Dance of “Game of Thrones” fame is Martin Benson, whose relationship with Georgia has soured. I’ve seen so many shows in the past that have tried to figure out the mystery of who someone was, why they died, and, in this case, why it is that they’re apparently still alive, and this pilot indicated to me minimal elements of substantial creativity that would make it worth watching.

How will it work as a series? She’s already pushing to the point that someone, if not her husband, is indicating that she should back off and go home before she really gets herself into trouble. I’m sure that won’t be the case, and this show should spend a good chunk of each episode flashing back to fill in more information about just how it is that things got here.
How long will it last? Reviews for this show are better than I would have expected, especially considering how many other series have had similar premises in the past. Amazon has such a wealth of programming that something which isn’t entirely successful might not be renewed, and this also feels like past series that have been rebranded as limited series when they aren’t hits. My current prediction is that this one doesn’t get renewed.

Pilot grade: C