REVIEW: CANDY

CANDY - A lesson on character and pacing in screenwriting. Now streaming on #Hulu. #SpoilerAlert

5 Episodes of us waiting to learn what we already know, and I stuck around for all 5 of them. The entire first episode focuses on learning the wife is dead. We know she's dead and who did it, and I still stuck around for all 5 episodes. Why?

This series is based on a true story. So in reality, there is no reveal. We are watching to witness all of the tense moments that lead to the verdict. We want to know why/how the events occurred. The series is a psychological experiment through the lens of Candy, our protagonist who is the antagonist of her victim's life. 

Candy is likable, relatable, and a terrible person. We only get her POV of the murder, so we may not have learned the truth. And guess what, it doesn't matter. This is Candy's story no matter how much empathy we have for Betty.

This is a complex character. This is why we allow the slow pacing. In some parts, it may have even felt like it was dragging because the tension is that much thicker when we know what's coming yet we're living in the minutiae of the killer's day to day. 

The pacing also reflects the mundanity of all of their lives, the city, Betty, her marriage. This is why Candy wanted the thrill of an affair, which sets the entire story into motion. 

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author

Shannan E. Johnson is a former creative executive at The Syfy Channel turned CEO + Head Consultant of The Professional Pen, a script consultancy that develops screenwriters from idea to pitch to become more confident storytellers ready for a professional screenwriting career, and consults with scripted development teams at entertainment companies to streamline their notes process to get to pre-production more efficiently.