Vigilante Serial Killer
I have not seen the original French version, nor the American spin off so I started this with only the description to go on - an imprisoned serial killer mom who forces her detective son to work with her to solve a series of copycat murders.
Go Hyun Jung as The Mantis dominates every scene she’s in owning this serial killer mom role. Early on there’s a Dexter like assertion that her murders were only of really bad men who had escaped the failed justice system. She forms an interesting relationship with the detective who captured her and through whom she negotiated an unusual arrangement for her imprisonment which included provisions to give her son a new identity and to raise him to be like the detective. While The Mantis is cynical about the justice system (hence her vigilante justice) she admires the sincerity and naiveté of the detective. She would prefer her son to grow up molded after the detective than herself.
This show directly brings up the nature/nurture issue. The son fears that his bloodline connection to his serial killer mom will determine his behavior and future. It’s this fear which leads him to often react seemingly irrationally in his interactions with her, and with his wife, and his fears should they have children.
At times the killer mom projects an insane enjoyment of the torture she inflicted on her victims said torture inspired by the form of the torture they themselves inflicted on their own victims.
The plot twists and reveals near the very end cascade rapidly one after another and lead us to an understanding of why she became that way. And I promise that these final reveals will inspire sympathy for her if not acceptance of her actions. Think of Hannibal from the books and movies series and his origins in WWII as a small child struggling to survive the horrors of the German/Soviet front.
The show is a mere eight episodes so pacing is a problem only for the impatient.
The reason I rate it a 9.5 is connected to a few flaws in plotting and certain scenes. There are some clumsy lurches in moving from certain plot points to the next. Second time through these became even more glaring. The story, like a magician’s sleight of hand, glosses over them to move things along. And then in a very few scenes the absurdity just jumps out and no sleight of hand can hide it-e.g. washing machines with windows scene.
Within the larger context of a great story and Go Hyun Jung’s performance these flaws are forgivable.
There’s a final scene which promises a sequel. Such a sequel would have to shift from the backward looking to the present and future, and consequently will be very different, but I welcome the attempt just to see this fascinating character in action again.
Go Hyun Jung as The Mantis dominates every scene she’s in owning this serial killer mom role. Early on there’s a Dexter like assertion that her murders were only of really bad men who had escaped the failed justice system. She forms an interesting relationship with the detective who captured her and through whom she negotiated an unusual arrangement for her imprisonment which included provisions to give her son a new identity and to raise him to be like the detective. While The Mantis is cynical about the justice system (hence her vigilante justice) she admires the sincerity and naiveté of the detective. She would prefer her son to grow up molded after the detective than herself.
This show directly brings up the nature/nurture issue. The son fears that his bloodline connection to his serial killer mom will determine his behavior and future. It’s this fear which leads him to often react seemingly irrationally in his interactions with her, and with his wife, and his fears should they have children.
At times the killer mom projects an insane enjoyment of the torture she inflicted on her victims said torture inspired by the form of the torture they themselves inflicted on their own victims.
The plot twists and reveals near the very end cascade rapidly one after another and lead us to an understanding of why she became that way. And I promise that these final reveals will inspire sympathy for her if not acceptance of her actions. Think of Hannibal from the books and movies series and his origins in WWII as a small child struggling to survive the horrors of the German/Soviet front.
The show is a mere eight episodes so pacing is a problem only for the impatient.
The reason I rate it a 9.5 is connected to a few flaws in plotting and certain scenes. There are some clumsy lurches in moving from certain plot points to the next. Second time through these became even more glaring. The story, like a magician’s sleight of hand, glosses over them to move things along. And then in a very few scenes the absurdity just jumps out and no sleight of hand can hide it-e.g. washing machines with windows scene.
Within the larger context of a great story and Go Hyun Jung’s performance these flaws are forgivable.
There’s a final scene which promises a sequel. Such a sequel would have to shift from the backward looking to the present and future, and consequently will be very different, but I welcome the attempt just to see this fascinating character in action again.
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