Candy Montgomery is the model of a housewife in the 1980s - she has a stable marriage, two children, a gorgeous house, carefully planning out her days and handling of huge issues - her actions, however, sing a different tune. She just wants to be free of the weight placed on her shoulders every day. No matter the cost.

That terrific (and terrifying) synopsis of Candy is the most accurate description of a show I’ve seen. Most synopses try to keep things simple, so the viewer has no assumptions going in. We open on Candy (Jessica Biel) telling someone offscreen about a conversation a tree has with a woodcutter. Taken at face value, this isn’t all that frightening. However, Biel is delivering this monologue in an extreme close-up, making what would be a nice bedtime story horrifying. After this bone-chilling encounter, we meet Betty (Melanie Lynsky) and Alan (Pablo Schreiber) Gore, as the two jolt awake after the two hear their baby crying in the next room. While Betty cares for the baby, Alan starts his morning routine by pouring himself some orange juice, petting the dogs, and eating breakfast. Soon after Betty successfully calms down the newborn, Alan is packing his things to head out of town for a business trip with 3M. Here, the viewer gets the sense that the two have this tenuous relationship, where Betty is always expected to be at home with the newborn, while Alan gets to have fun on business trips.

As a five-part series, Candy is all about the people involved at both ends of the crime. The series wants you to know who the people involved are, what their life was like, depict the crime itself, why the crime was committed, and how all parties reckon with the aftermath of the crime. The series assumes you know nothing about what happened here, and effectively structures the narrative in a way that you want to come back day after day to catch up.

Something that will help viewers engross themselves in this true crime story are the performances, especially by Biel. At times, when evaluating her performance, I often forgot that it was Biel. Her performance sees her adopt tense body language, facial tics, and even manages to nail Candy’s accent. It’s no question: Biel is at her career best here.

Another great performance is Pablo Schreiber as Alan Gore. I’ve been watching Halo: The Series and his performance as Master Chief in that series is a much more closed-off human being. Here, Schreiber is much more in touch with his emotions, and will no doubt hold the viewer's attention when the pilot premieres.

The actor Melanie Lynskey is great as well. I won’t say much about her character, but her role as Betty Gore is equally as enthralling as Candy and Alan’s. Lynskey’s holds a space for the silent moments of parenting that moms don’t talk about.

A big part of why this pilot works as well as it does is the direction by Michael Uppendahl. There are so many silent moments that speak volumes as to what the characters are experiencing at any given moment. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen the first season of Legion, though. I can’t wait to see what he does with the finale episode, which he is also directing.

Likewise, the writing is a particular highlight. Nick Antosca & Robin Veith’s teleplay highlights the tension between the characters & lets the viewer draw their own conclusions.

Ariel Marx’s score is fantastic. The score is particularly strings-forward to accentuate moments of intense tension in a scene. It’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to hear more of her work as the series progresses.

Another highlight is the editing by Anthony Cantone Heinze, Richard Meyer, and his team. Like the score, every edit of a scene serves to drive forward the tension of a scene or to avoid revealing information that the series doesn’t want to show us yet.

Something that should also be complimented is the dedication to period-accurate sets and costumes. Taylor R. Blazekovic & Monica Tannian’s teams deserve massive props (pun not intended) for placing the viewer firmly in the year 1980, from elements as small as a rotary phone to as big as a movie theater parking lot.

Anyone up for a great true-crime series to watch that doesn’t require entire seasons of commitment, Candy is a great pick this month.

★★★★★

Candy episode one will be available to stream on Hulu starting on Monday, May 9th.

Until next time!

Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel, Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, and Matthew Simpson for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!