Susan Granger’s review of “Apples Never Fall” (NBC/Peacock TV)
Based on a bestseller by Australian author Liana Moriarty (“Big Little Lies”), “Apples Never Fall Far” is a seven-episode limited series that’s ready to binge.
The family drama begins with the sudden disappearance of recently retired Joy Delaney (Annette Bening), who spent decades running a prestigious tennis academy in West Palm Beach with her husband Stan (Sam Neill), a highly competitive former player who became a respected coach, having launched the career of Grand Slam winner Harry Haddad (Giles Matthey).
Stunned that their mother inexplicably vanished are their four adult children. Once a top-tier contender, Troy (Jake Lacy) has channeled his competitive energy into venture capital. Acerbic Brooke (Essie Randles) has opened a physical therapy clinic and is engaged to Gina (Paul Andrea Placido).
Arty, alarmist, aimless Amy (Alison Brie) is an emotional mess, bunking in with a younger, empathetic landlord (Nate Mann). And marine manager Logan (Connor Merrigan-Turner) finds it’s easier to break up with his fiancée than move from his houseboat and cut close family ties.
Then Joy’s blood-splattered bicycle is found on the roadside. Complicating matters is short-tempered Stan’s history of emotional neglect, making him a prime suspect, along with Savannah (Georgia Flood), an enigmatic grifter who appeared on the Delany’s doorstep one night, begging for shelter from an abusive boy-friend, and deliberately proceeds to ingratiate herself with Joy.
Following her Oscar-nominated performance in “Nyad,” Annette Bening is warm and compelling as an aging ‘helicopter mom’ coping with an ‘empty nest,’ while Sam Neill adds depth to a volatile performance.
Showrunner Melanie Marnich with directors Chris Sweeney and Dawn Shadforth interweave ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ chronological episodes, geared to presenting each family member’s perspective, keeping the ‘whodunit’ tension taut, throwing in structured snippets of mistrust, deception and infidelity.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Apples Never Fall Far” is a seductively suspenseful 7 – with all episodes
