You know, sometimes you just want to watch a show and completely immerse yourself in something that doesn’t need you to use your brain at all. While chick flicks are the general go-to for such moments, I’d like to argue that the adult thriller is a close second, or maybe an even bigger guilty pleasure. The Couple Next Door brings to reality somebody’s wild dreams in the clunkiest way possible. The show is definitely intriguing, and it starts off pretty good but really loses its way in the middle to give us a rushed and almost unfinished ending. Yes, I said unfinished, but it’s not ambiguous, so no, you won’t be scratching your head; you just have to say, “Meh, just go with it.”
The series tells the story of two violently different married couples who become next-door neighbors when the more conservative of the two move into their new suburban home. Evie is a pregnant high school teacher, Pete’s a journalist, Becka’s a yoga instructor (fitting), and Danny’s a biker, kidding, a traffic cop (with a bike). At first glance, the only thought I had while watching this show was, “Oh, is this like that one Bollywood movie with two couples that live next door to each other and become engulfed in a murder scandal?” Soon I realized it was not, though it did have quite a few similar signs. Anyway, in The Couple Next Door, Becka and Danny immediately befriend their new pregnant neighbours Pete and Evie because they’re a young couple too. As you can imagine, soon enough things turn foul, and you’ve got yourself a thrilling mixed bag of neither here nor there.
There are quite a few positives to The Couple Next Door. For one, it’s only 6 episodes, super easy to binge-watch. It’s set in Leeds and more than idyllic to look at. The cast is terrific, and I love to see one Australian voice amidst the British ones; it’s really quite fascinating (maybe just to me). The show is very British- gloomy, gray, and dull… I kid; it’s also very polite in presenting its subject matter, which is what many would call more than impolite if you know what I mean. Anyway, the story is pretty straightforward, but there’s also a second main plot, which is about Danny specifically, which for some reason makes him more protagonist-y than the rest of the cast. Odd choice for sure, because Becka’s just so much more interesting, but hey, who am I to judge? The show isn’t slow-paced because it keeps dropping new things at you from the two different plotlines, so it doesn’t allow you time to ponder on why something worked or didn’t work, which I think makes it perfect trough TV.
We love to trash talk trash TV, but I’m here to ask the industry to make more, because it is almost liberating to watch something and like it despite everybody thinking it’s stupid and that you’re stupider for enjoying it. But, before I digress further, let me get back to talking about this particularly trashy show a little bit more. I’ve been calling “TCND” an adult thriller, but I would say it’s less thriller and even less erotic than you’d expect. The series doesn’t really push the envelope in any way and comes across as a little bit confused. Like, for the most part, I thought it was trying to criticize the non-monogamous, but then it flips the script and takes a dig at the conservatives. Make up your mind, mates; it’s okay to be opinionated. However, I’ve got to admit that Becka’s a terribly endearing character, and I really quite enjoyed watching her through the whole thing. I can’t say the same for any of the other three characters, all terribly unpleasant.
However, I wouldn’t say the same about the cast because they’re all quite terrific, especially for what they have to work with. Eleanor Tomlinson is pretty fantastic as Evie and really carries the show. I do think Jessica De Gouw is the best part of the show, and without her, I might’ve been bored (yes, I might be biased to Becka as a character, but she pulls her off really well). I think the men are just fine and don’t really do much of the heavy lifting. To be honest, Sam Heughan was the only familiar face on this show for me, but his performance was pretty unimpressive. For Alfred Enoch, they did his character dirty, but I won’t complain about his acting, which is just fine.
There are many scenes in “TCND” that will give you complete and utter secondhand embarrassment, and I implore you to watch the show just for that reason. Obviously, I’m kidding about the second part of that sentence, but sometimes you just need to enjoy the crappy stuff to remember that you’re actually meant to have a good time while being entertained, and dare I say this is actually a good time. I can’t actually say that this is straight up a bad show, because it’s not, it’s just not a great show, know what I mean? The dialogue’s a bit blasé, the script’s all over the place, and the genre isn’t genre-ing, but that’s all fine because somehow you still want to keep watching.
I don’t know if I’d recommend watching this with a partner; it might reveal some unexpected trust issues, but do it if you dare. At the end of the day, I think The Couple Next Door delivers a half-baked story with many plots (and plot holes) in a lighthearted way (if I can even use that word to describe this show). It’s not boring, and it doesn’t need much brain power, so go get that glass of wine (or whatever non-alcoholic drink you prefer), order in some Chinese, and get ready to watch the most unerotic-erotic thriller, The Couple Next Door. I’d give this one 2.5 out of 5 stars, the .5 for effort and just chilling out.
