Woah, I never saw that coming!
I love a good story, me and this didn’t disappoint. Within 6 episodes, it went from the usual, wife suspecting her husband was having an affair, to absolutely, all out Fatal Attraction – with a twist. And it’s the twist that had me sit up on the sofa and woah at the screen.
You knew in a way which direction this story was heading, but you didn’t quite have the how it got there, until the final episode presented itself, and then you saw the fourth character in this story reveal themselves to you, and then you realised, just why Adele scared you so much, and what it was that was lurking behind her eyes.
Which means that, now, after giving up on the book initially, because I couldn’t make sense of it, and having now seen the series, I need to re-read the book, because it explains the series a lot better, in more detail.
In 1995, there was a drama series called Ghosts, and one particular episode called I’ll Be Watching You by Stephen Volk, three characters played by David Hayman, Derrick O’Connor, and Anita Dobson, stuck in my mind for an incredible amount of time, so that when this series began to travel through astral projection, I was taken back to Ghosts. In that episode, Jack played by O’Connor is serving a life sentence for murder, and is suspicious that his wife (Dobson), is having an affair with his brother, played by Hayman. After Jack is stabbed in a prison fight and has a near death experience, he discovers that he can astral project himself, so much so, that he decides to find out the truth about their relationship, except it has a tragic outcome.
That episode was quite powerful, as indeed was this series, and the way that astral projection was used for quite some time. One particular aspect of the astral projection that possibly scared me the most, was how one of the characters in Behind her Eyes fell into a fatal trap.
So, to the premise of this story – Adele, who has spent possibly a year in a mental institution after the death of her parents in a fire, in the family home, opens up to her friend, Rob, also in the mental institution about her ability to astral project. But Rob takes it one step further, which you don’t discover until the final episode, and I’m not going to spoil that moment for you, because, bloody hell, it’s such a shock to your system. Unless, of course, you’ve read the book!!!
Adele however, does scare you. There is something behind her eyes, something malevolent about the way she looks at you. Like a Damien moment, but without the crows and the forcing someone to do something that they don’t want to. She does have some power over Louise though. She knows what David is like. It’s not a chance meeting outside a coffee shop.
Louise is a single Mum, whose husband left her for another. Her husband, who she still feels anger towards but tries not to show it in front of her young son, has trouble accepting their relationship is over, but equally can’t forgive him for leaving her, and can’t seem to move on from that. She also suffers from terrifying night terrors. However, a chance meeting with David (Adele’s husband) in a bar, when she was meant to be meeting her female friend, gives her a new lease of life, and when David appears at her work, and she discovers he’s her new boss, the love affair continues. Then Adele finds out, and her evil plan wheedles its way between them. Adele however, comes over as a good friend and Louise likes her, but is shocked when she discovers who she is, and is torn between the pair of them, and whether she should step away from the whole thing. It’s a dangerous place to be. Friends with the woman whose husband you’re screwing! Adele manipulates Louise. She befriends her, already knowing who she is, and what she does, and visits her flat, and also offers her a way of fixing her night terrors, with a book written by Rob, of how to astral project.
The twist I was on about at the start – you’re never quite prepared for that. You have a feeling that something is going to happen to Louise, because she does put herself into dangerous situations and there are several times when you expect to see Adele become absolutely psycho. You are expecting also to see David come a cropper when he’s alone with Adele, especially when she’s chopping vegetables, near to him, with a ruddy great big carving knife. She does appear unhinged at times.
But that final episode explains EVERYTHING. But it’s no good jumping to the end episode to watch it first, as none of that will make any sense – you have to watch it from the beginning.
David, loved Adele. He loved her from the first moment he ever met her. Then when her parents were killed, he was accused of the fire and the murder, but he was found innocent. Whenever David was in trouble throughout this series, Adele would always bail him out. David holds a lot of secrets. He keeps a dossier about his wife. He writes in it every day at work. He has Adele’s money – because while she was in the hospital, she signed all her money over to him. So, he’s painted as the bad guy to anyone outside of the relationship – so you can see how manipulative Adele can be, when confronted with anyone who happened to fall for him and his Scottish charm.
And then there’s Rob – junkie trying to kick the habit and live free of drugs – who falls for Adele while in the hospital, and comes for a visit after his rehab. The pair are inseparable during their time in hospital, and although you never see them do much more than hold hands together and talk and hang out, like best mates, there’s a stronger bond between them, than the bond between her and David.
Things change after Rob’s visit and David can’t bear to be anywhere near his wife, despite doing his best to try and get through each and every day with her. It’s at this point, where we’re drawn towards the well, and the watch lying at the bottom of it and David’s reactions regarding who is at the bottom of the well, and the implications it could bring for David, in light of the dead parents and the fire. It’s a very, very manipulative woman who would turn the tables on her husband, in order to save herself from any trouble, because there’s a lot more trouble to come, and it is absolutely bloody brilliant. It goes far beyond I’ll Be Watching You.
There is talk of a second series – but personally, I think it should be left as it is, because to have a second series would dilute the tension of what we’ve already seen.
But by gum, Sarah, it’s a crackin’
story!
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