Mrs. Wilson: Mrs. Wilson (all episodes)

October 3, 2019 2:32 AM - Season 1, Episode 1

In 1963, Alison Wilson's happy home life is shattered upon the death of her husband, novelist and former MI6 officer Alexander "Alec" Wilson. Everything she knew about her husband of 22 years quickly unravels when she discovers she is not the only Mrs. Wilson.

The series is produced by and stars Ruth Wilson (Luther, Jane Eyre) The actress plays her real-life grandmother, Alison.

posted by I_Love_Bananas (6 comments total)

I saw this on its first run on PBS. I mostly liked it. It's definitely a fascinating story, and I recommend viewing. It was kind of hard, though, to avoid experiencing the show as "Ruth playing her grandmother", and thinking about what that must have been like for her, especially in the more emotional scenes.

Honestly, though, I'd happily watch Ruth Wilson buying a can of beans.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:18 AM on October 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

I also watched it earlier and I was mesmerized, like 'hospital porter', wtf?. At various points I thought of Foyle's War, A Beautiful Mind, Endeavour, Killing Eve, and I don't know what else. I had no idea that it was a true story and that Ruth Wilson was playing her grandmother until the final scene and then I was just gobsmacked. Probably most viewers go into it already knowing that though.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:20 AM on October 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

I really loved this, but also hate that we Just Don't Know what the hell happened. I like my mysteries to eventually have an answer that we can have.
posted by corb at 3:27 PM on October 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

This was a great story, excellent in so many ways, but too TURQUOISE. Or teal or aquamarine or whatever you want to call that greeny blue color. The clothes, the rooms, the doors, the light, the everything. Noticing that same color over and over again kept pulling me out of the story. I'd like to watch it again but I just can't. Why did they do that? Did it trouble anyone else?
posted by Corvid at 6:16 PM on October 3, 2019

Maybe there was a conscious choice on the part of the producers to use color in specific ways to help differentiate the different timelines etc.?

Alison's modern-day story was very blue, you are right. Alison in the past was characterized by much darker colors. There was lots more brown, maroon, and deeper tones overall. The wartime scenes, the prison, etc. used a very different palette. Her mother's house had rich red wallpaper, I recall. Dorothy's storyline and the India scenes were definitely lighter, with lots of yellow, red/browns and white/ivory tones.

I can see them perhaps wanting to make sure there was clarity for viewers in which timeline was being presented... especially since Ruth Wilson (the actress) did not look all that different facially. She's youthful and they did not age her all that much, other than an updo hairstyle. So specific use of color helped delineate the storyline more clearly, maybe?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 5:30 AM on October 4, 2019

I watched this mini-series last night. As someone who has spent twelve years in an off and on relationship with someone who strung me along with lies and false promises, as well as experienced several shorter similar situations -- though nothing on this level! -- it was a hard watch. The rage and the anguish and the devastation Alison and the three other wives felt over such a colossal betrayal seemed so familiar to me. Alison Wilson's story, like that of the based-on-real-life character Martha from The Americans, is a cautionary tale for what happens when one ignores red flags, lets oneself be pacified by bullshit explanations for things that don't add up, and doesn't listen to warnings from others. One should never switch one's brain off in a relationship, or base a relationship on blind faith and unconditional love. There are heartless people and pathological liars out there and one must watch out for them, and in any case all humans are fallible.

It depressed me that Alison chose to spend the rest of her life in a convent. She would only have been about 44 when Alec died and surely could have made a new, full life for herself. I know it was her choice and what she wanted and believed in, and she seemed contented and at peace, but it still seems to me like a withdrawal from a world that she no longer felt able to cope with into a sort of half-life. As an atheist, it looks to me like she went from one fantasy relationship to another.

But I understand how it is. Dorothy Wilson seemed to be permanently damaged by Alec's betrayal and abandonment of her too, though she'd carried on as bravely as she could. Sometimes one is simply too crushed by abuse to ever be the same again.
posted by orange swan at 6:57 PM on October 5, 2019 [1 favorite]