Created by Piper andSuccession writer Lucy Prebble,who’d previously collaborated onSecret Diary of a Call Girl,the first season was a trojan horse:the satire was in fact all too real. A pop star turned successful television actor,Suzie Pickles (Piper) has her life upended when photos of her engaged in a sexual act with a man who is not her partner are hacked from her phone. The tabloids pounce,her career stalls and her university lecturer husband,Cob (Daniel Ings),is furious. No one even acknowledges that she’s the victim of a crime.
With her son Frank (Matthew Jordan-Caws) a bewildered onlooker,Suzie pinballed from professional triage,counselled by her agent and friend Naomi (Leila Farzad),to private self-immolation. Six months later she’s losing her custody battle and trying to regain the public’s affection onDance Crayzee,a celebrity reality competition painted with damning detail.
“I’m gonna win,” vows Suzie,in a moment of defiance,but it’s not clear she even knows what the stakes are anymore.
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The storytelling is clear that Suzie is an imperfect mother,that her best intentions are sporadic and stress makes her embrace self-preservation,but these human flaws in turn make her struggle brutally genuine. A self-administered abortion via pill is depicted with methodical rigour,while career conversations with her new agent,Sian (Anastasia Hille),are politely acidic. You don’t watch Suzie struggle with panic attacks,you start to sense them as the camera pursues her into corners and her gleaming television smile becomes a mockery.
As with the first season,the show’s point of view will slip from Suzie’s exterior response to her inner turmoil,dipping into her subconscious with absurdist ease. When she does dance on television,desperate for viewers to send in enough votes to avoid dismissal,it’s with expressive relief – the performance sequences are like core samples of her psyche. None of this is casual viewing,but it’s deeply compelling. ConsiderI Hate Suzie Too a last-minute addition to any Best of 2022 list.
The Witcher:Blood Origin ★★★
Netflix