1x01 Part 1

It's to my own discredit that I amn't particularly familiar with Margaret Atwood, and given that there have been three adaptations of her work in the last twelve months alone, I decided that I should rectify that. First up is Netflix's Alias Grace, which has come recommended. I gather that unlike The Handmaid's Tale (which I will get to in due course), Alias Grace is based at least in part on historical events and has at least a framework to work offof. In terms of its themes, though, I imagine it has much in common with its sister show. Atwood fictionalises the life of Grace Marks, a self-confessed murderess, and uses it to explore the way that women were and are treated and regarded by society.

As we are introduced to Grace, we learn that she has been imprisoned in a penitentiary for fifteen years after being convicted, with another man, of the murder of her former employer and his housekeeper. She was a young woman when the crime took place, and many people are eager for clemency and for Grace to be released. To that end, some of her supporters have engaged the services of a Doctor Jordan; the doctor is to assess Grace's mental state and determine whether it is safe to release her. This is our set-up, and through the conversations between the two characters we will learn about Grace's life and how she came to murder someone.

The production values are relatively high as we've come to expect from Netflix; there are some very beautiful shots of the Canadian countryside and the whole episode is shot in a hazy, almost mystical way. That isn't to say that the harsh realities of Grace's life aren't brought into sharp focus; the trip her family takes in a boat is particularly vile, as are some of her experiences we see from the asylum. The governor's house where the interviews take place is a deceptively cosy setting for what quickly becomes dark: Grace lists all of the ways in which beds are dangerous places, and it's clear to us that she is not the dull, quiet imbecile that many have assumed her to be.