Nicole Kidman’s shoddiest show yet

Who is holding Nicole Kidman hostage and forcing her to work on flimsy TV shows, the kind where you want to shake her shoulders and say, “You’re better than this”? Most of her recent small-screen projects have been forgettable and don’t display the Babygirl star‘s acting prowess in the way Big Little Lies did. In the almost 10 years since that award-winning HBO series debuted, Kidman has been on a mission to be part of increasingly substandard dramas like The Undoing, The Perfect Couple, Lioness, and Nine Perfect Strangers. Her latest, which was adapted from Patricia Cornwell’s book series, marks a low point in this journey. Despite the talent involved behind and in front of the camera, Scarpetta is a hot mess, like one of those fake shows used as punchlines in 30 Rock and Insecure. 

Unlike The Perfect Couple, Scarpetta isn’t even dreadful in an entertaining way. It takes itself way too seriously to feel like a breezy page-turner come to life because the laughable packaging doesn’t match the desired intensity. The result is eight hour-long episodes that tell a dark, sordid tale in an unexciting way. It doesn’t help that the ensemble isn’t aligned with what they’re collectively supposed to be doing here. Kidman moves like she’s in a Mare Of Easttown-type prestige series, a flashy Jamie Lee Curtis is still in The Bear mode, Simon Baker (wearing the same expression throughout) is in a weaker version of Mindhunter, and Ariana DeBose is trapped in a Black Mirror-esque plotline. Only Bobby Cannavale, as much-needed comic relief, seems to understand the tonal absurdity. (He is to Scarpetta what Billy Crudup is to The Morning Show.)  

Series creator Liz Sarnoff (Lost) is unfortunately unable to craft a seamless narrative that bops between two timelines. In the present day, esteemed chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta (Kidman) investigates a grisly murder with the help of her trusted brother-in-law, former cop Pete Marino (Cannavale). This particular case takes myriad turns, from a space-related twist to one involving a suspect-turned-cult leader. Doesn’t all this sound weird? And yet, Scarpetta plays this out too straightforwardly. The case loses momentum because of the heavy focus on Kay’s complicated family. Her husband, FBI profiler Benton Wesley (Baker), looks into the crime but has to keep it a secret from her. He is so poorly written, though, that last-minute switcheroos in his arc land with a thud. Then there’s Kay’s loud-mouthed sister, Dorothy (a miscast Curtis), who can’t let go of her party-girl persona and enters her gay kid’s room by asking, “Hello, anybody homo?” Her belief that Kay and Pete’s working relationship has more to it than meets the eye sends her into a troubling spiral.