Apple TV's 'Imperfect Women': Derivative Murder Mystery
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- Imperfect Women is an 8-hour Apple TV+ murder mystery starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, and Kate Mara as three friends whose relationship splinters after one of them is killed
- The series opens with a police interview after Kate Mara's Nancy is murdered, with her wealthy husband Robert (Joel Kinnaman) immediately positioned as the obvious first suspect
- Episodes rotate point of view across the trio — Eleanor's first, then Mary (Moss), then Nancy — with Moss's episode singled out as the strongest of the three
- The plot cycles through an expanding suspect list including Davide (Theo Bongani Ndyalvane), a Black artist who painted Nancy nude and whose guilt Eleanor doubts partly because of his race
- The review judges the show as heavily derivative of Big Little Lies and Nicole Kidman's recent thrillers, with dialogue that "swings from platitude to platitude" and "thin gruel beneath" the formula
- Race, class, and financial inequality between the friends get "occasional gestures" but are never substantively explored, per the review
Why it matters: Eight hours is a hefty commitment for what the reviewer calls glossy, derivative escapism, and the recycling of Big Little Lies formulas despite a top-tier cast signals Apple TV+'s mystery slate is leaning on a tired template that doesn't reward the runtime.
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