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Landscapers

a couple walking and talking in Landscapers series

Credits

Cast

Network

Reviewer

Paul Asay

TV Series Review

David and Susan Edwards seem like nice people.

Sure, David may be unemployed at the moment. Susan might spend a bit too much money on movie memorabilia. But if you met them on the street, you’d most certainly say, “Why, what nice people Susan and David are.” 

But, of course, everyone has skeletons in their closets. Or, in David and Susan’s case, bodies in their back yard.

Pushing Up Daisies (or Hydrangias)

Well, technically, the back yard isn’t theirs. Not anymore and, technically, not ever. The Nottinghamshire home in question was owned by William and Patricia Wycherly, Susan’s parents.

William and Patricia weren’t overly social people even in the best of times. But in 1998, the two simply disappeared, around the same time that Susan and David moved in. Everyone thought that William and Patricia simply moved—because that’s what David and Susan told them.

But in reality, they were much closer to home. Like, right underneath the hydrangia bushes.

For 15 years, David and Susan hid the truth along with the bodies, spending William and Patricia’s pension checks to pay for Susan’s ever-growing collection of movie memorabilia. But the money got tighter and tighter, and finally the couple had to sell the house to pay off debts, lock stock and body—er, barrel. They moved to France, where David hoped to get a job. But turns out, speaking fluent French was a prerequisite for many of them.

Finally, in desperation, David called his stepmother in the hope of her floating him and Susan a bit of money. One thing led to another, and before he knew it, David mentioned the bodies. They didn’t murder William and Patricia, he was quick to say. They just—um, buried them. No need to tell the police.

But tell the police the stepmother does. And when the constabulary digs up said bodies and discovers a couple of bullets in each of ’em … well, they’d really like it it if the Edwardses might pop by for a bit of questioning.

A Little Seedy

HBO’s Landscapers is based on a true story. But in creator/writer Ed Sinclair’s hands, it becomes something of a black comedic fairy tale.

Susan spends what little money she and David have on celebrity autographs and movie collectables, and it’s in that world—the world of storied cinema—where she feels most at home. She sees her life in black and white—not morally, but tonally, imagining that she and David are characters in a classic Western or old-school film noir caper.

That instills a touch of ludicrous poignancy to Susan—and makes a cogent Plugged In point, too. Entertainment is an escape for most of us—and sometimes, it can be an unhealthy one. Instead of dealing with the difficulties and the horrors of the real world, Susan slips into an imaginary version, and thus compounds those very difficulties and horrors.

And as with many a silver-screen couple, Susan and David are utterly devoted to each other. When Susan tearfully exclaims in the first episode that she ruined David’s life, he tells her, “How can you say such a thing? You are my life.”

That’s sweet, as far as it goes. But more to the point, Susan and David are facing life in prison, too. Why? Because Susan killed a couple of people.

Landscapers is built on that paradox—that two fairly normal, seemingly decent and clearly loving people could be involved in such a shocking crime. And the miniseries takes a certain thrill in piling on the shocks. Police fire the harshest of profanities with the least provocation. We hear about instances of sexual abuse, fiscal malfeasance and, obviously, the unnatural deaths of a couple of people.

Rated TV-MA for language and violence, Landscapers could’ve easily been made to be more family friendly—if you’d care to let your family watch a dark comedy about murder. As it is, while Landscapers blooms, it may leave you feeling soiled, too.

Episode Reviews

Dec. 6, 2021: “Episode One”

The story opens in 2014, with Susan talking to her soon-to-be lawyer over the phone. “My husband and I have gotten ourselves in a bit of a pickle,” she says. The rest of the episode suggests that’s a bit of an understatement.

We see David and Susan living in a rundown apartment in Paris, with David unsuccessfully seeking work and Susan spending much of her time in a cinematic daydream. In desperation, David asks for money from his stepmother (Tabitha), telling her about the bodies buried in their old back yard back in Britain. “Promise me that you won’t tell the police,” he says. “I can’t let Susan down. You understand?”  Tabitha doesn’t understand, though. She calls the police, who quickly discover that David was telling the truth.

The corpses are covered in a blood-stained cloth of some kind, and the police discover two bullets in each of the bodies. (We see pictures of the victims’ skeletons.) Susan watches and fantasizes about the movie High Noon, and we see a couple of violent moments from that film. Susan smashes a picture frame.

David and Susan lean beside their bed and pray. David walks about the apartment in a dress shirt and underwear, and we see him in a bathroom—with underwear, sans shirt—too. Susan lies to David about how much she spent on a movie poster. (And, of course, the couple kept a very dark secret for 15 years.) At dinner, David pours water out of a bottle for himself and Susan, pretending that it’s wine. Someone lights a cigarette.

Characters—especially a profane and perpetually angry police chief—swear repeatedly. The f-word is used more than 20 times. We also hear the s-word, “a–,” “d—n,” “h—,” “t-ts,” “tw-t” and the British profanity “bloody.”

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Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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