The series, which was created by Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie) and is based on Lily Koppel's best-selling non-fiction book of the same name, was supposed to debut last summer before being pushed to midseason and then once more to summer as it went through a creative retooling process that allegedly forced the series to spend more time focusing on the actual astronauts of the title, and not just the lives of their wives, which largely feels like a mistake.
Expecting too much from The Astronaut Wives Club, ABC's four-years-too-late companion to Pan Am, will likely lead to disappointment. It's enjoyable as light, escapist summer fare if that's all you're looking for, but it doesn't hold up well under scrutiny and it certainly won't be a deep introspective look at the lives of women in the 1960s
Far be it from me to begrudge more screentime for the likes of Bret Harrison (Reaper) or the handsome Wilson Bethel, who's coming off a four-year run as the best thing about The CW's Hart of Dixie, but the series' attempt to cover a considerable length of time in the lives of both the men and the women is just too much for the series' foundation to support.
The end result is a good-looking, well-styled show that's spread just a little too thin as it tries to serve too many masters. Add in poorly shaded characters dressed in beautiful '60s era costumes and you've got a series that's good but not necessarily great.
The largest check in the pro column is that Astronaut Wives Club employs a cast filled with talented women who are doing their best to sell what they've been given. Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck, 24) plays the striking Rene Carpenter (Rene "rhymes with peachy keen," as she told one of the other wives), a housewife who supports her husband (played by Bethel), but isn't shy about making herself stand out among the other wives either.
This was made quite obvious when she ignored a request for the women to wear a pastel shirtdress for a photo op, choosing instead to dress in a bright floral number that ensured all eyes would be on her. There's also the matter of her platinum hair (most definitely a wig), which often bordered on distracting because it's not a shade naturally found in the real world.
Odette Annable (Banshee) stars as the young Trudy Cooper, a woman who has a perfect life on the surface, but whose marriage is secretly falling apart behind-the-scenes after her husband cheated on her with their neighbor. Despite this, she continues to publicly stand by her man (Harrison) because she believes he deserves to be the first man in space and because that's what women were taught to believe in at the time.
She also had dreams of one day being a pilot herself and is probably the most "modern" of the modern-day wives, as evidenced by her willingness to speak up and the fact she preferrs to wear pants instead of the more common dresses of the era.
Dominique McElligott (Hell on Wheels) is a highlight as Louise Shepard, who acts as the de facto lead in the series premiere, because her husband Alan, played by Desmond Harrington, actually was the first American man in space. Determined and strong-willed, she's cold and unlikeable for a large part of the premiere because she refuses to admit she's a human being with real emotions.
In an attempt to remain strong in the face of the public, she claimed she didn't need anyone's help or moral support when Alan's rocket launched into outer space or when he was caught cheating after the wives arrived to surprise their husbands in Florida (a trip orchestrated by Trudy once she overheard a conversation during a phone call to her own one-time cheating husband).
The rest of the women didn't get as much to do in the series' first hour (that changes a bit as future episodes—three were released to critics for review—expand the focus on the other wives) and so they're even less developed than Rene, Trudy, and Louise at the outset.
Rounding out the cast are the effortlessly radiant JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Once Upon a Time) as the sweet and grounded Betty Grissom, who's husband Gus (Joel Johnston) would be the second American in space; Erin Cummings (Masters of Sex) as Marge Slayton, a bombshell with a secret who's married to Deke (Kenneth Mitchell) and who carries herself with confidence yet secretly fears she doesn't measure up to the other wives; Azure Parsons (True Detective) plays the shy Annie Glenn, the wife of John (Sam Reid), who often blends into the background because she rarely speaks; and Zoe Boyle (Downton Abbey) appears as Jo Schirra, who swears by the Navy Wife, is married to Wally (Aaron McCusker), and is kind of just there at the beginning of the series.
Some of the women have an easier time wrapping their mouths around and pulling off the often stale dialogue than others—as the most modern housewife, Annable's Trudy was saddled with some truly awful speeches in the pilot about how women shouldn't put up with shit just because they're women (the fact she was faking a happy marriage to her husband for the sake of his career slightly undercut her entire argument for women being equal to men), while non-Americans Strahovski, McElligott, and Boyle were all doing their best to capture the air of American housewives in the '60s.
Strahovski's take on what I assume was supposed to be a southern accent was a little off at times, which was unfortunate because her on-screen husband is incredibly skilled at faking one. Plus, she proved she was more than capable of handling a generic American accent during her time on Chuck.
But that's largely inconsequential nitpicking and the series faces a much larger, more immediate problem than faking an accent. The cast is made up of impressive, likable, and talented women, but their on-screen personas are largely defined by single personality traits revealed during a party celebrating their husbands where they all first meet.
Annie was embarrassed that she stuttered (hence her character's lack of speaking lines), Louise was harsh and opinionated and thought she was better than everyone else, and Marge led a (probably) promiscuous life when she lived overseas as a single woman. These singular traits didn't do much to fill in the rough outlines these women were at the outset of the series and it made identifying with them rather difficult.
Furthermore, the series is supposed to be about the bonds these seven women share based on their station in life as the wives of the first astronauts, but the relationships between them had little time to grow and breathe thanks to the quick pace the series is determined to maintain.
The series premiere covered more than two years in the lives of these women, but the relationships—outside of Trudy and Marge who we know knew each other prior to the start of the series thanks to a helpful bit of exposition—don't feel lived in or authentic in any way by the end of the hour, which featured a scene in which they all danced and partied together in celebration.
Sure, there's an earlier scene in which the self-assured Rene came to the aid of an overwhelmed Annie when she was cornered by a nosey jackass reporter, and you can understand why Trudy organized a trip to Florida to surprise the men after discovering Alan was cheating on his wife, too, but it's all superficial.
Because the series is an open-and-shut case, it's understandable why the writers aren't doing a lot of deep digging as they attempt to cram years of story into a single hour, but it unfortunately also prevents important bonds from developing and deepening, and when that's the premise of the series, it's a little worrisome.
Still, despite these issues The Astronaut Wives Club had enough going for it as a stylish and enjoyable reprieve from the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer that if you're willing to accept the fact it may never explore sexism or the true bonds of female friendship or even the idea of women in the workplace, then set your DVR for a summer filled with beautiful costumes, fun '60s-era tunes, and computer-generated shots of actors standing next to President Kennedy.
But if you're turned off by the idea of women who believe their only job is to stand by their man (even if this is set in the '60s) or make ham loaf or organize block parties to sell their incredible happy life stories to a reporter from Life Magazine (played by Rectify's Luke Kirby), then maybe you should change the channel.
Cr.CBS Entertainment, ข้อมูลอัพเดท
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