We’re about a decade into the TV subgenre I like to call the Wine Mom Mystery, epitomized by “Big Little Lies” and the countless variants that followed it. A Wine Mom Mystery centers on rich, beautiful (but secretly flawed!) women solving and/or covering up a crime, with enough sex, scandal, and soapy twists to keep things interesting. So Apple TV’s “Imperfect Women” — premiering this Wednesday; I’ve seen four of the eight episodes — may feel a bit familiar as it dutifully follows the hallmarks of this genre. But it’s a superior example, to be sure, powered by an exceptionally strong cast and a surprising psychological depth that makes this more than just another puzzle to solve.
The star power on display here is evident right away: Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, and Kate Mara play Eleanor, Mary, and Nancy, a trio of close friends who go out for birthday drinks one night… and then Mara’s character Nancy ends up dead. (I’m not spoiling anything, since Nancy’s death is revealed in the trailer.) But who killed her? We piece together what happened through a maze of flashbacks and narrated insights, and we learn a lot more about the three women as the secrets, lies, red herrings, and bombshell revelations all start to pile up.
It’s not just a mystery; it’s an examination of grief
Based on the Araminta Hall novel, with Annie Weisman (“Physical”) as showrunner, “Imperfect Women” doesn’t exactly break any new narrative ground. We can almost call out the story beats as they happen. But it’s effectively constructed, primarily because it understands that a murder is more than just a mystery; it’s a gaping psychological wound. It probes into the jagged complexities of grief — the guilt, the rage, the relentless second-guessing — and spends as much time examining the emotional blast radius of Nancy’s death as it does trying to figure out whodunit.
The actors assembled here go a long way in elevating the material, too. It’s billed as an ensemble, but Washington is clearly the star, at least in the early episodes. She knows how to handle overheated melodrama from her days as Olivia Pope on “Scandal,” and she gets a chance to flex those muscles as Eleanor. (“Scandal” fans will be having flashbacks after a clandestine hookup that generates real heat.) Moss is convincingly frazzled as Mary tumbles down the true-crime rabbit role. (This is one of the few shows that acknowledges real true-crime stories like Laci Peterson and how they’ve reshaped our collective psyche.)
Yeah, it’s soapy… but is that such a bad thing?
The episodes move at a confident pace, adding more and more twists to keep us on our toes. It’s also a beautiful show to look at, with gorgeous homes and casual displays of immense wealth. (There’s a reason why these Wine Mom Mysteries are set in rich neighborhoods. We want to look around these houses!) Yes, it gets a little soapy at times, but it’s still a satisfying watch because there’s an emotional authenticity at its core. The three women seem to have a genuine bond — the actresses make them feel like old friends — so when things get complicated for them, we actually care about what happens next. We may have seen a dozen Wine Mom Mysteries like “Imperfect Women” over the past decade… but there’s nothing wrong with uncorking another bottle, right?
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Apple TV’s “Imperfect Women” spins a riveting mystery straight out of the “Big Little Lies” playbook, boosted by strong performances and surprising depth.