Tell Me Your Secrets Shines on Prime

Amy Brenneman returns to the small screen in a dark, new mystery

Amy Brenneman returns to the small screen in an acclaimed new mystery

A woman recovering from her romantic relationship with a killer is trying to reinvent herself in witness protection, but there is no peace to be found in hiding, because hot on her heels is a mother searching for the daughter whose disappearance—and possible death—she may be responsible for. Emma Hall (Lily Rabe, last seen in The Undoing) recalls nothing from her final days with former lover Kit Parker (Xavier Samuel), which is unfortunate because her inability to recollect the truth could either make her an accomplice in the murder of nine women, or the victim of a manipulative monster. One of those women, whose body has not yet been discovered, is the daughter of Mary Barlow (Amy Brenneman), who derives her sole purpose in life from unravelling this mystery.

So begins the intricate web of tales created by Harriet Warner, producer of the equally eerie The Alienist: Angel of Darkness. “I always wanted to write something about a really intriguing relationship,” says the British screenwriter. “I was really interested in crimes that had happened, where a partner really did profess to know nothing about the capacity of their partner. I thought, ‘Is that possible? Can you have true intimacy without true knowledge of someone?’ I wanted to write about a woman who was recovering from loving the wrong person, and the doubt that it puts on her.”

In opposition to a complex heroine—who could also be our antagonist—Warner wanted another seemingly simple, but ultimately just as duplicitous, character in Mary. “It had to be a mother who has lost a child,” says Warner. “If you were a mother with that need, where do you go, and how do you go there, and what will you do, and what will you not do? Mary has no peace until she finds this woman. I thought, ‘I really want to write that woman.’ ”

Turns out, Brenneman really wanted to play her. After three years of portraying a silent cult member in The Leftovers, the actress wanted to explore another character where likeability is in the eye of the beholder. “We start from such a simple, universal idea that the loss of a child would drive anybody crazy,” says Brenneman. “As a mother, I can only imagine. So, you start out with a pretty recognizable sympathetic character, who’s obviously not the villain. [But in vthis series] nobody’s in their bright shining lane.”

Rabe was equally taken by Warner’s ability to take archetypal characters and flip them on their head. “I just found Harriet’s voice so unique, her storytelling unlike anything else that I had read,” says Rabe. “I had never read characters like this.” The duality of her character is what drew the actress to portray her. “What motivates Karen, in the past, is love, and what motivates Emma, in so many ways, is fear,” explains the actress. “I loved that between the two women there were so many opposites. Going from a person who trusts everyone to a person who trusts no one, being able to navigate that and play these women who are so completely different but share a heartbeat was such a wonderful part of playing this role.”

Set in Louisiana, the American South provides Emma with the perfect hiding place and adds to the gothic vibe of the piece. “The Bayou is that wonderful, atmospheric place that gives us another layer that is about nature in its truest form, threatening to overwhelm,” says Warner. “The show itself is about our human natures, but I thought, ‘Let’s put them in real nature, that at any minute we’re unsure if the levees are going to break.’ That atmosphere and the noir-ish feel just gave it a life that I never imagined at conception stage.”

At a time where diving into a 10-hour murder mystery may not feel like the most pleasant reprieve from reality, Brenneman believes audiences will be unable to tear themselves away, once they get going. “I think it’s really smart,” she says. “I’m so proud to be able to talk about this, because 100 per cent I can say to people, ‘You’re going to be into it.’ You’re going to hate certain characters, like certain characters.” Brenneman further praises Warner for having constructed a brilliant whodunit that will have you guessing until the end. “We used to call her the puzzle master,” says Brenneman. “Your brain is going to be satisfied as the story unfolds. These characters are so true to who they are. And when you finish it and you go back to episode one, two, three, it’s like these characters were on a collision course from day one.”

Tell Me Your Secrets streams on Amazon Prime