Marriage

Marriage sees married couple Ian and Emma negotiate the ups and downs of their 30-year marriage. We see them dealing with the insecurities, the ambiguities, the hopes and the fears that are part of all marriages, as the drama explores the risks and the gifts of a long-term intimate relationship.

I will give any production a try that features Nicola Walker. Not just because I enjoy her work but also because she doesn’t choose just anything to lend her talents too. This is an odd mini-series. I kept thinking one character or another would just lose it; in a way they all seem to be harboring strong emotion inside and were letting it build up. There were a few occasions of minor temper explosions, but no real showdowns, opportunity for the viewer to feel a sort of catharsis or emotional response to melodramatic scenes on the screen. I expect younger viewers thought this was boring, watching two people bicker about the smallest things. Some of them seemed almost silly to me also, but after being married over 40 years, I recognize that we bicker in a similar way. Sometimes it isn’t about the small complaint being raised, but rather the tone of how things are said and how they are received. A simple observation can be taken as a critique, a joke as a subtle insult. I will say I was less than impressed with the seemingly nonsensical chants they used here and there, such as at the end of each episode. It reminded me of a Greek chorus, but the Greek chorus’s chants always relate to what is going on while the directional phrases (“to the left, down the middle, to the right,” and on and on) by the room Roomful of Teeth seemed to add nothing to the production except maybe “Look at us, we are building deeper meaning into this piece. Except it isn’t deep at all. I was worried that they would settle nothing during the four episodes but rather leave everything unresolved like an Independent film, and they nearly did. But their daughter achieved some growth in her situation and character trajectory, and Emma’s boss had to face up to some of his actions. I won’t watch Marriage again, but O don’t regret taking the time to watch it.