Mistresses UK (the original BBC version) is one of my favourite TV shows. I have seen it so many times, it is that good. So when I heard that there was going to be a US version, I was so excited and I have been waiting for it to air for ages.
Sadly this version is such a let-down. One of the best things about the original BBC version was the chemistry between the actors; not just between the lovers but also between the friends and especially between Siobhan (now called Savi in the US version) and Dominic vs. Hari (now called Harry). The actors that play the parts in the US version are great individually but there is just no spark between them. In the UK version, the sexual tension within the law firm was built up to the level that it became so palpable, you actually began rooting for Siobhan and Dom (even though they were cheating). Here however, it just came about - garter...slap bang! and we are left wondering what the?!?
The same goes for the relationship between Dr Karen and Sam, her dead lovers son. In the UK version it was very well and richly drawn out with a lot of real emotional angst...from the funeral to the son becoming so obsessed about his dad having an affair before he died, to his search for his dad's 'mistress' and the mystery surrounding his dad's death while at the same time falling in love with Karen who against all odds (and moral conscience) falls right back in love with him. It was presented as being morally questionable (so, no, the show does not glorify infidelity as reviewers above seem to indicate, but shows how easy it is to fall for the wrong person and the real consequences of such a lack or lapse of self control) but it was done in a way that it was both sympathetic and believable. Not so with the US version where everything just looks shoddy and badly written.
In Mistresses US, Dr Karen and Sam are totally mismatched and their acting is horribly wooden, uncomfortable to watch and just plain weird.
But by far the worst offender is the character Joss, who, in the UK version was this well spoken, well dressed, beautiful, sexually liberated free spirit (latterly turned lesbian) and was a friend of the gals. In Mistresses US, she has become Savi's sister (why sister - total mismatch?) who dresses like a tramp and this breaks up what was already a strained dynamic (by that I mean that the 3 'friends' in Mistresses US do not seem to 'gel' at all...their relationship seems forced, like they are 3 acquaintances who meet up once in a while rather than what was 4 inseparable best mates in Mistresses UK). Also, the whole lesbian affair storyline here was just damp and spark-less...in the UK version it was meaningful, painful and believable rather than some sort of experiment that went wrong. Maybe there is more to come in the future about this.
There is nothing redeemable about Mistresses US. I have just finished episode 6 and I really don't know if it is worth continuing. Rochelle and Alyssa are great, but they've been let down by the script. Maybe if I had never seen (and seen again and then again) our version (UK) I would have taken to this but...I really don't know why they changed so much of it. It was already a masterpiece. If you haven't already seen the UK version, please do so, maybe even concurrently.
