The third and final season of the superior family drama wends its way to its conclusion with a number of unexpected melodramas along the way. The result is a surprisingly uneven and unsatisfying end to what had been an outstanding BBC drama.
No spoilers but the bedrock of The Split, Hannah (Nicola Walker), continues with her uncertainties regarding her marriage. It’s even more complicated now that Nathan (Stephen Mangan), who walked out of the family home at the end of series two, has met someone else – child psychologist and author, Kate (Lara Pulver). But a marriage of 20 years and three children where intense love remains is no easy thing to simply sever. Both have their doubts. Writer Abi Morgan continues to do total, believable justice to the intensities of their relationship and the impact it has on those around them with its ebb and flow of emotions.
It’s the melodramas around them that unsettle the narrative of the drama of season three. Too much unfolding dilutes its grasp, resulting in a spiralling miserablism within the family until the Chekhovian acceptance in the final few minutes of the lot fate had delivered the Defoe family of mother and three sisters.
An unexpected death, fraud, deceit, euthanasia, doubts, adoption, temptation all worm their way into the south west London homes and city offices of the legal practice (plus a glimpse of New York and Christian’s – Barry Atsma – new location). And it deflects. Previous seasons have, admittedly, interwoven separate and connected narratives as client dramas reflect the ongoing Dante home sagas. But they complemented. Series three simply takes on too much – mom and the sisters get their stories, with Nina’s (Annabel Scholey) office romance, quite bluntly, ridiculous. In acknowledging a further eight episodes of scenes from a marriage would have worn patience thin, confidence in the singular narrative is seemingly lacking with writer Morgan packing in individual stories of the family members and others to add substance. Boss Zander (Chukwudi Iwuji) gets a sister with even Hannah’s nemesis, Melanie Aickman (Anna Chancellor), receiving a back story.
Yet, whilst there are some serious criticisms of choices made in plot development, the script from Abi Morgan excels and the fate of Hannah and Nathan and the intricacies of their relationship ensure that The Split remains an engrossing family drama.
Rating: 72%
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