Absorbing start with some obvious problems

laideebyrd

So far thirteen has been an absorbing, intense drama about the victim of abduction and incarceration who escapes thirteen years after she was first taken. Though the mystery about what exactly happened during those thirteen years is enthralling there are some obvious problems with how the writer has approached the material. For a start, as other reviewers have stated, there is a hugely unrealistic hostility from many of the police towards the victim - they seem to have no awareness of the natural sense of dependency on their abductor a victim (particularly a child) of long term abduction would feel and appear to suspect her of complicity simply because she may have adjusted to this life in some way. There are constant insinuations of guilt on her part by the main female police officer which are echoed throughout by the many others who deal with her (including, weirdly, a psychologist). This includes almost total disbelief and suspicion that she once left the house with her abductor, after years of being held captive, and fails to make an attempt at escape. This despite the fact that this is common behaviour for victims in such a situation which any police force would be more than aware of. The one policeman who believes her is accused of being unprofessionally emotional. Treating a long term abductee who was a child at the point of kidnap - whether they had a relationship with the perpetrator or not - as a suspect from the moment they reappear is odd to say the least. Either the police are meant to be hugely untrained idiots, sadists or the realism of the series has been skewed to stoke up the mystery at the heart of the drama. So far it seems to be the latter. The torment of the main character seems to serve to ramp up the tension, while the suggestion that she is somehow to blame is designed to create a did she/didn't she mystery to keep us tuning in. All of this is really unnecessary as the mere fact of Ivy's disappearance for thirteen years and the gradual unfolding of what happened to her plus her disorientation and sense of grief (& her families) at returning home only to find everything changed is more than enough to create great drama. So a really fascinating drama with a great lead performance and supporting cast - but the factual errors re police procedure and understanding of kidnap victims is a nagging annoyance that, if left to grow, could become a major problem within the drama.

score 7/10

laideebyrd 20 March 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3434844/