PATRICK MELROSE: Do Approach With Caution!

Before I started writing this text, I read quite a few reviews of Patrick Melrose, all of which said essentially the same thing: a troubled main character, an alcoholic, a drug addict, childhood trauma, a fantastic Benedict Cumberbatch, excellent Hugo Weaving, and outstanding Jennifer Jason Leigh. A must-watch. And that is indeed the case… Except that no one pointed out the flaws of this production. But let’s start from the beginning.

In the first episode, Patrick Melrose learns that his father has died. He nearly falls over, but not from shock, grief, or sorrow – his syringe full of heroin has fallen. When he regains some composure, he travels to New York to retrieve his father’s ashes. However, the series isn’t about trauma caused by the loss of a parent, but about childhood trauma. Patrick deeply hates his parents – and it’s hard to blame him. His father was cruel and humiliated him at every opportunity, while his mother turned a blind eye. Patrick tries to come to terms with it, make peace with the past, and lead a normal life – with mixed results.

In several interviews, Benedict Cumberbatch said that his dream was to play Hamlet and Patrick Melrose. He played Hamlet, so Melrose was left – and while neither his performance nor the production of Hamlet was particularly impressive (I strongly recommend watching Frankenstein instead), in Patrick Melrose he truly showcased his abilities. It’s clear he felt comfortable in the role and gave it his all – it’s worth watching the series for his performance alone, as he’s never been this good before.

But it’s a very uneven series. The first episode shows Patrick’s trip to New York; the second is entirely dedicated to young Patrick as a child – scenes set in the present can be counted on one hand (there are probably three or four brief flashes, each about ten seconds long). I understand the desire to show the past and what shaped the protagonist, but the story also needs balance. If the flashbacks were distributed evenly between both episodes (or even better, across all five), it would be much more enjoyable to watch. As it stands, one episode is engaging, while the other is unbearably boring. Not only is some of the material repetitive, but also very little happens – the father stares tensely at the son, the son stares tensely at the father… and so on for five minutes.

The acting may be excellent, but trust me, after half an hour of such an episode, anyone would be fed up.

Although the main character has just lost his father, the first episode is a dark, absurd comedy with dramatic elements… And the remaining four are psychological dramas with touches of dark humor. Where is the balance? Couldn’t this have been more even? It’s not that I prefer productions confined strictly to one genre – few are – but I like when they’re consistent in tone, and that’s what I found lacking here.

I haven’t read the novels the series is based on, but I get the impression that the screenwriter assumed everyone was already familiar with the story.

As a result, they cut out what, for example, I found missing. There’s no account of how Patrick tries to quit drugs and alcohol, what steps he takes, there’s no story about his relationship with Mary, who surely must have known the consequences of getting involved with an addict. These elements do appear, but we only learn about them after the fact, from hints. That could’ve made up another episode that would fill in the gaps in Patrick Melrose’s biography.

If you make it through the second episode, the rest of the series is actually quite watchable.

If you take away what didn’t work and what was missing, what’s left is a poignant story of a man trying with his last strength not to fall apart, trying not to repeat his parents’ mistakes, trying to work through a tremendous trauma. The addiction to drugs and alcohol doesn’t help, though it’s portrayed quite elegantly (which I consider a plus). Even though Patrick Melrose isn’t particularly likable, it’s easy to start rooting for him.

It’s hard for me to wholeheartedly recommend this series, because I see some shortcomings that really annoyed me, but I also can’t fully dismiss it.

I’ll leave the final judgment to you – if you like this kind of story, Patrick Melrose will appeal to you, but everyone else should approach with some caution.