The Outsider - HBO
Sound plays a big part in any TV/movie production, and The Outsider is a perfect example of that. I’ve only finished episode 1, but so far, my favorite thing about the show are the scenes with little to no dialogue. The actors’ body language and the score work well together to convey emotion, and tell the story in a way that’s not needed for many words. For instance, we don’t hear any dialogue until about four minutes into the pilot. A man and his dog are going for a walk. Blood is spotted along their trail. The man eventually stops in his tracks, clearly horrified by what lies before him but is hidden from the audience. When the cops arrive, it just confirms the idea that a terrible crime has been committed. Later, Terry’s wife goes to check on their daughters at 3AM. The music intensifies as one daughter is missing from her bed. It escalates even further as we discover her sitting at the edge of her bed, staring into space. “NO!” she finally screams out, snapping out of a trance and scaring the shit out of both me and her mother alike! That eerie music was enough to make that scene extra suspenseful.
But my favorite no-dialogue scenes involve Mrs. Peterson, who’s son Terry is accused of murdering. First, Detective Ralph and his partner visit Mrs. Peterson’s home. We don’t know who’s home this is initially, or why the cops are there. “I hope this isn’t about those overdue library books,” the woman at the door jokes once she sees the police badges. Ralph and his partner don’t crack a smile. In fact, they don’t respond at all. The shot goes back and forth from Ralph to the woman as we see her smile fade, and watch her put two and two together. The scene cuts to the street, showing neighboring homes, and we hear a loud, painful scream that could only come from a mourning mother. The identity of this woman suddenly clicks, all while words were barely uttered.
Towards the end of the episode, we watch Mrs. Peterson go from cleaning up family dinner to destroying her home in an instant. She repeatedly strikes a bat against the table and breaks dishes, but we don’t hear any of that. We just hear sorrowful music. We understand that this is an act of rage and grief. Mrs. Peterson hurts herself in the act and has to go to the hospital, another silent scene. The doctor emerges to talk to Mr. Peterson and their eldest son. Mr. Peterson walks away upset. Their son hunches over in his seat, puts his head in his hands, and rocks back and forth in a stressed, saddened manner. It’s not clear what happened to Mrs. Peterson. I don’t think she could’ve died from that injury. But again, the emotions conveyed along with the music represent something awful.
That’s all just one aspect of why I think this is going to be a great show. This mindfuck of a storyline is another. The first time we see Terry Maitland, he’s in the kitchen with his wife and kids. He seems like a normal, honest human being. But numerous witnesses, camera footage, and even DNA all place him at the scene of the crime. At first I thought Terry was bipolar. How could he have no memory of committing murder when there’s so much evidence against him? But further evidence showed that Terry had an alibi. He couldn’t have been in two places at once. Does he have an evil twin brother? Either that, or someone went to EXTREME lengths to frame him. I’m just as confused as Detective Ralph, but I’m curious to see where this story goes. I’m also excited that it’s Jason Bateman taking us along for the ride. From Juno, to Horrible Bosses to Zooptopia to Ozark, I love majority of Jason Bateman’s work. I thought it was cool to see that he’s a producer on this show, in addition to starring in it. Also, HBO rarely disappoints with their original series. So episode 2, here I come!
