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The Flight AttendantandThe Undoingare fundamentally different shows, especially where tone is concerned.
HBOsThe Undoing, on the other hand, is as serious as a frigid January morning.
It is bracing and dramatic, the sort of series you watch with senses on high alert.
Only one of them does this truly well, though.
Hint: Its not the one that stars the villains from the twoPaddingtonfilms.
Within the opening minutes of both of these series, a dead body is discovered.
We know that Elena was brutally beaten, but initially, we dont know for certain by whom.
Once again, it is Cassie, a terribly confused woman, who provides our window into this world.
She cant remember much of the previous night.
ButThe Undoingdoesnt have a complete handle on its identity to the same extent thatThe Flight Attendantdoes.
The series is all propulsive motion.
There isnt a dull or slow moment inThe Flight Attendant.
AsThe Flight Attendantprogresses, it does the kind of revealing character work thatThe Undoingpulls off less consistently.
and turns it into a deeper, more consequential commentary on the heavy baggage children carry into adulthood.
To be fair, plenty of bonkers things happen inThe Flight Attendant, too.
Cassie is constantly doingthings that make no sense at all.
Or break into his apartment?
Or blab about a bunch of the dumb things youve done to the FBI?
The difference is thatThe Flight Attendantowns its nonsensical plot developments.
They are coded into the shows DNA.
It helps that Annie is constantly calling her on those bad decisions.
But whatThe Flight Attendantdoes most right is actually deliver a finale that is surprising.
There are a couple of other twists that blindside in a good way, too.
In other words: I didnt carethatmuch about who killed Alex because I wasnt fixated on that.
There were plenty of other things equally worthy of caring about.
By the last couple of episodes, the HBO drama has insisted that its audience be fixated out whodunit.
