Review: Apple TV's 'Imperfect Women' offers a guessing game from start to finish

Imperfect Women is a new limited psychological thriller series on Apple TV, starring Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, and Kate Mara. The show follows the familiar tropes of a murder mystery in a lot of ways, methodically picking apart that what happens between friends doesn’t always stay between friends.

But during a critical scene of the show, one of the characters asks another one if they’re okay, and the person can only emphatically answer, “I don’t know, I don’t know.” That’s an apt summation of how this show might leave you feeling, not knowing exactly how you feel about what happened and the situations the characters found themselves in. Although the plot may be resolved by the end, nothing is clean cut when it’s all said and done. Spoiler-free, here’s why you might want to add this series to your watch list.

The imperfect women and men

Imperfect Women has a loaded cast, but it’s really about the three leading women. Each of them is telling the same story from their own perspective. At first, it's Washington’s character who gets the narrative point of view. It’s a straightforward and familiar line of storytelling, but compelling enough to keep you watching through the first few episodes.

I was hooked enough to keep proceeding, but the change in perspective does feel a bit disjointed here as it moves to Mara’s character. The show hinges on this shifting perspective somewhat, but never to a fault.

Thankfully, the show does spend a good amount of time on Moss’ character, because of all the leading ladies, she’s the one who widens her emotional range the most as the show progresses. She ultimately puts up the most memorable performance. Both Washington and Mara show great skill in their roles, but it's Moss who stands out the most with her on-screen presence.

Joel Kinnaman is probably the more recognizable male face on the show from his leading role for five seasons in Apple TV’s For All Mankind. He does an admirable job of playing the rich husband with drinking and wealthy family problems, but it's Corey Stoll who steals the show, along with Moss. The scenes with the two of them paired give some of the best performances of the series.

I’d be remiss not to mention Leslie Odom Jr., who is great here, just like in everything, but he doesn’t get the on-screen time I would have hoped.

Is Imperfect Women worth watching?

Imperfect Women doesn’t break new ground as a TV series, but it doesn’t need to. In its limited-run capacity, it hits enough highs to be effective. Its story arc is strong enough to support these eight episodes, but it would be a stretch for another season.

Within its murder mystery trope, Imperfect Women mostly stays fresh. The whodunit of it all should keep most people hooked the whole time, while other avenues of emotional exploration will keep the others engaged.

I appreciated that there were no cheap tricks. There aren’t sudden character introductions at the last minute or implausible scenarios that hand-wave a tight wrap-up. I wish there had been a few more beats for the show to exhale deeper at the end, with a little more extended conclusion. But that just means you’ll likely be mulling things over even after it’s done.

If a show that opens with a murder and spends its duration weaving through the clues is your cup of tea, then Imperfect Women is a must-watch. But even if you don’t gravitate towards that type of show, it doesn’t drag and is easy to get through if your partner wants to watch it.