The new series Love & Death on HBO’s streaming service, Max, starts the first season with the first episode, “The Huntress.” The true crime series takes place in a small town; Wylie, Texas. The episode delves into the true events surrounding the infamous murder in 1980, where Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) brutally killed her friend and neighbor, Betty Gore (Lily Rabe).
The episode first aired in April. The date of the beginning is June 13th, 1980. The first scene shows the family home but leaves a mystery as the camera goes to the bathroom. Blood is shown to be everywhere. After showing the mysterious crime scene, the next scene goes two years earlier.
The major character in this series, Candy, is shown to be a woman who is dedicated to her community, her family, and her faith. Candy is the woman her friends go to when they need advice. Candy is a housewife who cares for her family. Candy wants to be reckless, she wants adventure. She is bored being home all day, every day. She wants something different in her life. She wants to be able to take risks and live happily in those moments. Throughout this episode, it’s obvious Candy is bold and witty.
Another important character is Allan Gore (Jesse Plemmons), Candy’s friend’s husband. He and his wife Betty (Lily Rabe) seem to be having issues within their marriage, along with Betty having infertility complications. He seems to come off as not much of an extrovert.
The two main characters, Candy and Allan are introduced well into the story in this first episode. Their first interaction, just the two of them, which should be paid attention to, is their church club playing a volleyball game. They clash into each other and as Allan helps Candy up off the floor, she smiles as she faces the other way, which leaves us viewers in question as to what she could have been thinking about at that moment.
There’s a scene where Candy and her friend, Sherry (Krysten Ritter) are in a bar. They talk about Allan and Candy hints to her friend that she would be interested in becoming intimate with him. Sherry can’t believe it, but Candy doesn’t say it, but as a viewer, it’s not hard to tell that she’s thinking about it, which leaves her questioning throughout the rest of the episode. Affairs can serve as a means for women to regain a sense of power and autonomy in their lives, which is something that Candy is showing. Candy wants a change, she wants something new and exciting. The affair is a sense of power and control for her.
Often portrayed as the victims rather than active participants, women’s viewpoints on affairs shed light on power dynamics, societal expectations, and personal desires. A woman’s perspective on affairs reveals the complexity of emotions and the double standards she faces, providing a deeper understanding of her experiences within relationships. This is shown throughout the episode. Candy is open about her emotions towards her friends and she shows that she truly knows what she is doing and what risks she’s willing to take.
One thing about this episode as an introduction to the story that is engaging is the setting of the series, the costumes, and the scenery. Looking at everything, it’s easy to tell that this is set in the late 70s, between the theatre showing the classic film, Grease, and the soundtrack of the episode, playing Bee Gees’ hit song “More Than A Woman”.
This episode lacks to explain why Candy must be bored with her relationship. Of course, it can come in the second episode, but with her expression, it would seem that there’d be some more details to show why she feels as though she needs a change in her life. There are scenes shown between the two, where Candy can seem bored and tired with her husband, only having small interactions with each other.
Overall, this episode isn’t that engaging, but it still can leave the viewers wanting more. The episode leaves the viewers wanting more information and leaving room for questions as well. It also leaves a question as to why Candy would choose Allan. What makes him attractive to her? It was interesting to see that Candy and Allan were planning how to have their affair, writing down details, places, dates, and things of that nature. This series is a crime series, but it doesn’t show the crime much in this episode, only a couple of seconds in the beginning. The major part of the story should be shown more within the introduction of the story. It will be interesting to see how this story unravels.
Rating: 7.5/10