The Wine-Drinking Woman Watching from the Window Club
Kristen Bell’s 8-part Netflix series, “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window,” has viewers cozying with popcorn, maybe sharing the bowl with the kids, parents, and the family dog, all looking forward to a good old-fashioned whodunnit about a miserable, lonely woman who thinks she sees a murder from her window. The lengthy title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to movies like “The Woman in the Window” and “The Girl on the Train,” where troubled women, usually with drinking problems and sad backstories, witness a shocking crime – or do they? They try convincing skeptical friends, police, and therapists who don’t believe their crazy tale, so they play detective to unravel the mystery themselves.
Didn’t See That Coming
This series is a satiric comedy, and Bell skillfully deadpans her way through in the role of Anna, as if it were more of a straightforward mystery. That’s all very well, as it heightens the tension, and comedy or not, makes us want to know if the handsome suspect across the way is a killer or not. We follow along as the pill and wine mixing serial casserole baker one day spies the maybe-murder that puts her into Nancy Drew mode. What we don’t see coming are explicit scenes of Anna and another good-looking male character named Rex. Throw the throw over the kids’ heads! Anna and Rex steam up the screen in explicit nude scenes where they give in to their passion throughout Anna’s house, including the stairway, shower, kitchen counter – nowhere is off-limits.
What Do You Expect? It’s Netflix!
Netflix has its share of steamy programming. Just look at sexy period phenomenon “Bridgerton,” raunchy reality show “Too Hot to Handle,” spicy relationship anthology “Easy,” and torrid Mexican thriller “Dark Desire.” Netflix isn’t a platform to shy from scorching plotlines and writhing bodies. Yet people were surprised by the graphic sex in Bell’s show and put their shock and awe on social media. Some, of course, were fine with the scenes, even praising them as hilarious or titillating. Others watching with mom or the kids would’ve appreciated a heads up about the not-so-family-friendly parts. Bell responded to one gasper with a cheeky Twitter post: “Hahahahaha sorry dude!” She could’ve added, “It’s Netflix – what did you expect?!”
