Ten-part mini episodes about a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. We follow Louise and Tom, a couple who meet in a pub every week before their marital therapy session. We see what drew this couple together, what their lives together has been like and we see what has been pulling them apart.
State of Union is a new BBC series starring Rosamund Pike who plays Louise and Chris O'Dowd playing Tom. This show is also written by Nick Hornby and directed by Stephen Frears. We see how much this couple’s marriage has altered after being together for 15 years and having two children. Each episode is just 10 minutes long, we see this couple meet at the same pub before every session and drink the same drinks - a dry white wine for Louise and a pint of London Pride for Tom.
Tom is charming but emotionally closed, he is struggling to come to terms with his wife's affair. O'Dowd does a brilliant job in playing this character. As an audience we feel bad for Tom as he didn’t think anything was wrong with his marriage yet it almost destroyed him when he discovered Louise had an affair. Unsure how to react or respond, Tom struggles at the start of this series to open up about how he feels. We see the real effect of this affair on Tom, it isn’t straight forward. Things go downhill one we reach half-way through the series and we aren’t sure if Tom can ever get through this blip in his what he though was a perfect relationship and marriage.
On the other hand, our other main character is Louise. She is a disheartened wife who had everything but was bored. Tom and Louise's sex life was non-existent and Louise got bored therefore she went and found something that excited her. However, Louise regrets what she has done and wants to work really hard to make things right again. Louise is played by Rosamund Pike who does a great job in portraying this wife who is fighting for the marriage she almost destroyed. She is troubled by her own actions which we believe she regrets; she has to prove herself that she can be trusted again. It is difficult to understand at times why Louise did what she did yet she is the one who is trying the hardest to make this marriage work again.
The cast is only O'Dowd and Pike with a few special appearances in a few episodes. With such a small cast our focus is just on this couple trying to work on their marriage. This show isn’t laugh-out funny but it does have humorous moments which will make you chuckle. We watch this couple struggle to talk to each other about the issues they are trying to deal with yet we find them more distracted by another couple's leaving the therapist's house. Moments of distraction caused by the couples leaving the therapist's house are the moments of relief and added humour we, as viewers need, from the seriousness of the failing marriage.
Also, what this show does is brilliantly show the pros and cons of marriage, as once you have been together for so long there is familiarity with yourself and your partner which can cause issues. We see the struggle when there are differences which can be reconcilable and irreconcilable in any relationship. When you have been in a relationship for a certain period of time there becomes a comfort and weariness that the stability of that relationship brings. We get to see Tom and Louise go through these issues which is engaging to watch. Along with being engaging, viewers can find it relatable as other couples have most likely gone through the same issues Tom and Louise are dealing with. Over the series and in each episode, we learn more about the troubles in this relationship and it is more complex than we may first realise. As a result, viewers may find themselves siding with either Tom or Louise in one episode then in the next it may be the other way around.
These short episodes ensure that as viewers we pay full attention to what is being said and we can appreciate the details that have gone into the script. This couple is going over the same things over and over yet in different ways, whether it’s going over going over the crisis points such as the affair or attacking each other of earlier interruptions, however they never bore us.
This is a very simple show yet delivers so much. We watch Tom and Louise fight for their marriage. This is a show and a relationship which everyone is some way can relate to. Brilliant writing with amazing direction and fantastic acting has made a memorable show. It may only have short episodes yet these episodes are intense and we go on a journey with these two characters. The setup is simple as we are always in the same pub every episode and watch the same couple talk about almost the same things and some new things and then walk over to the therapist house in each episode. Yet there is something interesting when you watch this show as you want to know if this couple can make it through this rough patch in their relationship and marriage.
