The Undoing Exposes the Power of Narcissism
By: Maddie Mcguire
Tags: TV Series, Review, Narcissism, Celebrity, Pop Culture

****Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead. Many plot points of the HBO miniseries ‘The Undoing’ will be discussed. Watch the series and come join us here after!

I binged the crap out of The Undoing, a new HBO limited series from famed writer David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal).

It was a much needed palette cleanser from cheeky Christmas movies. Where a mid-20’s marketing exec struggles to find a suitable date their wasp-y family will accept.

Or bitter tweens help santa re-instill Christmas spirit in all humanity, while they discover the true meaning of Christmas. (I’ll admit… Christmas music is blasting as I write this.)

The pilot episode of ‘The Undoing’ left me with a pounding heart, sweaty palms and staring wide eyed at my TV begging for more.

Guess my plan of “putting on an episode to wind down and start falling asleep…” didn’t pan out.

I devoured the entire series and messaged a few equally obsessed friends to discuss and divulge our opinions.

To my surprise, they flooded my phone with texts repeating, “I hated the ending… I HATED that Jonathan (played by Hugh Grant) was the killer. It’s always the adulterous husband accused of killing his mistress. I wanted MORE suspense and. MORE mystery who the murderer was, etc;”

My opinion was exactly the opposite.

I loved that charismatic, handsome Jonathan, who cures children of cancer and always has a witty retort at the ready, was the killer.

Jonathan, husband to gorgeous and intelligent psychotherapist Grace (played by the goddess, Nicole Kidman), who showers her with adoration and love, was a murderer.

Jonathan, who gladly donned the title of the ‘perfect father’, could take someone’s life.

I loved that he got exposed; I loved that he believed his own innocence and still got taken down in dramatic fashion. I love that before a jury was to reveal his sentencing, he kidnapped his son and still felt entitled to them having a “last meal” together. Even though a few hours prior he attempted to plant the idea of his son being his mistress’s killer.

My friends craved a twist. They wanted the murderer to be someone totally out of left field; they wanted to be shocked. They thought it was so obvious that Jonathan was the killer.

It was so obvious that Jonathan was the killer.

I loved that right up front the show’s creators were like, “It’s him… we will give you all the facts to make it pretty damn obvious that it’s him…. And then we’re going to make you question if it’s him… even though it’s right in front of your face.”

One screenwriter I know stated, “The twist wasn’t that he was the killer, the twist was that he was a narcissist and a sociopath.”

Yes. Bingo. She hit the bullseye of how I was feeling…

The twist was that her husband was a sociopath and a narcissist.

Despite being a professional therapist, Grace didn’t see it. She wasn’t able to diagnose the love of her life, whom she shared everything with and adored.

My first love was a narcissist. He was my first committed relationship.

I won’t call him a sociopath, because I don’t know that to be true.

My friend and I had both been in the toxic “push/pull” relationship that many narcissists love to create. Whether they’re pushing you away, or pulling you in, is up to them. Regardless, they hold all the power.

Narcissism is an incredibly powerful personality disorder.

I empathize with Grace. I was in deep pain when I had to address my relationship and the person I was choosing to be with… and I wasn’t married or had a child to care for. I also don’t have a professional degree, allowing me to diagnose others with disorders.

Narcissists are master manipulators.

They are monsters in disguise, lurking in your home and trying to control your heart.