"Scarpetta" Season 1 - Review

“Is it a second chance, or am I just looking to mess myself up again? ” 

Written by Mariane Tremblay

For those who might not know who Dr. Kay Scarpetta is, she’s been the protagonist of Patricia Cornwell’s series of crime novels, inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro, MD, for the past 36 years. And she’s finally making her first appearance on our screens after more than 30 years of development!

For almost four decades, Cornwell has been giving us some of the best crime novels, each one more detailed than the previous one. Having worked in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia for years and volunteered for the Richmond Police Department, it’s clear she knows what she’s talking about, and you can sense it when reading her novels. 

"As far as forensic storytelling, it wasn't happening back then, because behavioral sciences were just being learned about in the seventies. The books just had an incredible amount of information, and back then, people didn't have CSI on every day,” showrunner Liz Sarnoff said. 

Scarpetta spans two timelines: 1998 and 2026, adapting Postmortem, in which Dr. Scarpetta is appointed the first woman Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, and Autopsy, in which she returns to the job two decades later because she didn’t like the way she left things the last time around. In both timelines, all our main characters are there: Kay (Nicole Kidman, Rosy McEwen), Pete Marino (Bobby & Jake Cannavale), Dorothy Scarpetta (Jamie Lee Curtis, Amanda Righetti), Lucy Farinelli-Watson (Ariana DeBose, Savannah Lumar), and Benton Wesley (Simon Baker, Hunter Parrish).

In 1998, Scarpetta (McEwen) and Marino (J. Cannavale) are working together to find a serial killer who’s been targeting and killing women, who are living alone, every other Friday night. While having her niece, Lucy (Lumar), at home, she must deal with the pressure she’s under at work and her messy family life back at home. In 2026, Scarpetta is back in Virginia with her husband Benton Wesley (Baker), and now is living with her sister, Dorothy (Curtis), Marino (B. Cannavale), who’s now married to her sister, and her niece. A couple of weeks back on the job, a new killer strikes again, but this case, and her first case… There are too many commonalities for them not to be connected.

It must be a daunting task to adapt such a well-known and beloved novel series, but showrunner Liz Sarnoff did an excellent job, and knowing how much those books mean to her, you can sense it in every episode. Although some parts have been twisted, shortened, or removed for the screen, Scarpetta remains a fairly faithful adaptation of both novels (Cornwell was even involved in the creation of the series to ensure they got everything right), so precise that some lines from the novels appear almost word-for-word in the series' script. And that’s something I’m sure the fans of the novels will much appreciate. Sarnoff succeeded in connecting both novels in such a clever way that you could easily believe the novels were written that way. 

Splitting the storyline into two different timelines is a very interesting approach, and I’m glad Sarnoff went in that direction because it allows viewers, in a way, to spend more time with the characters, to get to know them even more, how they evolved through the years, etc. And who wouldn't love more than one murder mystery?

It’s also what caught Cornwell’s attention: “Liz found a way to bridge Postmortem with Autopsy, which occurs some 20 years later. And it really works. I'm just happy that somebody finally figured out the algorithm." And as mentioned by Sarnoff, in addition to being a great murder mystery, Postmortem is a perfect introduction to Scarpetta (and if you’ve read the novel, you know just how great it is). "Autopsy is the first book where the characters are a little older. They had all evolved a bit at that point. They were also living in the house together. Having them under one roof, trying to not to drive each other crazy, was so helpful for a first season. It also connects the two books in a way that makes the characters relate to each other and speak to each other, to help the audience adjust to the two-timeline storytelling," Sarnoff added. 

Although nothing is perfect, some elements felt a little forced, some storylines could’ve benefited from a bit more suspense, one particular erasure made me raise an eyebrow, and some stylistic choices made me question why they were made in the first place. But all in all, it will keep the audience on the edge for eight episodes, each one peeling away another layer of mystery. 

Out of eight episodes, five of them are focused on our main characters, each of them being about a different character, giving us more details about their backstories and who they are, which is very interesting for the viewers, because Scarpetta is not only about gruesome murders and investigations; there’s a lot of messy relationships to explore, and a chaotic family dynamic that’s also at the center of it. And that’s actually what makes this series even more compelling.

The cast is incredible, and the chemistry between them all is even better. Every actor from now and then plays their part almost seamlessly, but there’s something incredibly special about Rosy McEwen/Nicole Kidman and Bobby/Jake Cannavale. 

McEwen and Kidman both play Kay so seamlessly that you actually forget they’re two different people. Not only does McEwen look like the perfect young version of Kidman, but it’s also in her mannerisms. There were moments when she was on screen, the only thing I could think about was how much she moved and looked like Kidman. In an interview with Variety, Kidman said that both of them worked with the same coach and the same medical examiner, who was present on set the whole time, so they could rely on the same sources to build the character's foundation. They also had the opportunity to spend time together, without writers or directors, just the two of them sitting down on the floor of a rented house, which, as she said, was invaluable. And all that work is showing on screen, because they both play the part perfectly.

Father and son also playing Pete Marino now and then was also a very nice touch, because not only do Bobby and Jake look a lot alike, but the fact that they actually know each other in real life, spent endless time together, means that they both know each other's mannerisms, which translates onscreen as well. "Our senses of humor are so aligned, and that helped when our characters reacted to certain things Kay said to us. The character of Pete has a short temper. But I really let Jake do his own work because it's a younger version of the character. By the time we meet Pete, all these years later, he's evolved into an older man. The young, reactive, and excitable person that Jake gets to play came very naturally to him," Bobby Cannavale said. 

If you love crime dramas, or if you're a fan of Cornwell's novels, you'll have a good time watching this one. So, turn off the lights and immerse yourself in the world of Scarpetta, available on Prime Video starting March 11. Season two is already on its way, and I can't wait to see where Sarnoff will be taking us!

Photo courtesy of Amazon Prime Video