The Woman in the Wall (2023–2024) User Reviews

Intelligent drama/thriller with a powerful theme - recommended

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 8/10 · 27 August 2023]

Set in 2015 this series plays out against the backdrop of the scandal of the Magdalene Nurseries in Ireland finally being exposed, seen through the experience of the protagonist. Ruth Wilson plays against type with a very convincing performance and accent in the lead role.

Its an interesting, moving and intriguing story which is part social history and part psychological and Gothic thriller - for me all the elements worked well together. Production values were excellent, it was well directed and photographed the music by David Holmes and Brian Irvine deserves mention as it added a lot to it and the script by Joe Murtagh (Writer of the beautiful film Calm with Horses) was assured.

All in all loved every episode and Ruth Wilson will surely get a Bafta nomination for best actress for her outstanding work here.

Highly recommended, its a quality piece of work in every department.

Woman in the wall.

[kavanaghann-32074 · 8/10 · 27 August 2023]

Ita so raw, its hard to say I'm enjoying it because I feel thats just not the right frase to use.

Already the storyline is so good, so many good actors, absolutely love Hilda Fay she is so underrated.

When you think of what happened in these laundrys its hard not to get emotional, you can actually feel their pain. Its so embarrassing as a Catholic to watch. I would say things like how was this ever allowed to happen, but basically the Catholic Church had more power than the government!!!.

And still they sit in Rome with zero remorse, whic really says it all.

Happened all over the world to a lot of women.

Irelands dark catholic past

[peterrichboy · 7/10 · 6 September 2023]

I've had the pleasure of visiting Ireland on several occasions. And have always received a warm welcome which is nice considering the past between the two countries. However it seems whenever the BBC make a program in Ireland it's either about Easter rising or the Irish Catholic Church in particular taking of children from women, Who had given birth out of wedlock.

Not only were these children taken away from the mother's, the women themselves would be sent to convent's run by the Catholic Church and nun's who give the gestapo a run for their money.

Ruth Wilson is excellent as always as the mentally disturbed woman who's life it seemed had been destroyed by her time in the convent.

I suppose it's an original twist on ground we have trodden on before.

7/10.

Ruth Wilson.. Do I Need to Say More.?

[destiny_west · 7/10 · 4 September 2023]

If I know a series has Ruth Wilson in it I am going to watch it. I am a big fan of Ruth, she got me absolutely hooked with her role in Luther and then again in her role in The Affair.

She is such a strong, talented actress.

When I saw the trailer for The Woman in the Wall I was immediately intrigued, it felt like it was going to be a series that had something to say, but also a layer of mystery to it.

It definitely has all of that and more. I am enjoying the ride so far and can't wait to continue on with the series. Ruth again is perfect in her role as Lorna Brady, a woman that when pregnant got sent to a convent (laundry) where she with other women/girls were mistreated by the establishment and had her child removed from her care. The trauma of her past has left her all screwed up and on top of that she is a sleepwalker.. Definitely give this series a shot. It is once again British television at its finest.

Exceptional

[nak88 · 10/10 · 11 September 2023]

Not usually one to write reviews but felt I had to. It seems every negative review is because they didn't use exclusively Irish actors. To rate a show 1 star because you don't like the accent and isn't completely up to your liking is pretty petty. The overall rating for this is criminally low. Genuinely one of the best TV shows I've ever seen, if not the best.

The acting, the music, the overall feel, it's absolutely gripping. The performances from the lead actress and actor are 2 of the best I've ever seen.

Can't wait for episodes 5 and 6, just hope it has an ending worthy of the rest of the show.

Gripping, thoughtful, superb writing

[FilmFreakForLife · 30 August 2023]

This thoughtful and compelling drama gripped me from the very start. Superb writing (and it was no surprise to find out this comes from the same writer who wrote the wonderful Calm With Horses). This is a writer to et excited about and I'd love to see more from him instead of the same dull tried and tested writers the BBC and ITV usually lean on. Wonderful characterisation and excellent performances compliment this story, part historical, part thriller and succeeding at both.

My only criticism would be that there is a slight reliance on the 'maternity drives women mad trope' - in this case women whose children were taken by the catholic church's magdalen laundry system. They all seem to be severely damaged and while there is oaf course a truth to this for many, women are inherently resilient and there are plenty who survived these horrors and somehow didn't go mad.

But this is a tiny glitch in an otherwise perfect series which managed to be informative, thrilling and entertaining while treating the subject matter extremely sensitively.

great subject, great actors, disappointing writing

[chris-83359 · 6/10 · 27 September 2023]

This had everything going for it, and bar the very odd "wtf" I was with it right up until the final episode. This is exactly why I never write a review lauding a programme until it is finished. Those gushing after episode 3 were right, it was pretty good at that point but the final episode lost the plot entirely.

Two main problems

a) Why did Aoife climb up the wall, how did she get in to the attic and if she had to smash through a wall to get in to the attic why didnt she smash through the wall which was freshly plastered and still letting light through and was right in front of her?

This made no sense. You wake up behind a makeshift plaster wall, not brick, not even wood and very poorly constructed. It would have fallen in an instant with any pressure from the inside. No, instead she scuttles sideways and climbs two floors of a house using the wooden frames of plaster boarded walls, losing a shoe in the process, just one shoe mind you. She is found dead in the attic. Now I am yet to see a house where you can climb up between the walls and end up in the attic without having to, at some point, break through a floor or a wall. No houses are ever constructed that way. One push or kick and she would have been straight in to Lorna's living room and free to leave. It strikes me they had a plot start and a plot end. "Woman thought to be dead is buried behind living room wall". The next plot point is "Wall is broken down and the person thought to be dead behind wall is gone". So we need those two things to happen. Problem is they had a complete brain fade for the middle bit so just made up something stupid, impossible and ridiculous.

As a late addition to point a) if I was a copper looking for a missing person in a suspects house and there was a freshly plastered section of wall with missing wallpaper that was about human size I would be asking questions about why is there a freshly plastered human sized section of wall right there in front of my eyes? Nope. Never even crossed anybody's mind.

B) sgt. Aidan Massey had already been warned off the case by his superior, he was on enforced leave. Is it plausible that his illegal theft of a mobile phone would be over-looked? Is it plausible that after already harrassing Coyle who was working for and with some very powerful people that he wouldn't have already have had Massey warned off again, that he would have had Massey suspended for harrassment, that he would have had Massey arrested for theft. That any evidence from the phone would be illegal. Are we supposed to believe that a powerful man carrying out illegal work on a mobile phone wouldn't have even had a simple numerical lock on that phone, such that Massey could just trip through the phone list to call the mysterious number of the woman who actually killed the priest in the first place. The real biggie is the lack of lawyer / solicitor. A very expensive one would have been crawling all over Massey after his first confrontation with Coyle.

It's like they had a lot of "A's" and a lot of "C's" as plot points but just didn't have the skill to join them up in a non-ridiculous way.

"Oh we'll just have the copper steal the phone from the man's pocket and it isn't locked".

Have they never heard of "warrants"? You kinda need one. It can take days / weeks to get a warrant to unlock a phone so they just had to make it "not locked".

You can possibly tell I am slightly annoyed with "The Woman in the Wall". It's a fantastic story that deserves to be heard by a wider audience. I just think it deserved a better writer than it got.

Amazing

[stuartvonteese · 10/10 · 8 September 2023]

This is one of the best things I have seen on TV in a long time.

How anybody could give this 1 star is beyond me.......unless of course your idea of entertainment is Love Island and Emmerdale.

Ruth Wilson is beyond fantastic. She gives the most spine chilling performance and should be commended for her skills, ability and brilliance. The story that is told is both heart breaking and spell binding. Sometimes the truth hurts but needs to be told.

Nothing more to be said.......this is a brilliant piece of TV. For some people it may be very hard to watch but if you leave personal feelings aside, there is no question this is quality.

Captivating drama.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 13 October 2023]

After a bout of sleepless nights and mental exhaustion, Lorna Brady wakes up one morning to discover a dead woman in her house, believing she's killed her, she walls her up, and then tries to piece together what happened.

Thought provoking, dramatic and provocative, The Woman in the Wall is yet another cracking drama from The BBC, 2023 has been a fine year for the drama wing of The Beeb, this is among the best of them.

I enjoyed the opening episode, I was a bit mixed by the second and third parts, but from four onwards I was captivated. Parts five and six are truly brilliant.

It goes on a totally unexpected journey, you think it's about one thing, but it moves in an altogether darker, more sinister direction, I did not anticipate the outcome.

Ruth Wilson is magical from start to finish, it's a tremendous performance from the star, she sounds and looks so different, there is nothing she cannot do. The supporting cast are fantastic also, Daryl McCormack is brilliant as Akande, if you get a chance check out a film called The Lesson, in which he appears with Richard E. Grant, he's great in it.

Some stunning location work, it looks amazing too, and I loved that music.

9/10.

Haunting, moving and outstanding drama.

[rchalloner · 10/10 · 26 September 2023]

I could if I were permitted, write a review of this series in two words: Ruth Wilson. Ms Wison is simply exceptional as Lorna Brady giving one of the finest performances I have ever seen in a TV drama. It is hard and emotionally draining to watch at times and that is in large measure because of the superb performances of the whole cast. Incredibly powerful, superbly written and performed, the plot focuses on the suffering of young girls who were cruelly treated in the Laundries and other Catholic institutions, the pain of which continued into adulthood. The series could easily have become an aggressive polemic about the Catholic Church as a whole, but cleverly avoids that, concentrating instead on the victims and their fight for justice against a Church and State desperate to cover up their crimes. Along with a murder investigation and other mysterious events, it is gripping and heartbreaking in turns. Quite simply British drama at its best. A must watch.

A contrived mystery about a terrible truth

[paul2001sw-1 · 5/10 · 4 October 2023]

I recently read Fintain O'Toole's brilliant book 'We Don't Know Ourselves', which among other things tells the story of the Catholic church's pernicious grip on post-war Ireland. An aspect of this tale is told in fictional form in 'The Woman in the Wall', which addresses the way that babies were taken from unmarried young women and sold for money. The truth is horrific; but the drama doesn't quite work. It's focused on a woman who has had her child taken and who in conseqence, is now almost deranged. Her madness provides the mystery in the story (one could say she doesn't know her self), but at other times the plot requires her to be a rational investigator of her own history. It's a shame, as while there's a lot here that's strong, the early episodes in particular feel like they're trying too hard to set something up. It might have been better with a little less mystery.

Happy Valley to Miserable...

[ianharrison747 · 9/10 · 26 September 2023]

For acting skill and chemistry this is the best series since Happy Valley. Ruth Wilson and Daryl McCormack are absolutely top. They've both come a long way since girl assassin in Luther and boy gangster in Peaky Blinder. There isn't a weakness with any of the actors.

The script although like a spiders poisonous web and convoluted eventually clears the smoke and much dust.

Fine camerawork and scenery helps build a creepy tension. No jokes, just deadly dark. The RC Church doesn't come off too well and the local police especially Simon Delaney as Massey eventually redeem themselves. Recycling babies and hiding from Mr Cruelty isn't a happy subject so please take a deep breath. It's not nice but worth patience and concentration.

Life was even harsher then this

[sophiagardens · 10/10 · 15 September 2023]

I'm shocked at some of the reviews and had to write one myself. This has been one of the best series I've seen and it's so far only 4 episodes long. The acting is phenomenal and the story is one that needs to be told for a few generations yet to come, clearly cause people still haven't got the message about how profoundly nauseating this part of Ireland's history was. If you think watching this is dark, can you please imagine the actual horrors that went on. It was ten times worse then what the writers have portrayed, wanted to portrayed. People's ignorance shocks me. This had a deep rooted effect on me. I have Irish ancestry and although I'm not a mother, I would not have even conceived the thought of doing this to any young mother, but it happened, The Magdalene laundry did happen and I'm so pleased someone is doing something to bring justice and give it light. If you think this is to Dark, gothic, and your having a hard time watching this, just think what those poor mothers witnessed the actual truth is sometimes more harrowing.

Absorbing and Disturbing Mystery of a stolen generation

[tm-sheehan · 9/10 · 6 October 2023]

My Review- The Woman in the Wall My Rating. 9/ 10 Will be streaming later this year on Paramount Plus

I was fortunate enough to get a preview of this series from a friend in the U. K.

Mark this one down on your future viewing diary it's such a compelling and disturbing fictional story written and created by British born Joe Murtagh .

And skilfully directed by Harry Wootliff and Rachna Suri .

Principle fuming took place on location in Northern Ireland and also the Republic of Ireland, namely, County Mayo.

Principle starring roles are Ruth Wilson and Daryl McCormack and they both give wonderful performances as Lorna Brady an Irish woman with severe psychological trauma due to the cruel events that occurred at the so called Magdalene laundries also known as Magdalene asylums which were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders of nuns that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries.

I highly recommend an excellent 2002 movie The Magdalene Sisters before watching The Woman in the Wall which for me was like a prequel to The Woman in the Wall .

It starred the wonderful Geraldine McEwan as Sister Bridget and tells the story of three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

The Woman in the Wall is a six-part BBC mystery drama created by Joe Murtagh and Margaret Perry it tells the story of the aftermath of the abuse that occurred in these sweat shops and the trauma and suffering of mothers whose babies were taken away from them at birth.

This was Ireland's stolen generation when babies were sold to foster parents for large so called donations to the Catholic Church.

Many of those mothers including Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson) believed their babies had died and this forms a vital part of the investigation that young Detective Colman Akande played by Daryl McCormack who recently was so impressive in the 2022 movie Good Luck to You, Leo Grande opposite Emma Thompson.

He experiences suspicion and lack of cooperation in his interrogations from the local Garda Police Sargent who wants to keep the village secrets in the village .

In The Woman in the Wall Irish actor Daryl McCormack shows his versatility this time keeping his clothes on in a much more challenging role as his character becomes haunted and revisits his own childhood trauma that also arises from the crimes of The Magdalene Laundry.

This is definitely a mystery not a documentary that picks up pace after an initial slow but dramatic start taking the viewer on a journey that takes many twists and turns.

The mysterious first episode leads to a fascinating case involving The Magdalene Laundry when Lorna Brady who sleep walks wakes up to find an unknown dead woman in her home doubting her innocence becoming the prime suspect in a murder .

If this series was a movie I have no doubt that Ruth Wilson's performance would be considered Oscar worthy.

I hope when The Woman in the Wall does stream in Australia that it streams in its entirety as a week between the 6 episodes does interrupt the tension and mystery of this unique and fascinating story.

Exceptional TV drama

[keith-618 · 10/10 · 5 October 2023]

I'm very loathe to give 10 to a TV drama but I have to make an exception. This is a wonderfully executed piece of television: spot on casting, beautiful nuanced acting from all the cast, great music and above all great writing and direction. Acting of the calibre of Ruth Wilson in this piece is rare to see but also Daryl McMormack's contribution is exceptional. It's a first rate television program and demands to be seen.

I have read other reviews, some only one star. All I can say to anyone reading this is to ignore anything less than a six star. Even if you had gripes about English folk playing Irish or issues about Irish history being trashed by a British TV program you can't miss the quality of the production. It's way, way above average.

Ireland yet again,through British eyes

[martymckeon · 5/10 · 2 September 2023]

Ireland did not look like this less than a decade ago.

The sub Martin McDonagh attempts at black comedy skirt very lose to paddywhackery,which is outdated and whilst meant to provide relief from the grimness of the story actually belittles and demean the true stories that form the basis for this gothic thriller.

Whilst I understand the power of writing a genre piece to draw attention to an horrific and shameful chapter of Irish history to those outside of the Country this tome does not work,at all.

This is no fault of the cast who all acquit themselves well,if a little mannered at times,nor the directors,cinematographers and crew.

The show is beautifully shot,atmospheric and edited to reflect the fractured ature of both the tale and the main protagonists psyche.

It is however misconceived on a base level which,whilst I'm sure was well researched and guided by advisors,still rings of expoitation rather than illumination.

It desperately needed a southern Irish producer or director or even executive to glance across it during production and speak up,even country towns didn't look like the barren Northern Irish location.

Shops did not look like that,petrol stations definitely did not look like that and even a villages Garda station would have had proper computers and flatscreen monitors oh a d email,rather than printing out a cctv image.

Perhaps British television should look at how it views the Irish and address the blind spot they seem to have with their neighbouring ex colony in a similar way in which they have tried to be aware of unconscious racial bias.

The best TV series this year for me.

[Maverick1962 · 10/10 · 25 September 2023]

An Irish tragedy, told as a thriller. The church can be a suspicious place at times and this is one such story. Catholic priests and nuns up to no good, ruining young mother's lives by taking away their babies.

This is the premise of the story about to unfold. As to why, many will already know but for those who do not, I do not give spoilers.

Extremely well written through to the final episode (so many series are let down by the final one), this is a dark, gripping TV film that gets into the hearts of people.

Splendidly acted by the entire cast, I would not be surprised to see this at awards time. I like to discover actors who have not been on my radar before and four stood out for me here. How have I missed Ruth Wilson before who plays Lorna so convincingly, whose baby went missing many years before and she's not even Irish. Others are Irish, Simon Delaney, the local police officer, Daryl McCormack, sent in to oversee the case and Hilda Fay as Amy, another bereft mother.

It is dark, at times gloomy, at times sad and at times uplifting but stick with it and you will be rewarded. A great series.

Must watch T.V.

[efctj · 10/10 · 18 September 2023]

Exceptional series ( 5 episodes in ) Far and away the best series i have seen this year. Thought provoking and dark with superb acting by all. Ruth Wilson gives a quite stunning performance. I would highly recommend this series to prospective viewers. I am sure that come the New Year 'The Woman In The Wall' will be vying for awards on numerous fronts. Only the second time i have actually took the time to write a review here, but felt it was important to express my opinion on this gem of a series. Whilst i accept that taste in viewing is a personal thing, i am still genuinely surprised at the lower ratings on some reviews.

Shocking, emotionally touching, heart breaking and gripping

[andi-56774 · 10/10 · 23 September 2023]

Being a young Irish woman who had a teenage pregnancy- this story really hits home that many many many women in Ireland in my position had the life they had. It breaks my heart and it is so important this story continues to be told. As one of Irelands darkest dirtiest secrets, the BBC drama highlights how the laundries effects so many generations and the wider community.

Mental health has also been recognised as a consequence of trauma.

The woman in the wall is gripping from the off set and Ruth Wilson does an amazing job with her talent portraying Lorna.

Highly recommend. Get the tissues ready.

Definitely worth watching

[denise-882-139023 · 10/10 · 19 September 2023]

Many a drama serial offering these days are a bit lack lustre, but this one has held my attention.

Ruth Wilson's portrayal of a severely traumatised survivor of Ireland's Catholic Church abuses, is very good.

She is not a likeable character, which makes it all the more convincing.

I am usually quite good at knowing the outcome of serial dramas, but this one keeps you on your toes; what is real and what is hallucination.

After episode 4 I think I I may have it worked it out but I am not sure, so I continue to watch.

I am hoping all the threads will come together and we are not left with one of those ridiculous "damp squib" endings so many current dramas seem to have these days.

UPDATE

Just watched the last episode and it delivered. So go on watch it.

Messy, incoherent and dull...

[vnmjdcv · 3/10 · 30 August 2023]

We thought we'd give this "gripping" new bbc drama a go, but like so many of today's offerings, The Woman in the Wall was disappointing.

Wobbly cameras, mumbled dialogue and a narrative that bounces around like a daddy long legs on speed.

Very hard to follow, unconvincing acting and ultimately a group of characters that is hard to care about. Lorna just stares into space most of the time and is abusive to just about everyone else in the story. The bumbling cops and local women are little more than stereotypes

If you want a story about abuse in the Catholic Church try "Spotlight" or "Philomena". Vastly superior in every sense.

A deeply moving masterpiece

[emeraldelfie · 10/10 · 18 September 2023]

This series got a grip on me right from the start . Left me in suspense every week so far! Fantastic acting, brilliantly cast and the music MAKES this show. If there was a way to capture the darkness of religion through sound, this show succeeded.

Introduced me to Ruth Wilson who I hope gets the recognition she deserves for such an impressive performance and I really look forward to her future projects.

Anyone like myself with Irish blood might find this triggering / painful but it's absolutely worth watching . There were moments of typical Irish banter which amused me and made me miss a country I will always feel is a home to me although I wasn't born there.

I would have preferred to binge watch this series because it leaves me on edge after every episode. I have faith the last episode is going to deliver very well.

Highly recommend.

satisfying though imperfect drama

[manschelde-1 · 8/10 · 26 September 2023]

A satisfying though imperfect drama that gets the "big picture" right concerning the Magdalen Laundries/Mother And Baby Homes.

Despte flaws in the scriptwriting, overall it hits the spot for the psychodrama genre.

It depicts how Irish society in those decades was equally complicit with the church , and is just as much to blame for what happened.

It shows that even today there are people in Irish society and positions of power or influence that seek to underplay/deny/cover-up/silence what happened and protect the guilty ones.

Ruth Wilson (executive producer) is excellent as usual, and deserves plaudits. Daryl McCormack did a brilliant job, and Simon Delaney / Hilda Fay gave excellent support roles.

Despite being filmed mostly in Northern Ireland (i.e not in the Republic where the drama is set), the locations and accents are all acceptable, despite occasional goofs.

Some reviewers moan about non-Irish telling of this story, which I dismiss.

RTE sat on its arse for decades and came up with nothing to sell internationally by mining this rich seam of raw material for drama.

So congrats to the BBC/Showtime for somehow making it happen , although funding details are unclear.

Somehow via "Movive Pictures" (who made it) and "Fifth Season" (who funds "Motive Pictures"). "Fifth Season" is owned by "CJ ENM" ( a South Korean company).

The score was perfect. Particularly moving snippet from the late Sinead O'Connor at the ending "I'm everything a woman's not supposed to be/ That's why they took my children off of me..." .

Direction seemed occasionally a bit flabby, when a tighter style might have worked better, but only a minor complaint.

Problems with the script seem to be in these areas: -purpose of the character Michael seems unclear.

• unknown circumstances of Lorna's pregnancy, family, father of Agnes.

• unknown outcome of Aoife's Cassidy's daughter (redundant character?), and Aoife's husband.

• unknown why Lorna thinks Lorna killed Aoife

• unknown why Colman did not find Colman's birth mother.

• unknown outcome of Coyle's fate.

• unknown what Coyle had on Leslie, or how exactly Father Percy died.

Very strong

[simbiat · 9/10 · 27 September 2023]

A story, that makes you doubt a lot of things happening on screen. One may think that's not, good because often you need something believable, this is not the case here, where it is the whole point of the show, or at least its first half.

Lorna Brady suffered a lot as a victim of a "laundry", where she was abused for cheap labor and where her child was taken away. Hers and of hundreds of women like her. What's worse almost no one believes the survivors that the church, where they were living, was a "laundry", that it could be this "evil".

This is still not enough, though, because Lorna has suffered so much, that it broke her mentally, she sleepwalks doing crazy stunts, and people around her keep telling her that she would not be a fit mother anyway. She is utterly devasted and withdrawn. Every moment of the show makes you wonder if she is just insane, even when someone tries to believe her for a moment.

I am not sure how they managed this, but the way actors... Acted, I guess, it felt different from what I am used, too. It never felt like they were acting. It felt so real. My guess would be that it was because of little imperfections: in wardrobe, in movements, in words. It was captivating.

But that's not all. The story is great, too. The way the mysteries unfold is almost like a flower blooming. And it all makes sense, the timings are almost perfect (with the "almost" making everything more believable). Even the ending, while it does provide some satisfaction (and make a heart broken in a good way), it does not magically resolve everything, it's not a "happy end", but it still feels really good.

Highly recommend.

the disbelieving game

[cetaylor3 · 9/10 · 24 February 2024]

I'm so thoroughly in agreement with the accolades here that i probably wouldn't have opted to write something, but I feel a need to respond to one commenter's "a slight reliance on the 'maternity drives women mad trope'"

If I understand the intention behind that comment, I don't think - and didn't feel - that the filmmaker made even a slight reliance on that trope. At the very least, I'd revise that phrasing to 'Catholic corruption (not maternity) drives women mad'** ...

But, as the storyline and Lorna herself articulates explicitly, an even broader message is that 'Being disbelieved drives women mad'.

The long - centuries-long, maybe since forever - history of men raping, abusing, then vilifying women as unworthy mothers or "whores," as exemplified in the series, treating them as baby-producing objects who don't deserve to raise children, and attacking them as hallucinators or otherwise not credible.

The history of women not being believed is a long and literally tortured one. And if any one thing is "driving women mad', I think the film's message would suggest that it's the fact of being unheard and not believed. These women's early life experience was tragic, traumatic, criminally abused, but in their ensuing adulthoods, it was the ongoing dismissiveness by a colluding (actually conspiratorial) male power structure toward their stories, their truths, their rights, their lives that is what 'drives them mad'.

When the last episode ended and i sat discussing these themes with my husband, who is more disgusted and offended by these eternal schemes of men to oppress women, at one point my eyes landed on the binding facing me in the bookshelf: Anita Hill ... Believing -- echoing of one of an infinity of 'plotpoints' through history of women struggling to be believed from Salem witch trials to Joan of Arc to Magdalene laundries to women whistleblowers everywhere (Karen Silkwood to Brooksley Born) to women in the military or in Hollywood or re sex manipulation to women by doctors about physical symptoms. (And imagine if just Anita Hill alone had been believed, what a different nation we would be living in.)

** and, btw, while I don't know the intended definition of "mad" as used by the original commenter that triggered my response here, I continued her choice of "mad" but only to mean 'enraged' (by injustice) and/or devastated, not 'insane': As Lorna noted explicitly and soberly to Colman near the end of ep. 6 when she refuses to claim a "not in right mind" / insanity defense: "I am not mad. I never was."