Episode Guide
Star-crossed Lovers and Things Like That – 4/5 Turtle – 3.5/5 Never Have I Ever – 3/5 Can’t Fight This Feeling – 4/5 Talking is Healing – 4/5 Teenage Dirtbag – 3/5 Blank Spaces – 2.5/5
The Girl from Plainville is the latest adaptation of the Michelle Carter case, which saw the 18-year-old from Plainville, Massachusetts, charged with involuntary manslaughter after she was found guilty of sending Conrad Roy III a series of texts urging him to take his own life. ..
Elle Fanning stars in the Hulu original adaptation of the true story of Michelle Carter’s relationship with Conrad Roy and his subsequent death. The 8-episode drama miniseries uses actual texts between the teenagers to piece together what may have happened between them, and why Michelle would have coerced her boyfriend into committing suicide. ..
The Girl from Plainville is more concerned with setting up the case against its subject than glamorizing her motivations. Michelle Carter’s story is anything but a romance. The Romeo and Juliet story in Michelle’s mind, in fact, does not play out as such on the screen at all. ..
Michelle is not a villain. The Girl from Plainville is a story that unfolds over time, with the focus on the motivations of its protagonist. The story does not shy away from revealing information that could incriminate Michelle, but it does so in a way that makes sense within the context of the story.
The deliberate obfuscation of Michelle’s mental health contributes to the drama’s intentional portrayal of her as both manipulative and unwell. The pieces of the puzzle have more than one solution, and they can perhaps both be true at once. One: a picture of lonely, depressed, anxiety-ridden Michelle. The other: a cold, calculated attention-seeker.
Elle Fanning is absolutely striking in one scene where she sings along to an episode of Glee. Channeling Rachel Berry after the passing of her boyfriend Finn, Michelle looks at herself intently in the mirror. Singing “Make You Feel My Love,” she forces herself to cry in an absolutely chilling imitation of the Glee character. The scene is a prime example of how The Girl from Plainville’s depiction of Michelle ties her unlikability into her mental illness. It makes her complicit in Conrad’s death but never totally devoid of sympathy. Ultimately, her motivations are up to the audience’s interpretations. The drama walks the fine line between humanizing and glorifying the convicted criminal. ..
In a way, mental illness acts as the main culprit of the series–although not in a manner that erodes Michelle’s culpability, nor in one that blames Conrad’s death on his own anxieties. The show finds a purpose (other than in–let’s face it–the cash grab that typically motivates sensationalizing true-crime stories) in shining a light on the prevalence of mental health struggles in teenagers, as well as the struggle of parents who don’t know how to help in spite of desperately wanting to.
The Girl from Plainville tells the story of a young girl who is struggling with depression, anxiety, and likely some other unknown factors. The story provides a wider scope than just a guilty-or-not-guilty plot line, and that approach saves its otherwise blandly straightforward story.
The Girl from Plainville is a limited series that has potential but falls short in terms of adapting its story to a full-length series. The show has heart-stopping performances from Elle Fanning, but it doesn’t offer much beyond the already accessible information on the case. If anything, watch the series for its real and complex portrayal of mental health struggles—and Fanning, of course.
