The First Lady, Ep. 1 - 'That White House'
Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 1:04PM by Eric Blume
Showtime's limited series The First Lady kicked off its premiere episode last week. It's a bit of a mixed bag out of the gate. The episode consists of several 10-minute-ish scenes covering each of our protagonists: Michelle Obama (Viola Davis); Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer); and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson). A ticker on the bottom of the screen whisks us backward and forward between these women whose stories are about forty years apart from each other.
There's not a great deal of grace in this back-and-forth execution, feeding us small glimpses of each lady in semi-satisfying increments that don't seem to have a meaningful connection between them outside of generic "I'm my own person" theme. It's probably easiest to tackle these three stories independently, because episode one doesn't give us much of a linking thread or powerful throughline yet, and because there are pleasures to be had within the confines of this awkward setup...
Michelle/Viola: it's unenviable to have to portray living people, particularly ones as iconic as the Obamas, and Viola and her counterpart O-T Fagbenle are hit-and-miss from moment to moment. What they do accomplish is an honest and earned familiarity with each other, capturing the humor that the couple always seemed to share together from the outside and bringing it into their scenes with lived-in believability. They're fun to watch together, and Fagbenle finds Barack's vocal rhythms and disarming likeability with ease. Viola, to put it kindly, isn't there yet in episode one: she seems self-conscious in the more dialogue-heavy scenes. Her nicest moment is up top, when she has her White House tour with Laura Bush: this is where Viola's strengths as an actress kick in, that ability to judge when to use stillness and subtlety to let us know exactly what Michelle is thinking. But in this first outing, she's playing some canonized version of Michelle Obama. It's an abstract idea of a powerful woman, missing Michelle's casual warmth. But Viola has fallen into this trap before, playing dignity and signifying intelligence instead of playing objectives and subtext (see Ma Rainey and Fences...sorry not sorry, folks).
Betty/Michelle: Pfeiffer is far and away MVP of the trio, perfectly capturing Betty's privilege while slowly revealing other layers of compromise, bitterness, and regret. It's interesting to watch, because while both Davis and Anderson are more thoroughly trained actors, Pfeiffer just has that thing -- that movie star magic -- that just amplifies everything around her and makes it disappear simultaneously. She's approaching her scenes as if she's playing a human being, not "Betty Ford". She finds small comic notes (her wine toast to the crowd after her luncheon speech), and you can understand why everyone around her finds her venerable and why they take her seriously. Pfeiffer isn't overplaying clichéd drunk beats, and her scenes also feel lit better, scored better, and approached with a blissful simplicity. This is the storyline to watch.
Eleanor/Gillian: Anderson is such a talented actress, but her performances are becoming increasingly mannered, not a great direction to head (she was so amazing in the first season of Sex Education and keeps...getting...more...labored). Granted, she doesn't have much to do in this first episode, and all the scenes in this storyline are scored so heavy-handedly, as if they're from another show altogether, so she's getting no help here. All of the actors seem disconnected, like they haven't had enough rehearsal, and they're not even shot in the same frame in ways that would bring them and their relationships together. The Roosevelt story is a mess at this point, but maybe things will improve?
What are your thoughts on the show and its three fine actresses? Despite the bumps, it's a huge pleasure seeing these three women at the center of a long show. For me, though, it's haunted by last year's superb Mrs. America, which made the far more interesting choice of charting a different character's journey during each episode while keeping the Cate Blanchett storyline (and her brilliant performance) moving along throughout. That show was so powerful and eloquent and incredibly specific, whereas this (so far) plays very broadly. But eager to read your comments!
Episode 2 airs tomorrow on Showtime.
Emmys, Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer, TV, The First Lady, Viola Davis, biopics, politics
Reader Comments (6)
Was so wishing this would be a memorable series... but after Part 1 ... I found it so boring.
I know this is a Michelle love fest, but even she cannot save the stories. IMO. I will try Part 2 and give it a chance, but I don't know.....?
I said this in the other First Lady post, but it warrants repeating - Pfeiffer is so, so magnetic in this. I wish the whole series were about Betty Ford so I could just watch her.
Somebody wanted to do The Hours: The First Lady Edition and TV Series -- but forgot to put in the subtle connecting tissues that made the movie [and novel] work. Then again, this was directed by Susanne Bier who gave us Bird Box and The Undoing. It was a chore to watch, but being a completist, I know I'll still be watching.
This is a damn good entertainment. I was puzzled how these three disparate women could become the subjects of cohesive storytelling. The first two hours establish a theme and tone of how three intelligent political wives were not diminished by patriarchal attitudes and rose to the occasion. Each actress is delivering a strong performance. I am anticipating the remaining hours.
I'll be watching, but I had initially feared what you've written. Was never really sure why they were making it as they were. I wasn't surprised to read Susanne Bier filmed them all as if three individual movies and then had to find a way to bring them together. They didn't have a script beforehand?!
I'll be watching, but I had initially feared what you've written. Was never really sure why they were making it as they were. I wasn't surprised to read Susanne Bier filmed them all as if three individual movies and then had to find a way to bring them together. They didn't have a script beforehand?!