Netflix recently added another Harlan Coben crime drama to the list, joining his other half-loved, half-hated titles, such as Fool Me Once, Missing You, Safe, and Stay Close. Run Away is here with all eight episodes available to stream, ready to spark debate among fans.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Harlan Coben's Run Away miniseries
Run Away does not immediately grab attention, and I was tempted to drop it 15 minutes into episode 1. I'm glad I kept at it, hoping it would get better. In part, it does get better, especially after the third episode mark, but overall, it's not the strongest adaptation. Keep reading for a full rant on what's wrong with it, with a touch of what it gets right.
Run Away delivers mostly subpar performances from well-known faces
The focus is on James Nesbitt as Simon Greene, the father desperately searching for his eldest daughter, Paige (Ellie de Lange). The role of Ingrid Greene, Simon's wife, is taken on by Minnie Driver. When you hear Nesbitt and Driver together, you'd expect something good. Definitely more than you get here. The reason I almost gave up after episode one was their lack of chemistry.
On top of that, there are many places where lines are said because they need to, with no real motive or emotion behind them. The everyday chaos in the Greene household looks forced. Simon's flashbacks to memories of Paige (and later Ingrid) took me out of the story. More than once, words with weight are delivered with zero emotion.
Private Investigator Elena Ravenscroft (Ruth Jones) saves the show in more ways than one. Performance-wise, Nesbitt's becomes more nuanced once he meets the PI. They have immediate chemistry, especially in the first scene at the hospital in episode 3. Apart from that, the younger cast can boast more convincing performances, particularly Sam (Adrian Greensmith).
Run Away is overdoing it on melodrama
When you say Harlan Coben, you inevitably say melodrama. Take Fool Me Once, for example. But Run Away is overdoing it a notch. The pacing itself does this, with the reveals not being entirely convincing. There are also exaggerated lines that almost insult the intelligence of the audience. We get the idea, not everything needs to be spelled out!
But the most obvious elements of melodrama are the one-dimensional, exaggerated, deeply cliched characters: the detectives and the killers. DI Isaac Fagbenle (Alfred Enoch) is the quintessential charming, shallow guy, while his partner, Ruby Todd (Amy Gledhill), is the smart and thoughtful one keeping him in check. Their romantic relationship outside the office will also never happen in real life.
I saved the worst for last: Ash (Jon Pointing) and Dee Dee (Maeve Courtier-Lilley). For half the series, they feel like a subplot. Ash is nearly likeable, but Dee hit me immediately as a textbook psychopath. At first, they seem a cliched take on Bonnie and Clyde. In turn, it becomes clearer that Ash is in love with her, and she's taking advantage.
Only halfway through the series is The Shining Truth — the cult Dee Dee belongs to — revealed. And so, the melodrama spikes up to nearly unbearable. The cult is obviously modelled on the Manson Family, with Casper Vartage as elusive and controlling as Charles Manson, the mastermind who never gets his hands dirty, and his followers as brainwashed.
The death that serves no purpose — and why I'm bitter about it
The absolute worst part for me was how Elena Ravenscroft was killed off. For six episodes, she's revealed bit by bit, not all at once like other characters. She's intriguing from the start, so I'm biased when I say she shouldn't have been killed off at all.
It could be argued that Dee Dee wanted her gone because she was getting too close to discovering her beloved cult. But at that point, she wasn't really onto concrete information. Or maybe it was meant to advance Simon's story, to make him lose the only person he was fully relying on. Flimsy, at best — he shows a bit of sadness, a trace of guilt, but moves on ridiculously fast.
Just when it started to go right, Run Away ends in disappointment
The way the two parallel main plots are tied in the end is a bit too on-the-nose. The last episode delivers twists in rapid succession. Simon looks hopeless when he discovers that, no, in fact, Paige wasn't at the Shining Truth. He has nowhere else to look. And at the exact right moment, she shows up in her mother's hospital room.
She tells Simon that she's been at a rehab center that her mother helped her get in. She tried to get clean before, but Aaron found her and dragged her into the dark world of addiction once more. When Simon drops Paige off at the center, he asks for the truth about Aaron's death.
At first, she claims she did it, but the lie doesn't get past her dad. Finally, she admits — Ingrid killed Aaron to protect her daughter. Otherwise, she'd have never gotten out. And if that sounds dramatic, it only gets worse. When Paige leaves rehab and gets home, Simon talks to her again. He pieced things together. Paige and Aaron were half-siblings, Ingrid was part of The Shining Truth as a student, and she killed her own son, unaware of who he really was. They agree to never tell.
Run Away is a miniseries, so there'll be no season 2. The ending might be disappointing, yes, but it's definitely the ending. If you choose to see it in a more positive light, Simon has just regained his family and is keeping it together at all costs.
Run Away is available to stream on Netflix.
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