Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 7 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 8 -| Review Score – 3/5 At the start of 2018, there were over 1.2 million domestic abuse cases reported in Brazil. It’s a shocking statistic and one that only highlights what an issue this is in the South American country. As such, art imitates life and in the case of Brazilian TV, it was perhaps inevitable that a show like Good Morning Veronica would come along. Serving as a police procedural, Netflix’s latest acquisition is a gritty, slow burn thriller that eventually bursts into action late on. While the final two episodes do take some questionable creative choices, the first two-thirds are excellent and for that alone are worth watching. This series essentially acts as a story of two parallel cases. While these overlap slightly, they mainly remain separate for large stretches of the 8 episode story. The first introduces us to police detective Veronica, a woman who’s generally overlooked by her colleagues and seemingly the only one in the office who cares about solving domestic abuse cases and gaining justice for the abused. When a girl called Marta commits suicide in front of her face, Veronica sets out to try and find the man responsible for driving her over the edge. This investigation Veronica her to an impassioned plea on the news for other abused women to come forward so she can try and help them. As fate would have it, one of the abused victims happens to be watching from home. That person is Janete who’s husband holds dark secrets and a suffocating grip over her life and well-being. Around the midway point, the first case is wrapped up and Veronica’s focus turns to that of Janete as the clock starts ticking to try and save her before it’s too late. Without giving too much away, the early season grittiness soon fades away and instead, is replaced by a much more formulaic and questionable thriller format. Unfortunately this weakens the character work, especially for Veronica who abandons her morals for a late season couple of twists. There’s no question that Good Morning Veronica has some stand out moments but the tonal shift really does this one no favours. The first half feels very reminisce to last year’s excellent Unbelievable but the second half abandons that work to turn this into a female Jason Bourne. If that sounds like an odd combination it’s because it is. It’s a shame too because the delicate subject material being tackled is incredibly important and much-needed for Brazil and the world as an whole. With our current situation only forcing domestic abuse statistics up, Good Morning Veronica is another example of how perfect facades can hide a very ugly and dark truth. If this one is renewed for a second season though, it’ll be interesting to see exactly how Good Morning Veronica will progress from here. With good acting and an intriguing couple of cases, this one is worth watching but the ending really drags this one down from being a better show which is a real shame.
