FX’s Say Nothing may be a historical drama about the Northern Ireland Conflict (aka The Troubles), but it hooks viewers in through a very personal story about a young woman fighting for what she believes in. It poignantly premieres days after the results of the U.S. presidential election, and while the lead protagonist isn’t necessarily fighting specifically for women’s rights, viewers are sure to see parallels in a story about a woman believing she was on the right side of history, only to be reminded that it’s a man’s world. And when it comes down to who people will believe, it’s almost always men.
(Rob Youngson/FX)
Dolours Price is the protagonist of Say Nothing, who comes clean about her role in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), a secret militia that fought against British rule from 1969 until a peace agreement was made in 1998. The framing device is a series of interviews she gave in the early 2000s for Boston College’s Belfast Project, in which she is played by Maxine Peake (Shameless), although the majority of flashbacks find Lola Petticrew (Tuesday) in the lead role.
Across 9 episodes releasing all-at-once, viewers experience Dolours Price’s life in a mostly linear narrative. From her early entry into the IRA to the core of her secret warring years as a member, she is our entry point into this period of history in a fight full of secrecy and nuance. But most significant is the reevaluation of the things she’s done and the efforts to make things right, which is why the series is somewhat bookended by an event that otherwise feels a little incongruous with the series’s main throughline: the 1972 disappearance of a single mother of ten, Jean McConville (Judith Roddy, Derry Girls).
Based on the award-winning novel by Patrick Radden Keefe (Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland), this 9-hour series adaptation’s only real flaw is the space between the prologue – Jean McConville’s abduction – and how that event ties into Dolours Price’s story. It feels disconnected for most of the series but has a rewarding payoff for viewers who stick with the series.
(Rob Youngson/FX)
Say Nothing is otherwise a flawless trek through four decades of conflict. The production team does an incredible job of adapting the same locations and actors across a wide range of time. And narratively, most of the episodes feel like they tell a full, self-contained story within the larger narrative that makes it an easy binge.
The series also handles the narrative responsibly, with reminders before the credits roll about elements of Dolours’ story that are contested by those named in her version of events. She’s presented as a cog in a machine, a flawed hero who, through the benefit of hindsight, recognizes her errors, redeemable trying to make things right in the ways she still can.
I give Say Nothing 4 out of 5 stars.
Say Nothing premieres Thursday, November 14th, exclusively on Hulu.