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Don’t let the cat out or book a rock-climbing getaway just yet if you haven’t watched “The Girlfriend.” Spoilers ahead!
If you love Olivia Cooke on the “Game of Thrones” prequel and spin-off “House of the Dragon” and you’re itching to watch her in a different, more modern role, you’re in luck — her miniseries “The Girlfriend” recently dropped on Amazon Prime Video.
According to streaming tracker FlixPatrol, the series is absolutely crushing it with viewers, so what is it about in the first place? Based on Michelle Frances’ 2017 book of the same name (which, if you’re a subscriber, just so happens to be available on Kindle Unlimited), the story centers around the Sanderson family, led by domineering matriarch Laura (“The Princess Bride” and “House of Cards” star Robin Wright). To say that Laura has a weird relationship with her son Daniel (Laurie Davidson, who appeared in small roles in “Masters of the Air” and “Mary & George”) is a massive understatement; after Laura and her husband Howard (Waleed Zuaiter) lost their first child, Rose, while she was just a baby, Laura becomes incredibly attached to Daniel. Luckily for Laura, Daniel doesn’t have a lot of serious girlfriends, which is why Laura is so shocked when he brings home a new flame, Cherry Laine (Cooke), and describes their relationship as serious.
It’s also an understatement to say that Laura and Cherry butt heads as they fight for Daniel’s attention and affection throughout the six-episode run of “The Girlfriend.” I’d also say, after binge-watching the series, that it’s a soapy, campy, and slightly contrived take on the classic “evil mother-in-law” story. So what happens in “The Girlfriend,” and what happens to Cooke’s character Cherry?
The Girlfriend is absolutely bonkers from start to finish, but Olivia Cooke manages to shine despite some of the show’s narrative pitfalls
When Cherry first meets Laura, she immediately understands the troublingly close relationship between Laura and Daniel, but does her “best” to adapt to it — and by her “best,” I mean she tosses Laura’s beloved cat Moses out of a window and steals a piece of her jewelry. The rivalry between the two women is immediately apparent to, honestly, every person involved in the situation except for Daniel. (Bless his heart.) After Cherry claims she attended an exclusive prep school in London, Laura does some digging and discovers that Cherry never attended the school; to make matters worse, Laura sees Cherry slapping a man in the face on the street, who turns out to be Cherry’s ex-boyfriend Nicholas Hale (Leo Suter). (Cherry also poses as a wedding caterer and stashes a lamb’s heart inside of Nicholas’ wedding cake ahead of his upcoming nuptials, so it’s safe to say that she’s not exactly stable.)
The conflict between Laura and Cherry keeps heightening throughout “The Girlfriend” and comes to a head when, after Cherry and Daniel go rock-climbing for his birthday and he’s seriously injured, Laura lies to Cherry and says that Daniel is dead. While Laura whisks Daniel away to Spain to recover, Cherry ultimately discovers that her boyfriend — or, technically, fiancé, considering that he proposed to her immediately before his accident — is still alive. This obviously makes everything a lot worse between Cherry and Laura, who keep fighting over Daniel — who is almost always blissfully unaware of his mother and partner vying for his love — until it builds to a truly disturbing conclusion. (I’ll leave the ending of “The Girlfriend” unspoiled for anyone who wants to check it out for themselves.)
“The Girlfriend” is totally over-the-top and unrealistic, and despite a script that’s often a bit thin, Olivia Cooke, a consummate performer, is excellent as Cherry, whether she’s seducing Daniel or facing off against Laura. Cooke is particularly excellent at small, subtle facial expressions, which helps keep Cherry from becoming a total caricature. If you like this performance from Cooke, though, you should definitely check out “House of the Dragon.”
If you like watching Olivia Cooke shrewdly romance a man for a powerful position in society, try House of the Dragon
Cooke has been in a lot of great films throughout her career, but these days, she’s probably best known for playing Alicent Hightower on “House of the Dragon.” Cooke doesn’t actually join the series until halfway through its debut season; because of a ten-year time jump, Alicent is initially played by Emily Carey alongside Milly Alcock as her best friend and confidante, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, heir apparent to the throne and the only child of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). While Alicent is still played by Carey, she entrances and marries Viserys after his wife and Rhaenyra’s mother Aemma (Sian Brooke) dies, driving an enormous wedge between Alicent and Rhaenyra for good.
After that time jump, which happens exactly halfway through season 1, Alicent and Rhaenyra remain at odds, especially because Alicent seems all too aware that Rhaenyra’s children aren’t fathered by her husband Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan). (Alicent, to be fair, is right; because Laenor prefers the company of men, he and Rhaenyra have an arrangement, and her first three children are secretly fathered by Ryan Corr’s Ser Harwin Strong.) Viserys, elderly and frail by now, eventually dies, and his final words referring to “Aegon” literally begin the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. Alicent, sure that Viserys meant their eldest son Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) should take the throne even though Viserys named Rhaenyra as his heir, takes up arms and becomes the de facto leader of the Green faction. Rhaenyra, aware that her father was likely referencing the “song of ice and fire” prophesied by Aegon the Conqueror, crowns herself queen and leads the Black faction for the Iron Throne.
Cooke is genuinely phenomenal as the powerful and sometimes evil Alicent in “House of the Dragon,” and luckily for “The Girlfriend,” she brought her A-game to that series as well. “The Girlfriend” is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, and “House of the Dragon” is streaming on HBO Max.
