Over these six episodes, which incorporate flashbacks and dreamscapes, they become subject to increasingly strange occurrences, but their ambitions are recognizable in their universality. Most importantly, even as “Behind Her Eyes” (all six bingeworthy episodes of which drop on Netflix on Wednesday, February 17) gets weird-and trust, it does get weird-what the series never loses are familiar, plausible motivations for these characters. And although there are tangible, important differences between these characters in terms of class and social status, the coincidences between them start early, too-night terrors and sleepwalking, anxiety and personality twists-and that shared sense of struggle further develops these relationships. There’s an entrancing glossiness to this, as this genre often has, and that smooth patina of wealth and prestige is undercut by an intensifying sense of dread, as this genre also often has. Like so many buzzy novels of the past few years by the likes of Paula Hawkins (“The Girl on the Train,” adapted into a 2016 film with Emily Blunt) and Liane Moriarty (whose “ Big Little Lies” was a huge hit for HBO, and whose novels “The Husband’s Secret” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” are also being adapted for film and TV, respectively), “Behind Her Eyes” is about infidelity, identity, and the ways we betray each other and ourselves. But Lightfoot, LaManna, and series director Erik Richter Strand engineer it so confidently, and the ensemble cast shoulder the narrative demands with such ease, that you’ll be impressed by it even if you loathe it. Admittedly, this ending won’t work for everyone: It requires a thorough suspension of disbelief at an entirely different register than what this genre normally requires. About midway through “Behind Her Eyes,” the show you thought you were watching becomes something else entirely-and if you’re willing to follow those twists, a deliciously bonkers finale awaits you. Fans of the book will be satisfied by the mostly faithful adaptation from showrunner Steve Lightfoot, who wrote four of the series’ six episodes (Angela LaManna, who worked with Lightfoot on the TV series “ Hannibal” and “ The Punisher,” wrote the other two), while newbies will be drawn in by the uniformly strong cast, efficient pacing, and twist on your typical thriller. Rarely have I been as pleasantly, thoroughly shocked by anything as I was by the compellingly acted, boldly outlandish “Behind Her Eyes,” the limited series adaptation of the best-selling 2017 novel by Sarah Pinborough.
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