Created by the same comedy team that brought Adult Swim's Mike Tyson Mysteries to life, Netflix's The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window overflows with deadpan deliveries and absurdity. Viewers who delight in Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson and Larry Dorf's taste in quippy situational humor will find a lot to love in this charmingly odd satire that simultaneously rejects psychosexual thriller cliches and runs wild with them.
If you can't tell by the title, The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is not the type of television series that waits for the viewer to be clued into its setup. From the get-go, it's clear this series doesn't follow rules. Sure, it pokes fun at the thin plots and characters of movies like The Girl on the Train or The Woman in the Window -- and really, the bulk of well-worn, but deeply beloved mystery books that live in bookstores' "women's literature" section -- but it also crafts its own tale to fit in the genre too.
Viewers who love the stories The Woman in the House is making light fun of might experience an initial resistance to its comedy. But as the series develops, that same resistance will inevitably lessen as it becomes more and more clear that to write this detailed takedown of the women-mystery genre, someone has to also love it for all its wine-soaked flaws. Before the plot crystallizes, viewers can make a game out of all the callbacks, references and one fabulous cameo. Casting Kristen Bell as series lead Anna only proves this point further. As viewers saw best in The Good Place, Bell knows how to wring comedy from moments of stillness and ratchet it up when chaos ensues. The Woman in the House showcases this aspect of Bell's comedy best, especially as she uses voiceover narrations to ask irrational questions with a mixture of genuine sincerity and dumbfoundedness.
Bell feels like someone who'd also be cast in the non-comedy version of this script, which only makes her all the more compelling to watch. Surprising no one, the plot revolves around Anna's quest to solve a murder she might have witnessed. What follows is a strange mystery that leads Anna down a dangerous path that includes tons of sex, drugs and annoying the local police. While the plot doesn't invest too much in the mystery, Bell makes it clear Anna invests everything in it, which adds just the right amount of purpose to the series.
Michael Ealy's Douglas, Anna's ex-husband, provides a great anchor to Bell during some of the series' tougher moments to land. The show's comedy straddles the line between tragedy and dark comedy, which doesn't always work. However, The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window deserves praise for the frankness and boldness of its vision. Sure, there are misses, but there are plenty of comedic home runs too that wouldn't work unless the series took as many risks as it does. However, the all-star of this cast, who drives this series' most compelling and hilarious moments, is Samsara Leela Yett, who portrays Anna's younger neighbor Emma. It's no easy task to one-up Bell's comedy, but Yett steps up to the task and more than delivers. At its core, the series lands as a romping good time with plenty of bloody surprises to shock even the most seasoned mystery movie watcher.
Netflix's The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window will likely delight some and become inscrutable to others. What can't be argued is the fact the series is nevertheless bold, unique and opens the doorway for more women-led comedy series to have some fun, take creative risks and relish in being called undefinable.