It’s an old adage: Apples never fall far from the tree. Or, the singular: the apple never falls far from the tree. It presumes, basically, that children often become similar to their parents, and it’s the premise of the novel Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, as well as the seven-episode TV series based on it (Peacock).
Moriarty’s dysfunctional Delaney family plays out the sometimes-true adage. Cristina Escobar, rogerebert.com, who first gives star Annette Bening her due, sets up the series plot: “As Joy Delaney, she’s the matriarch of a competitive tennis family with four adult children—none of whom went pro, much to the patriarch’s dismay. When she goes missing, the siblings confront a mix of explicit and implicit intergenerational trauma, grappling with the possibility that their father Stan, a perfectly difficult Sam Neill, may have had something to do with it.”
The series trailer:
Interrelated to the “apples” theme is the abundance of secrets and lies, so familiar to those of us who enjoy psychological mysteries and thrillers. But why all the secrets and lies?
Well, I think I’ve figured it out. Fear coupled with lack of communication.
Spoilers follow.
Like their parents, each main character—which includes the four adult Delaney kids as well as the interloper Savannah, a surrogate offspring— makes bad choices because of unexpressed fears.
The following list offers examples for each character of how this dynamic plays out.
- Troy (Jake Lacy): Fearing his marital problems may lead to divorce and instead of processing this with his wife, he has an affair. This actually does lead to a pending divorce.
- Amy (Alison Brie): Has been suicidal in the past, which has been kept secret from everyone except Mom. Fears commitment, so has never had either a successful relationship or career.
- Logan (Conor Merrigan Turner): Fears disappointing his parents; thus, rather than announce he’s moving out of state with the girlfriend he loves, he abandons her.
- Brooke (Essie Randles): Fearing her female fiancée is having an affair, but not confronting this, she succumbs to the same.
- Mom (Annette Bening): Fears invisibility; has an affair. Fears questioning her husband’s periods of “running away.” Runs away herself.
- Dad (Sam Neill): Fears becoming his violent father. Runs away periodically in order to avoid finding out his fear is reality-based. Becomes the lead suspect in his wife’s possible murder.
- Savannah (Georgia Flood): May fear discovery most of all. Closely behind is her fear of never belonging to a family who loves her. Effectively sabotages her chances of finding this any time soon.
Additional Wisdom from the Critics
Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter: “Its most poignant insight…is that any shared history can contain several contradictory truths at once.”
Bob Strauss, San Francisco Chronicle: “All anyone in ‘Apples Never Fall’ really wants is appreciation, conditional or not. That’s some game for a missing-person thriller to play. Love all, anyone?”
Meredith Hobbs Coons, AVClub: “If mysteries are your jam (perhaps you devoured the smash Liane Moriarty adaptation Big Little Lies), then this could be your next fix. But if you’re a middle-aged mom with grown kids, this series may more deeply resonate with you. It underscores the many frustrations of thankless decades of not only mothering but maintaining a household, of being the default parent who washes the bottles, cooks the meals, and carries the totality of all of your loved ones’ emotional baggage.”
