The Watchful Eye, A Review

More than meets the lie.

The Watchful Eye follows Elena Santos (Mariel Molino), a young woman who is hired as Nanny to the Ward family to look after their young son Jasper (Henry Joseph Samiri) after the apparent suicide of his Mother Allie (Emily Tennant). Hired by Jasper’s Father Matthew (Warren Christie, Batwoman) and Allie’s Sister Tory (Amy Acker), Elena soon gels wells with Jasper and easily impresses Matthew whilst Tory remains sceptical. Unknown to either of them however Elena has her own agenda and is actually at The Greyborune for a whole other reason, to steal a priceless ruby. Teaming up with her detective boyfriend Scott (Jon Ecker, Firefly Lane), Elena searches the building in her free time, hoping to steal the jewel and then abscond the country with him to live out their dream lives.

Fate has other plans however when Mrs Ivey (Kelly Bishop, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel), a long-term resident and Tory’s Aunt, asks Elena to be her eyes and ears, hoping she can use her to scope out Allie’s killer. Now working double duty as detective and jewel thief, Elena must uncover the secrets of The Greyborune all without getting caught. The building however has a dangerous history and nothing is ever quite as it seems. Can Elena get what she wants and escape with her life intact or will she go the way of the previous nanny and disappear without a trace?

I really liked the set up to the Watchful Eye and how Elena went into the nanny job already set on robbing the place, meaning that she immediately had her guard up. Using her freedom with Jasper to her advantage Elena searched the building top to bottom, discovering secrets along the way and then using this information to help solve Allie’s murder as instructed by Mrs Ivey. Whilst not a bad person at heart, Elena was very much focused on the robbery and I do think this single-mindedness helped actually solve the murder a lot quicker than any of the detectives before her, she was a very sharp character. I thought it was clever putting a criminal at the centre of the series because Elena had some skills that whilst not necessarily ethical were useful in her quest. It felt different to follow such a morally grey character as opposed to a happy smiling nanny then we might of got instead but I actually really loved it, it felt like a fresh take on the crime genre.

As the series then developed it became clear that there was more to Allie’s death than met the eye and something dark and tragic had happened in The Greyborune’s past to lead up to these events. During her time Elena begins to see an apparent apparition of former Greyborune Nanny Joycelyn (Elyse Malloway) and it’s never quite made clear whether this is a genuine ghost, drug filled hallucination or something else entirely. I’m not always a fan of when mystery series sneak in supernatural elements but here I think it worked within the show because to me it was meant to be a representation of guilt or maybe even the building’s own tragedy came to life. Mrs Ivey constantly heard Jocelyn through the walls (for reasons later revealed) and I think to Elena Jocelyn was a motivation to keep going and whether real or not it did definitely work for her. I think certain building’s with especially dark histories can hold a sort of energy and maybe that’s all Jocelyn was? Bad energy making itself known to those around it.

Elena was a interesting main character and she really drove the series with her determination to get what she wanted, whatever the cost. Not always the most likeable of people, she willingly threw her ‘friends’ under the bus multiple times in her quest to initially find the ruby and then in her quest for justice, making some very questionable decisions along the way. Obviously someone used to a harder lifestyle, she was very single minded and scrappy, not letting anything stand in her way and really fighting to stay in The Greyborune. It was clear that she did care for Jasper, Matthew and Roman in her own way but I still wouldn’t put it past her to betray them if they stood between her and her money. Admittedly she did soften towards the end of the season, perhaps after realising she was growing more and more like her Mother, but moving forward I’d be interested to see what choices she makes, especially considering the position she found Tory in at the end of the season. It’s perfect blackmail material that’s all I’m saying.

The Greyborune itself made for a fantastic mystery location and the many secret tunnels, hidden doorways and dark secrets played just out like a Nancy Drew game, I loved it! The building itself was essential to the main mystery and only through exploring the building’s past and present could Elena get to bottom of things and get out with her life still intact. I always enjoy mysteries featuring apartment type buildings (eg Only Murders in the Building) because they play on that very basic fear that absolutely anybody could be living next door to you and really you only know as much as your neighbour as they tell you. Of course the same could be said for any random street but the fact everybody is living within the same building here really amps up the tension and mystery, making for an all around great watch.

The Watchful Eye definitely ended on a cliff-hanger (in many regards) and so I am really hopeful that we do get a second season, there’s really nothing worse than an unanswered mystery. Despite finding out who killed Allie we still have even more unanswered questions and quite a few storylines that need properly wrapping up. Obviously we got the massive ending with Tory and Elena but I’m also curious how Scott and Elena’s Mother and linked, what really happened to Morgan and how Matthew plans to get out of prison, I really feel like The Watchful Eye is only just getting started and it’d be a shame to cut it off so soon.

Overall I really enjoyed The Watchful Eye and really hope we get a second season, the mystery is far from over. Elena made for a great character and I enjoyed her pulling double duty as Nanny/Jewel thief, it made for a nice mystery set up. The Greybourne was also a fantastic location and the many secret tunnels and doorways was brilliantly done. A really engaging watch from start to finish, The Watchful Eye was so much fun.