Saint X S1

One thing about me is that all you have to do to get me to watch a show I otherwise wasn’t interested in is tell me an actress I like is in it. Which is how I came to watch Saint X starring Alycia Debnam-Carey. And I’m here to report back on my findings.

Saint X is about a young woman, Emily Thomas (ADC), who moves to a Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn about 15 years after her older sister died on a Caribbean island while their family was on vacation. The island authorities ruled it an accident, but the Thomas family remained convinced it was an unsolved murder. In fact, they’re pretty sure they know exactly which of the resort employees were involved, even though as we watch the events of the past unfold, I have at least three (white) suspects that are higher on my list than them.

Alycia Debman-Carey isn’t the only draw for queer folks: Emily’s best friend is a gay woman named Sunita. So far she’s mostly there to express concerns about Emily spiraling out about her sister, retriggered by seeing a man named Gogo that her and Sunita are 100% convinced murdered her sister. Emily and Sunita have been friends at least since college, and seem to work together at a job about…bears? Emily decides to torment Gogo and Sunita decides to help her; if you can’t stop ’em, join ’em, I guess.

Here is truth #1: It’s not the best-written show on television. It’s a little bit of a White Lotus dupe, if I’m being honest. There are some lines that made it clear to me before I knew for sure that it’s an adaptation of a book. (For example, when Emily got in Gogo’s cab, she later told Sunita, “There he was driving a cab like nothing happened,” as if she wasn’t also in a cab like nothing happened.) There also were some scenes and moments that made me say, “Hm, I wonder if this story was made by a straight white woman.” And it was; the author of the book and the credited creator of the show. Though, to their credit, there are some Black executive producers, including Dee Rees and… :checks notes: Drake? And from my quick scan of the Wikipedia their writing staff isn’t 100% white either so. That’s reassuring.

Truth #2: I’m probably going to watch this whole show. Dropping the first three episodes was smart, because I’m not sure I would have picked it back up with a week between the first two episodes, but after 3, even though it’s not entirely my jam, I’m intrigued enough by the mystery that I feel compelled to stay until it’s solved. AUTOSTRADDLE