If you don’t know the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard—portrayed by Joey King— and the murder of her mother Dee Dee—portrayed by Patricia Arquette— prior to watching “The Act,” the show might seem like the perfect thrilling mystery. Viewers must keep in mind, however, that the series is based on very true and gruesome events.
From the first scene, the audience is told that something bad has happened to at least one of the dramatized Blanchard women. A 2015 call to the police from worried neighbors explains that the Blanchard residence has been oddly quiet after a series of threatening Facebook posts on Dee Dee’s page.
After this ominous opening, the audience is taken back in time to 2009 when the Blanchards first moved into their new Missouri neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina apparently destroyed their old residence. Dee Dee tries her best to make good first impressions on the neighbors while a 15-year-old Gypsy desperately hopes to make friends her own age and get a boyfriend.
Dee Dee shelters Gypsy from the media typically consumed by most 15-year-olds. This is in Gypsy’s best interest, Dee Dee claims, because she says that Gypsy has the mental age of a seven-year-old. Dee Dee also makes sure that Gypsy steers clear of all sugary products, afraid Gypsy’s sugar allergy will kill her.
Assuming the audience has no clue what actually went down between Gypsy and Dee Dee, “The Act” makes both characters initially sympathetic.
Dee Dee seems to only want the best for Gypsy, and Gypsy wishes she could have a normal life despite being restricted to a wheelchair with a feeding tube in her stomach. Dee Dee tells everyone she meets about Gypsy’s numerous health conditions, and says she expects her daughter to die young.
King and Arquette are perfect in their roles. It is obvious that King has studied the speech patterns of real-life young Gypsy Rose Blanchard and is never caught on camera without Blanchard’s thinly-veiled pain peeking through her forced smile. Arquette similarly captures the essence of Dee Dee in her coercive coddling of Gypsy. Arquette makes it seem like Dee Dee sacrifices everything for her daughter, but an undeniable maliciousness lurks beneath her kind words.
The show is filmed to mimic Gypsy’s perspective for the most part. Viewers watch as Gypsy looks out the window at children her age who are allowed to be outside with friends. Most scenes are inside the Blanchard house, where Gypsy is often confined.
The lighting artistically reflects each scene’s mood. For the grotesque crime in 2015, fear is inspired by a dark Blanchard house and a single flashlight. To mimic the mysteries that still exist in 2009, most rooms in the Blanchard house are cloaked in shadow.
New episodes of “The Act” come out every Wednesday on Hulu, and as of Wednesday March 27, the season has only released three episodes.
Because “The Act” is a true crime story, it is important to note that the show paints Gypsy in a more sympathetic light than her murdered mother. Either way, to watch is to pick a side between the two women. When observing this dramatized version of real-life events, we must try to avoid romanticizing either Blanchard woman’s life.