Produced for Hulu, Biel dons a Harpo Marx wig to play the title role of an unhappy housewife, Candy Montgomery, who started an affair, broke her own rules in terms of not becoming emotionally attached and eventually wound up involved in a grisly act that claimed one life and shattered others.
Like “Fargo,” the small Texas town where this all unfolded is also a character, a place where people harbor grudges and live lives of quiet desperation while sitting beside those they’ve betrayed in church, wearing plastered-on smiles.
Using a familiar device, “Candy” basically starts toward the ending and then works backward, portraying a community where everyone seems to be restless for different reasons, and a recreational volleyball team becomes the source of its own kind of mini-soap opera.
Given the popularity murder and infidelity as the backdrop for true crime, it’s hard to stand out from that crowd. Hulu will try to achieve that in part through its scheduling approach, dropping a new episode each day Monday through Friday, or as we used to call that in olden times, “television.”
In similar fashion, “Candy” doesn’t break new ground, but nor does it really need to. Yes, it has plenty of company in this particular genre, but thanks to the principals, it’s a tastier treat than most.
“Candy” premieres May 9 on Hulu.
