I thought this was a decent miniseries. I thought Kate Winslet was great in her role, and most likely would have taken home the Emmy if this had been better written. My biggest complaint about the story - and perhaps this is true in the original novel, I don't know - is that it's never explained as to what happened in Veda's upbringing to make her such a manipulative spoiled bitch. She grows up in the 30s, when most people were lucky if they had regular meals let alone a place to live, yet she's vicious and hateful because her mother works in a restaurant. It's not because of her sister's death because she was like that before her sister's death. Also, I don't understand why everyone falls all over Evan Rachel Wood's performance in this. Really? I thought she was mediocre at best. She chews up the scenery in this miniseries - sooooooooo overacted. The scene where Kate Winslet's character finds her daughter with her husband naked? Evan Rachel Wood's movement and performance reminded me of a soap opera. Truthfully, my opinion is that this miniseries would have been much better with a different - and better - actress playing Veda.
